Imogen and Frederick have come to this national park on their 24th anniversary in a desperate attempt to rekindle their passion. Frederick, who is played by a femme-identifying actor, is looking forward to the perfect anniversary: hiking the park’s trails, wading in the lake, and, most importantly, tracking the whereabouts of a particular bird: the Dickinson Blue-Breasted Warbler. But for Imogen, who is played by a masc-identifying actor, the woods are an entirely undesirable and ultimately unromantic place to spend an anniversary. In the very same campsite, October has arrived for a family campout to find that no one else in her family has shown up. Rather than go home, she decides to use this time to tackle the personal demons she has been running from. Meanwhile, a pair of camp hosts, Mumbo & Jumbo, are working with Ranger Dave to find the party responsible for a string of apparent campsite robberies. A true ensemble play, The Last Croissant employs magical realism, clowning, and whimsy to tell the story of nine crowded campers who hope to find what they’re looking for in the woods.
The Last Croissant
Critics
LemonMeter
Reviews: 6
Audience
LemonMeter
Reviews: 5
Reviews
This show at Hollywood Fringe Festival already sets itself apart by providing a pre-show featuring the cast out on the street where you line up and wait for entry. Thirty minutes before curtain, they sing campfire-like songs together and interact with the crowd, encouraging them to sing along as they ask if we are going camping with them.
The Last Croissant does a great job at story building a silly, creative world around a nature park by using its own special breed of comedy campiness.
A polished theater group that was well prepared and ready to entertain before I walked into the theatre with songs and entertainment outside. The actors put on a professional performance with witty lines sprinkled throughout. The bear and tea bag towards the end of the show were a very enjoyable surprise, and Ranger Dave was a hoot. Set design, costume, music, polished acting and a sense of real friendship between the actors was very evident and made the experience very believable for the audience. The Director, Rosie … well … what a theatrical gem!
A story of people who go into the words and are changed by it. I smiled. I laughed. I shed a tear or two while wanting to hit a couple of characters upside the head.
And in the end, I emerged from the woods a little changed myself.
Like its namesake, The Last Croissant is a melt in your mouth experience warm and filling this outstanding production by the Attic Collective will satisfy you down to the last buttery, flaky bite.
If there was an award for the most elaborate and complex show at Fringe, then this one would win hands down. The cast treated us to a pre-show outside the venue, which spilled over to the venue until it was time for the show to begin. The cast is uber-talented and were surprisingly great vocalists, not to mention the incredible musicianship of Luke Medina, who accompanied every song on his guitar. This is a true ensemble piece, and we salute every member of the cast – Julia Finch as Frederick, Medina as Imogen, Meg Cashel as Mumbo, Tyler Bremer as Jumbo, Veronica Tjioe as October/February, and Conor Murphy as Ranger Dave. Brandon Blum (Bear), Kat DeVoe-Peterson (Teabag) and Taylor Bennett (The Postal Service) provided excellent support to the main characters. There were even foley artists involved with the show. Tjioe’s playwriting was spot-on and beautifully realized by director Rosie Glen-Lambert, making this a truly fun way to spend a couple of hours at Fringe.
This show is loaded with silliness and an avant-garde aesthetic. Veronica Tjioe sets the stage with her wonderfully quirky script. Rosie Glen-Lambert expertly moves the pace of this show from each farcical setup to the next. She lets each strange and wonderful character breathe and become fully realized without letting them get over the top. The actors are all fully engaged in the show’s unique style and are all clearly enjoying themselves.
Get a ticket if you can. It’s tremendous amount of fun.
...The Last Croissant does succeed as a whimsical and entertaining experience that is presented with the confidence and unity of a great ensemble. Even if the audience might not always be sure of what we’re supposed to get out of it, they appear to, and that’s enough to bring us along for the ride.
The Last Croissant was a His Girl Friday meets Midsummer Night’s Dream meets Charley’s Aunt Mash Up. Fast paced dialogue and bizarre but endearing atmosphere makes for a wild ride through the wild.
