One fringe festival staple is the one-man show. Many of them are autobiographical, or nearly so. I sure hope that "Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown" is not.
Joe Hutcheson does play himself and a few other characters, but the main character and narrator is the Southern Belle of the title, also played by Joe, who after choking to death on a piece of pork just after the start of the Civil War has mysteriously inhabited the body of Joe, a gay New Yorker as he embarks on a solo vacation to Provincetown, Mass. She's apparently been in there a while, lurking and learning, but during this vacation she becomes more aware of Joe's body, manages to take it over from time to time, and carries on a set of hilarious conversations with her landlord (bodylord?) as they get accustomed to sharing.
It's quite the culture clash, but interesting to see how Joe and Magnolia enrich each other's life, or after-life, as it were, she with her rules of decorum and he with his modern world view.
Remaining performances are 7 p.m. Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 8:45 p.m. Friday. For more information, visiting www.cincyfringe.com.
Bottom Line: Highly recommended.
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