Fringe Fest Show Says 'Tread Lightly on Planet Earth'

×

Expand

Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Fringe Festival

Selena Milewski and Karl Baumann

Headlining the opening day of the Milwaukee Fringe Festival on Saturday, Aug. 24, Selena Milewski and Karl Baumann’s one-act, two-person dance-performance piece explored the future of our planet and our current disregard for recycling plastic and garbage.

Three large tires and a seashell set the stage. Milewski in white and Baumann in black danced with flashlights eerily illuminating the tires. Techno minimalist music set this ballet as Milewski gracefully, acrobatically swam atop the tires. The duo’s kinetic drumming on rubber surfaces became a rhythmic pulse accompanied by wordless vocals. The scene was reminiscent of the nearly silent “Twilight Zone” post-apocalyptic episode with Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery.

Discovery of the shell turned back time with a costume change as part of the dance. Milewski was transformed into an albatross (as well as the canary in a coal mine), while Baumann was costumed as a suited businessman. The tires are now stacked three tall—a minor skyscraper. Milewski’s tai chi-inspired movements contrasted with the harried dance of a businessman in a rush. “Would you like paper or plastic” is a question destined to haunt us. The voiceover of how his company takes care of plastics, the flick of a cigarette butt and the offhand toss of a plastic soda bottle cap set up the final scene.

A red backdrop and news report revealed dangerous levels of plastic in seas, violent weather, panic and famine. He read a letter to his daughter, urging her to save herself and others.

Sadly, perhaps the young graduate Benjamin Braddock was right: The future is plastics.