Rochester Fringe Festival 2025
Thicker Than Blood
Punk Muse Performance Company
Genre: Drama
Venue: School of the Arts: Black Box Theatre
Festival: Rochester Fringe Festival
Low Down
While the production begins by addressing human isolation through relationships in a very general sense, the play opens up to share specific stories from this ensemble cast of estrangement, parenthood, grief, relationships and more.
Review
A large trunk labeled “EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE” sits up center of an otherwise empty stage at the opening of the play. Sometimes subtlety is more effective, but sometimes some blunt and even comical honesty is the way to go. This production, Thicker than Blood by Punk Muse Performance Company, leaned into the latter. Labels like “rejection,” “shame,” “depression,” etc. are handed out and cast members attach them to their costumes as they continue through their actions together.
Each cast member took the stage to tell their own story of family – abuse, bullying, fatherhood, estrangement, isolation – and the stories show by example that blood ties are often the most toxic, the most addictive and hurtful, the most removed from the relationships we actually need as humans. And that the connections we choose are often the most surprising and while difficult to accept, they can be the most fulfilling when blood family falls short or fails us entirely.
The production utilized some variety in portraying the different vignettes; most were monologues delivered directly toward the audience, while a couple others utilized voice over while the actors were otherwise engaged. A specific example that was done effectively was of one woman expressing her conflict, grief, and identity through interpretive dance while her monologue played over top of the action. The production was most effective when the stories were specific, when the characters we
saw become real, fleshed out people, floundering their way through struggles and epiphanies alike. And being present as an audience member for each actor to share their specific stories, both humorous and tragic, was genuinely moving. The performers used intricate, poetic, and sometimes intoxicating language, leaning into powerful and compelling images with words that sometimes felt more like poetry than monologue.
A throughline of the production is how the connections and relationships we choose are often so much healthier and more valuable than the ones we’re born into, and the connections between these unrelated cast members. There were a couple effective moments between monologues that represented that connection i.e. passing a soccer ball from the cast member leaving to the cast member entering the stage, but for as much as the idea of connectivity was emphasized, there was a lack of consistent interaction, which I felt was necessary for the overall theme of the production.
While the play opened with generalities, generic terms and ideas of suffering and angsty ruminations that were more fitting for a college production, it progressed into something deeper, more realistic and relatable, with a diverse cast that created a truly lovely unified picture at the end of the performance. I’m looking forward to seeing how this powerful exploration of relationships develops its portrayal of connections and deepens its understanding of chosen family.
