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I’ve been making the rounds of the Live Arts & Philly Fringe Festival since it opened last weekend, and it’s shaping up to be as exciting and unpredictable as always.

Some shows have blown me away, while others haven’t quite lived up to my lofty expectations. Mama always said the Festival is like a box of chocolates… But just to make sure you don’t accidentally chomp down on some crusty old marzipan filling, here are two shows well worth sinking your teeth into:

Live Arts show “FREEDOM CLUB” is the fruit of a collaboration between New York-based company The Riot Group and Philly’sNew Paradise Laboratories, and is as hysterical as it is disturbing.

The first act of the play takes place in 1865, and takes John Wilkes Booth, a dashing actor and Lincoln’s soon-to-be assassin, as its main character. The southern Booth is furious about the outcome of the Civil War and, one soon realizes, is starting to come unhinged. Inspired by Shakespeare (good old “Shakes,” as he calls him), he is determined to kill the “tyrant” Lincoln.

Check out the complete review below:

All this darkness is tempered by a fusillade of unbelievably witty language accompanied by perfectly timed acting to bring out the hilarity. Decidedly out-of-place expletives pepper the conversation, and lewd acts abound (while the spotlight is on Booth, look in the shadows to catch a salacious Lincoln and Mary Todd).

The second act of the play time travels to the year 2015, where we follow a group of Virginia radicals obsessed with the power of women and the stupidity of the world. The parallels between the two time periods – and a too-close-for-comfort similarity to many of today’s political groups – resonate strongly. FREEDOM CLUB is definitely one of the best offerings of this year’s Festival. It only runs through this Saturday, so be sure to grab your tickets quickly!

My favorite Fringe show so far has been Gas and Electric Arts’ “BETWEEN TRAINS.” The performance space has been transformed into a train station, and audiences take their seats at the platforms designated on their tickets.

This is a train station populated by all the characters you might see in such places (the paranoid schizophrenic, the hot dog seller, the rude businesswoman, the chain smoker, the guy who wants to tell you his life story). But don’t go thinking it’s realistic! It starts with a woman waking up inside a suitcase, naked and confused, who spends the show trying to figure out just what she’s doing there and where she’s going.

The show is a cavalcade of physical feats (think gymnastics atop 6-foot high stacks of suitcases), bizarre musical compositions, songs, and stories. It doesn’t matter if you can’t follow exactly what’s going on; that’s sort of the point. This is the kind of show you won’t find anywhere else. Check it out for the real flavor of the Fringe Festival.

There’s still over a week of Festival left but some shows are selling out so get tickets quickly – and don’t forget the discounts for students and anyone 25 and under!

2010 Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival
September 3rd – 18th
www.livearts-fringe.org

FREEDOM CLUB
Now – 9/11
Details

Between Trains
Now – 9/19
Details