First look at My Princess Bride

– Actor Joe Brack talks about his Fringe show –

I’ve been in love with “The Princess Bride” since 1989, when I first saw the film. I’ve carried a copy of the novel with me everywhere I’ve traveled, since 1999. I think the tale of these finely crafted characters is one of the riches pieces of writing in contemporary fiction, and it’s a fairy-tale.

Nine years ago, I started to develop the idea of a stage production. It turned into a one-man piece, which I know sounds ridiculous, and it is.

– Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, chases, escapes, giants, monsters, true love, miracles. We got all that, maybe not as you envision it or remember it, but we got it. –

We’ve developed a character, I think, a constant work in progress, a voice that brings the story to the audience. It’s a sharing, in which I hope the audience will actively participate in.

We’re not having some guy stand in front of people to try recreate a film, it’s about the effect that literature can have on people.

Matty Griffiths and I have work on several shows together ever since I moved to DC in 2006, most recently The Santaland Diaries which we try to do every Christmas. We’ve got a great group of creative people working on it: Mandy Yu, who I met on bobrauschenbergamerica, stage-managing and taking care of props, Chris Holland, who also lit our last production of Santaland, Chris Baine, recent Helen Hayes award winner, on sound, Matty’s directing, and I’m gonna perform it.

I believe we’ve created a really nice homage to the original work and only want to praise that. It’s a story that was revealed to me in a certain medium, which had been transferred from it’s original medium, and I feel I’m just presenting this tale in yet another medium, live and in 3-D, live theatre.

I’ve loved this story most of my life and I only want to share it.  Oh, and my South Boston roots are all up in it.

My Princess Bride runs July 14 – 29, 2012 at Gear Box, 1021 7th St NW DC, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC.

This production is presented as a part of the 2012 Capital Fringe Festival, a program of the Washington, DC non-profit Capital Fringe.

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Joe Brack is a theatre artist currently residing in Washington, DC. He is a huge fan of all forms of the arts and is intrigued by the process in which we all create. He has also written and done illustrations for DC Theatre Scene. Follow Joe’s adventures in theatre and art at  JoeBrack.weebly.com