Dillon Stein

The reason I ended up seeing this show is because of an interaction I had with the cast my first day at the Fringe. A couple cast members approached me whilst playing accordion and talking complete nonsense, the one with the accordion was talking about how he was on his way to the North Pole and everything was going as planned. They asked if I cloud grow a mustache and handed me a pamphlet advertising their show. They warned that they’d remember my face and expected to see me at the show then they wandered off. As they left, I knew I had to see this show. I thought to myself “Who was trying to go to the North Pole? Why the North Pole? Why was he playing accordion? Above all else, why the hell did I need to grow a mustache!? It was random and seemed like a lot of fun, so I decided to go. Well, I can tell you, I got all of my questions answered (except the bit about the mustache.)

Now on to the actual show. My Love Lies Frozen In The Ice told a story of love, loss, and hope. It was more of a drama than a comedy which took me by surprise. The play starts with our protagonist, Matilda, in a mental health institution, telling the story of an unheard expedition to the North Pole. How all of that started with love… which was birthed through a gravy bowl. Let me explain, Matilda, from the mental institute, fell in love with long time co-worker/ friend Nills when she asked him to pass the gravy bowl at dinner once. When Nills did just that, their two fingers touched. They fell for each other right there. The show did an excellent job of transitioning from the mental institution to what Matilda was describing. The mental institution background was taken away and replaced for a dinner scene. Nills entered the stage and the gravy bowl exchange was made. The two continue to bond over various things. Until Solomon shows up, Matilda’s older brother. His introduction involves him throwing a cat off a balcony to test his hot air balloon of course. Solomon’s successful cat-flight leaves Nills and Matilida equally thrilled and terrified. They decide they want to be the first people to the North Pole, Unfortunately, right before takeoff, Matilda is told she can’t join and that it wasn’t personal, but society wouldn’t allow it. Distraught, Matilda’s eyes widened, and she looked so helpless and I felt bad. In truth I felt immense guilt because the actress was looking me square in the eye and repeatedly whispered “why, why, why,” as she was perpetually staring into my soul. Yeah, really glad I sat in the front. Out of anger and frustration she eventually storms off and is replaced by the loveable, albeit incompetent, Frankel.

The cast did some clever things to illustrate the journey. They used a fake air balloon and gave the ropes to a few members in the audience. The audience would need to release for lift off. When Solomon gives the word to release, Frankel gets a bit confused and released the steering ropes, possibly dooming the expedition from the start. At a certain point the cast uses a little prop air balloon connected to a small plastic candle. From the back of the crowd the air balloon model was released and made its way through the audience. Meanwhile, the cast stood on stage and reacted to how the air balloon was handled by the audience as they sent it to the front. Effectively showing their POV. It made for quite a clever and funny interaction. I would recommend this show to anyone, it was rather serious at times, but had a healthy amount of underlining humor. It left me thinking about how it all wrapped for the next hour of my day.