The Hollywood Fringe Festival Review: RITUAL

RITUAL pumped saucy sex scenes, rampant murder, and brutal betrayals. Was it an extreme haunt? No. Perhaps a quality Lifetime Original Production? No. What about a medley of Shakespeare’s biggest hits? Bingo.

Walking into Full Circle Players’ RITUAL I did not know what to expect. Walking out, I found myself retroactively restoring the hours I had once thought were lost inside an industrially produced school desk.

In promising to hold up a minor to humanity, the Full Circle Players take Shakespeare as their lens. Snapshot performances from Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Othello peppered the stage with drama and intensity. The transitions between these canonical plays were even more fascinating because they dusted the cobwebs off stories otherwise left to sit on the shelves of academic institutions. Snaps must be given for the two bearded dudes who performed Romeo & Juliet. They have forever changed what I want to see in any performance of the Shakespearean staple moving forward.

Falling more into the camp of traditional Fringe Festival fare, RITUAL, through the versatility talented stable of actors in the Full Circle Players, offer a sure-fire, heated hour of entertainment. Should you find an opening in your schedule, pencil in this complex and densely packed performance for your whole family.

For more information or to purchase tickets to RITUAL, visit http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/4347