The Success Show, written by Michael Comstock, invites audiences to a success and wealth-building seminar.
"We hope that this all plays out in real time," Comstock says about the show, which debuts at the Fringe Festival. "Basically, the only suspension of disbelief, I guess, is that the audience thinks they're in the motivational seminar versus at a Fringe show."
The Success Show, like any motivational seminar, will require audience interaction.
"They really are that third cast member," Comstock says. "We can rehearse up to a point but at some point we need their feedback."
Co-producer and actor George Alexander agrees that the interplay with the audience is the fun part.
"We've constructed a fun enough sandbox for them to play in," Alexander says.
"The most fun part about it, the most comedic elements of it is just how close to reality it really is," Comstock says.
Creating a Fringe-worthy show is not easy, however. One of the biggest challenges is whittling the show down to fit into the 45-minute time slot; another is not knowing what venue you will be performing in.
"You never know if you're going to be in a true theatrical space, so you have to be pretty flexible and pretty open about how you're going to put things together," Alexander says.
That flexibility and openness is what Fringe Festival is all about.
"The Fringe to me is a little bit more of a state of mind," Alexander says. "... It's not so much content that makes something a Fringe show as much as it is the intent and the process."
If you want to learn the true meaning of power words like "successulation," then check out this show.
"The whole idea of people coming in and saying, 'That was a great time in the theater ...' " Comstock says.
" ...Yeah, we want to live up to that," Alexander finishes.
See the show at 9 p.m. May 30, 8 p.m. June 1, 8:15 p.m. June 3, 7 p.m. June 4 and 9:15 p.m. June 5 at Art Academy of Cincinnati, 1212 Jackson St., Over-the-Rhine.
