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AUDIENCE REVIEW: Caitlin Trainor/Trainor Dance presents "Fact or Fiction?"

Company:
Trainor Dance

Performance Date:
December 29, 2023

Freeform Review:

Caitlin Trainor/Trainor Dance’s Fact or Fiction? is a whimsical montage of stories shared by an electrifying cast of five through narration and movement. The show, currently running at the PIT (Peoples Improv Theater) in New York City, transports audiences on a journey through eight deeply relatable, hilarious, and unpredictable stories. Some of the eight scenes genuinely happened to the cast members, while other tales were fictional. The show is both entertaining and an opportunity for viewers to connect deeper with all sides of life, including the outrageously funny and occasionally humbling.

With a run time of one hour, Fact or Fiction? is a thrilling performance that keeps a building pace. The performance’s eight scenes differentiate in topic, mood, and movement style, which keep the flow fresh and exciting. The cast members - Allegra Herman, Dan Pahl, Morgen Littlejohn, Elizabeth Hepp and Illya Lenych – perform with bravado in dancing and narration. The artists jubilantly address the audience directly, encouraging everyone to sit back and relax as the artists shared their eight stories. The audience’s task is, “to decide whether or not the stories are fact or fiction.”

Each Fact or Fiction? viewer receives a sign when they enter the PIT. Each side of the sign reads “FACT” or “FICTION” respectively, such that the viewer can participate in a vote at the end of each scene on whether or not they think the scene they witnessed really occurred. At voting time, two cast members, holding their own larger signs, take the stage to reveal whether or not the audience members voted correctly.

Memorable moments occurred throughout. Morgen Littlejohn’s opening story describes her fun date night at Lincoln Center gone sour – feeling ill to her stomach, Morgen’s character described the desperation of needing to run out of the theater while feeling trapped in her seat. This motif of restroom desperation continued in Elizabeth Hepp’s narration of a trip she took to Paris. A night out at one of the coolest Paris clubs turned uncomfortable when Elizabeth had no access to a restroom – viewers will have to attend Fact or Fiction? to learn the last resort she took!

The eight stories told tales of friendship, romance, career goals, relationship struggles, near death experiences, and even the seemingly mundane and ordinary. Extremely memorable was the final story, which depicted a typical morning subway commute shared through five different perspectives.

Equally stellar are the dancers’ technical movement abilities. They dance intentionally, their energies matching the different moods and attitudes. At one moment, the audience was treated to the opening section of A Chorus Line, while other moments had the dancers mimicking baseball players, club dancers, and perfect strangers. Notable was whenever a cast member was not the sole narrator of a story, each artist was engaged in the scene just as powerfully.

Fact or Fiction? at the PIT is the ideal night out in New York City. The performances are slated to run on Sundays January 21, February 25, and March 24 at 7:00pm.

Author:
Kristen Hedberg

Website:
kristenhedberg.org

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of the artist