The evening was a brightly colored collage of ideas and themes, but the two major stand outs for me were the heart felt performance of Luke Medina as a middle aged woman in crisis, and the performance of the Teabag by Kat DeVoe-Peterson who stole her scene with her adorable charm. Medina was grounded and a pleasure to watch. After the first moment of laughter when we are asked to believe that a young man with a beard and chest hair will be playing Imogen, we become completely enwrapped in his performance. And watching Medina and DeVoe-Peterson cuddle was one of the high points for me! Brandon Blum as the Bear also deserves a shout out bringing a calm sense of Zen to the cacophony of the other characters’ plights.
Interestingly, because the evening was a such a brightly colored collage of ideas, I sometimes became lost in the cleverness of the dialogue and plot, wishing for a simpler, more direct presentation of the main relationship between Imogen and her husband, Frederick. The script seemed like it was having so much fun, it almost lost it’s way a couple times. But, again, the key word is fun, and The Last Croissant was certainly that.
When I first walked in the room, the cast was playing music, the theatre was lively, and the whole atmosphere in general was perky and cheerful. I felt like I had walked into a high school improv camp (but not your corny high school improv camp. Like, the kind of improv camp that ends up being one of your best memories from high school). It was such a unique and clever way of engaging the audience right off of the bat. The set and costume design itself is gorgeous. It’s quirky, eclectic, and, like many reviewers are saying, very Wes Anderson (my fave). I absolutely adored the clever sound effects (SPOILER ALERT: balloon with feathers, umbrellas opening and closing to imitate a bird flapping) and how beautiful those sound effects looked (never thought I’d say sound effects can LOOK like something) on-stage. The actors are clever, quick, and have an excellent grasp on what makes characters lovable and, as much as I hate this simplistic word, funny. I absolutely loved the little details in physicality. It’s totally the kind of absurd comedy I go for and if you’re into Wes Anderson, charming design and characters, quick-witted dialogue and hilarious sexual innuendo, this show is for you.
This show is just delightful and wholesome.
I had a big dumb smile on my face the whole show. The jokes are funny and the characters are zany.
It was just a nice time. There was conflict, but it was all absurd and lighthearted. It's not DEEP MEANINGFUL HIGH DRAMA, but it's not trying to be. It's just so... WHOLESOME goddammit!
Also the teabag and bear steal the show.
The set was one of the most detailed of the Fringe.
The cranes were unexplained throughout the show and I'm of two minds about it. On one hand, not everything needs an explanation, but on the other, it felt like an element without a purpose.
It doesn't matter that much though. That is such a tiny gripe. Go see this dang show and just have a nice time.
This show at Hollywood Fringe Festival already sets itself apart by providing a pre-show featuring the cast out on the street where you line up and wait for entry. Thirty minutes before curtain, they sing campfire-like songs together and interact with the crowd, encouraging them to sing along as they ask if we are going camping with them.
The Last Croissant does a great job at story building a silly, creative world around a nature park by using its own special breed of comedy campiness.
A story of people who go into the words and are changed by it. I smiled. I laughed. I shed a tear or two while wanting to hit a couple of characters upside the head.
And in the end, I emerged from the woods a little changed myself.
Like its namesake, The Last Croissant is a melt in your mouth experience warm and filling this outstanding production by the Attic Collective will satisfy you down to the last buttery, flaky bite.
If there was an award for the most elaborate and complex show at Fringe, then this one would win hands down. The cast treated us to a pre-show outside the venue, which spilled over to the venue until it was time for the show to begin. The cast is uber-talented and were surprisingly great vocalists, not to mention the incredible musicianship of Luke Medina, who accompanied every song on his guitar. This is a true ensemble piece, and we salute every member of the cast – Julia Finch as Frederick, Medina as Imogen, Meg Cashel as Mumbo, Tyler Bremer as Jumbo, Veronica Tjioe as October/February, and Conor Murphy as Ranger Dave. Brandon Blum (Bear), Kat DeVoe-Peterson (Teabag) and Taylor Bennett (The Postal Service) provided excellent support to the main characters. There were even foley artists involved with the show. Tjioe’s playwriting was spot-on and beautifully realized by director Rosie Glen-Lambert, making this a truly fun way to spend a couple of hours at Fringe.
