BWW Reviews: FringeNYC - HALF: A DIVORCE FARCE is a Tour-de-Force

The play is HALF: A Divorce Farce, and is written by also-performer Rebecca Foresman. A meek Maid (Foresman) and Valet (Adam Zivkovic) are servants to the grandiose King (Zivkovic) and Queen (Foresman), who are constantly at each other's throats attempting to one-up each other- and eventually make plans for a divorce, divvying up everything by halves, in a hilariously literal sense. And as the kingdom falls apart, so do its residents. The King hires a conniving Analyst (Foresman) to help with his feelings of inadequacy, and the Queen hires a fey Interior Decorator (Zivkovic) to help girlfriend let loose. The play illuminates the class differences incorporating modern references (one joke lampshaded with the comment "topical!") into a nebulously medieval setting.

Two actors playing six roles between them, often when more than one set of characters is on stage at a time, might seem a painfully confusing way to do a show, but Rebecca Foresman and Adam Zivkovic are up to the challenge, with the guidance of Cara M. Tucker. Each character has a distinct voice and physicality. Zivkovic, a trained dancer, is especially good physically, and Foresman, a Moth GrandSLAM storyteller, especially shines with her vocal technique. Both practically aerobicize the entire time. (I previously saw Zivkovic in Cosi, which he was fine in, but here he truly gets a chance to show what he can do.)

Costumes by Maggie McGrann are great- a sort of mix of modern medieval by way of Disney World, with tights and knee-length lace-up Converse. Lighting design by Will Cotton was very nice.

My only caveat is that at 90 minutes it feels a bit too long- my attention began to wander near the antepenultimate scenes (though they brought me back). The play is highly amusing and entertaining, and well worth it to see these two fantastic actors and grand technicians go full-throttle through this giddy fairy tale.

HALF: A Divorce Farce by Rebecca Foresman at The New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC A production of the Present Company. The show continues Saturday, August 17th at 9:00PM, Wednesday, August 21st at 4:45PM, Thursday, August 22nd at 9:30PM. All performances will take place at the Connelly Theater. 220 East 4th Street New York, NY 10003. Tickets $15-$18 at www.FringeNYC.org.

For more about the show, visit www.HALFonstage.com.

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