Show: 21
Title:
Created by: Candy Simmons
Location: Intermedia Arts
Summary: A one-woman show about a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer who decides not to tell anyone about it until she figures out what it means and what she wants.
Highlights: Candy Simmons, who also wrote the play, gives one of the best performances I saw in the 2013 Minnesota Fringe Festival. She portrays a range of emotion, from anger and despair to acceptance and determination, with ease and believability. Acting out multiple parts (with multiple accents) in scenes and speaking directly to the audience, she moves around the sparse stage, populated only by a bench, rolling chair, and doctor's office curtain, with grace and purpose. Expiration Date is funny, sharp, moving, and thought-provoking. Where a lot of Fringe shows abound with silliness (which is not necessarily a bad thing), it's nice to see a more serious and contemplative, but still entertaining, piece of theater.