Uwishunu.com

Not many writers have the guts of Edward Bond. In 1965, the British government told him he had to make cuts to his play, Saved, a fun little show in which a baby gets stoned to death by a bunch of hooligans. Bond refused, and the controversy led to the abolishment of theatre-censorship laws in the UK. Heck, without him, that Harry Potter kid might have to wear swim trunks in the final scenes of Equus.

Bond isn’t performed much stateside, so any production of his work should have theatre-philes salivating. Case in point, his 1976 play Stone, making its Philly premiere at this year’s Fringe Festival. The play is a twisted, Grimms-style morality tale about a young man on a strange quest to carry a seemingly ordinary stone. On his journey he meets the kind of larger than life characters that only exist in fables”"a comic Irish tramp, a manipulative dancing temptress, and an over-sized corrupt judge. It’s a big, wild, theatrical evening that’s unlike anything you’re likely to see this year. With Irish accents, accordion music, and striptease, what’s not to love?

The play is being performed by Stone Soup Theatre Arts, a New York-based company who focuses on social issues in a highly theatrical way that is both personal and epic. *Stone *marks one of their rare forays outside of the Big Apple, so make sure to check them out while they’re in town.

Showtimes:
September 7th at 7pm
September 8th at 1:30pm and 7pm
September 9th at 4pm

Stone by Edward Bond
2nd Stage at the Adrienne
2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia PA
www.stonesoupkitchen.org
www.livearts-fringe.org