Dust of Babylon
The Shop at Fort Fringe

Remaining performances:
Saturday, July 11 at 6 pm
Sunday, July 12 at 5:30 pm
Wednesday, July 15 at 9:45 pm

They say: “Step into a black hole. The Greek experiment – Prometheus gave fire to mankind. Present – The Large Hadron Collinder searches for the God particle. Big Bang, Ancient Babylon, subatomic particles, tofu, Tuesdays, apples, boxes, Schrˆdinger. How far is too far?”

Aaron’s take: Got that? Me neither.

The difference between you and me, of course, is that I just sat through the damn thing. Somehow, the purplish amoebae squirming across the white backdrop; the pulsating trance music; the vaguely Southern drill sergeant who apparently represented Prometheus and babbled incessantly about Nimrod; and the random invocations of the periodic table didn’t really clear things up for me. Neither did the haphazardly flying and falling objects or the interminable bouts of shouted nonsense that invariably seemed to give way to exercises in conjugation.

But I’ll do my best to describe the plot, briefly: An unconscionably bad reporter interviews a scientist who’s created a Large Hadron Collider that will soon bring about the end of the world as we know it (and yes, they do quote R.E.M.). For reasons unknown to the characters or the audience, this Prometheus fellow enters, spewing pompous drivel that induces his companions to scream and do push-ups and run circles around him backwards. Finally, the universe comes to a merciful end, and we’re treated to an inexplicable dance number.

To its credit, the play does feature the occasional line of humanoid dialogue before succumbing entirely to entropy. Still, I never imagined I’d be so indifferent to Armageddon.

See it if: You need a good mind fuck. Like, really need one.

Skip it if: You haven’t gotten around to the Friday crossword puzzle yet. Or last week’s sudoku. Or that kidney stone you’ve been meaning to pass. Seriously, find something else to do. I hear there’s a theater festival going on…