...The Last Croissant does succeed as a whimsical and entertaining experience that is presented with the confidence and unity of a great ensemble. Even if the audience might not always be sure of what we’re supposed to get out of it, they appear to, and that’s enough to bring us along for the ride.
A polished theater group that was well prepared and ready to entertain before I walked into the theatre with songs and entertainment outside. The actors put on a professional performance with witty lines sprinkled throughout. The bear and tea bag towards the end of the show were a very enjoyable surprise, and Ranger Dave was a hoot. Set design, costume, music, polished acting and a sense of real friendship between the actors was very evident and made the experience very believable for the audience. The Director, Rosie … well … what a theatrical gem!
This show is loaded with silliness and an avant-garde aesthetic. Veronica Tjioe sets the stage with her wonderfully quirky script. Rosie Glen-Lambert expertly moves the pace of this show from each farcical setup to the next. She lets each strange and wonderful character breathe and become fully realized without letting them get over the top. The actors are all fully engaged in the show’s unique style and are all clearly enjoying themselves.
Get a ticket if you can. It’s tremendous amount of fun.
The Last Croissant was a His Girl Friday meets Midsummer Night’s Dream meets Charley’s Aunt Mash Up. Fast paced dialogue and bizarre but endearing atmosphere makes for a wild ride through the wild.
The evening was a brightly colored collage of ideas and themes, but the two major stand outs for me were the heart felt performance of Luke Medina as a middle aged woman in crisis, and the performance of the Teabag by Kat DeVoe-Peterson who stole her scene with her adorable charm. Medina was grounded and a pleasure to watch. After the first moment of laughter when we are asked to believe that a young man with a beard and chest hair will be playing Imogen, we become completely enwrapped in his performance. And watching Medina and DeVoe-Peterson cuddle was one of the high points for me! Brandon Blum as the Bear also deserves a shout out bringing a calm sense of Zen to the cacophony of the other characters’ plights.
Interestingly, because the evening was a such a brightly colored collage of ideas, I sometimes became lost in the cleverness of the dialogue and plot, wishing for a simpler, more direct presentation of the main relationship between Imogen and her husband, Frederick. The script seemed like it was having so much fun, it almost lost it’s way a couple times. But, again, the key word is fun, and The Last Croissant was certainly that.
When I first walked in the room, the cast was playing music, the theatre was lively, and the whole atmosphere in general was perky and cheerful. I felt like I had walked into a high school improv camp (but not your corny high school improv camp. Like, the kind of improv camp that ends up being one of your best memories from high school). It was such a unique and clever way of engaging the audience right off of the bat. The set and costume design itself is gorgeous. It’s quirky, eclectic, and, like many reviewers are saying, very Wes Anderson (my fave). I absolutely adored the clever sound effects (SPOILER ALERT: balloon with feathers, umbrellas opening and closing to imitate a bird flapping) and how beautiful those sound effects looked (never thought I’d say sound effects can LOOK like something) on-stage. The actors are clever, quick, and have an excellent grasp on what makes characters lovable and, as much as I hate this simplistic word, funny. I absolutely loved the little details in physicality. It’s totally the kind of absurd comedy I go for and if you’re into Wes Anderson, charming design and characters, quick-witted dialogue and hilarious sexual innuendo, this show is for you.
This show is just delightful and wholesome.
I had a big dumb smile on my face the whole show. The jokes are funny and the characters are zany.
It was just a nice time. There was conflict, but it was all absurd and lighthearted. It's not DEEP MEANINGFUL HIGH DRAMA, but it's not trying to be. It's just so... WHOLESOME goddammit!
Also the teabag and bear steal the show.
The set was one of the most detailed of the Fringe.
The cranes were unexplained throughout the show and I'm of two minds about it. On one hand, not everything needs an explanation, but on the other, it felt like an element without a purpose.
It doesn't matter that much though. That is such a tiny gripe. Go see this dang show and just have a nice time.