Dock Work

Jack Donkey Delivers Again!

I went to the show with my step dad and we really enjoyed it! The band and the actors were all very talented. There were a lot of repetitive movements throughout the show. I thought it represented being a cog in the capitalist machine. Being stuck in a rut, with no freedom or creativity. Being expected to work through hard emotions, poor conditions, and even when your body fails you. It mirrored the physical labor a lot of workers do the day to day, often with no union protecting them if anything happens to them because of their job. The tangled, messy prison our capitalist system has created. We're trapped! Great performance and I'm glad I could see it!

Yoooooo

Great movement, spoken word, music, message. EVERYTHING ROCKED

Movement and Music

Fans of Jackdonkey will recognize many familiar signatures of Zack Christensoen's work. Red yarn, punk music, and a beautiful physical vocabulary he and the actors use to create some really stunning images. This is a piece I don't know if you'd see anywhere else. A delicious fugue state of poetry, dance, and the angst of the downtrodden amplified by a swell cast and a great band. Catch dockwork before it leaves port!

DOCK WORK - Incredible

I loved dock work! A great piece on unionization in a time where Unions are everywhere in the news! A must see before the end of fringe

Loved the movement

As someone who has worked in a union shop before and knows the value of collective bargaining, it was a great message to those that haven’t . That if we all stick together we have so much more power than going it alone. Great job!

If this show doesn’t piss you off, it should

The message will be lost on the dumb souls who need it most. Scenes scripted so purposefully mondaine it made me want to punch my mother for birthing me into this meat grindr. Bring earplugs unless you want this performance to be on the dwindling list of sounds you’ll be able to hear afterwards. Worth as much time to see as whatever cog you are spinning.

Directed Aggression

We're all dressed in uniforms and office attire laboring until we die. This show is hyperfocused in its thematic content of unity of workers and animosity toward employers. It's periodic jovial nature is undercut by a raw, aggressive series of performances comprising of original and appropriated literature and dance. The performers capture the poise mastered through laborious repetition and rigidity and harshness forced by surviving workplace conditions. It's a beautiful brutalist juxtaposition resulting in movement that gave me chills. There is also a live cover band reveling in the grunge genre and playing their hearts out. This show celebrates the experimental potential of performance and raises contemporary class consciousness. It is a must see for Fringers who are pro-labor, fans of the avant garde, or punks!

don't even fucking think about it!

creative movement piece! great performances! fun songs! love unions!

Powerful & Funny Message to 'The Man'

Funny section about what management always says about unions ("but we're a family here") is something every working stiff can relate to. I loved the conviction of the actors, the beauty in their words, and the raw sounds from the great punk band backing them onstage. Plus this one will have your group talking into the night afterward: What does the ball of red yarn mean?

Memorizing Movement

I was so intrigued with the movement in this piece. Did I understand it all? No. But was I entertained? Yes! The three actors were committed and engaged the whole show. Their spoken work pieces were great and they worked will together. There was a live band on stage which I thought was unnecessary and a little distracting.

D-E-F-T-A

This is a company that I won't miss at the Fringe Festival. Their shows are refreshing, engaging, and keep you on your toes. From a pre-show performance, to a post-show concert, I was locked in. Per the description: movement, movement, and text. All done with incredible detail. Volume was... a lot... but when you bring a modern-day Nirvana onto a Fringe stage, you kind of have to figure it out. Put this on your list, and remember D-E-F-T-A!

Jackdonkey has something to say. We should listen.

Jackdonkey understands the assignment: You have an hour to get on stage and present to an audience, many of whom are seeing several shows in a day, a piece that will stick with them and deliver a message. The direction here is the best kind: It is precise and confident, internalized by the performers and released by dance, synchronized movement, and potent choices of text covering layers of union struggle. The focus is beyond the docks here, as it should be. They are supported by a grunge band playing Nirvana earworms, brilliantly ensuring that when a lyric comes to you later, you are going to reflect on the plight of workers. The reach here is far, and it grips you. The volume of every element supports an angry message: You are a cog in the workers' machine. You can earn a little bread, but no roses. DEFTA. But this isn't a show by people giving up. Like the most important theatre being created today, it delivers a call to action. So, you're a worker and you're powerless because you think you're alone. What are you going to do about it?

Wow

Very unique. Very fringe. Very industrial. Felt like I was at a dystopian warehouse. Favorite out of my first day of Fringe.

Most solid experimental work I've seen in years.

Excellent work whether you agree with the political/philosophical themes or not. They were real and made clear use of mixed media (spoken word, movement, music, visual abstractions). While I would have liked to see the musicians more clearly incorporated into the message, I thought they added effective tone to the other elements. Not too loud! Just Strong! This is a great Fringe production. Go see it.

Rock’n it!

An amazing production with the unique dance movements depicting the struggles of the work environment and unionization. The live band was energetic and awesome. Thanks for an enjoyable moving show!

Great experience

The atmosphere as you walk in sets the tone of an unforgettable performance. The soundtrack was immaculate. If there was a way for me to listen to it again on my own time, I would take that chance immediately. At the performance I went to, the audio balance between the microphones and the instruments was off. At some points, it would be difficult to hear what lyrics were being sung. It doesn’t seem difficult to correct this common mistake, so I didn’t mind. It is the kind of performance that will really make you think. Performances like this are definitely the kind to make an impact on the audience. Everything seemed to have a purpose and a deeper meaning behind it. All of it was related to the theme of the performance: the struggles that workers face when trying to unionize. This play hit home for me. My mom and many of the teachers I had in K-12 went on strike about a year and a half ago. I had a first hand experience of the hardships that these workers go through.

Super dope

As someone who is more used to seeing live music, I thought this was a great mix of what I think of a play and a good live set.

A Manifesto + Modern Dance, Capoeira, & Qi Gong

If ever there was a genre of media that combined grunge with beat poetry, this would be it.

Too loud

Lots of great elements to this show filled with fans. I had to put in ear plugs and take them out to hear when the dancers had spoken word. I hope for the sake of this production, they can remedy the sound issues that I experienced.

Commentary trumps interpretation

This is from seeing show #4. In one sentence: the punk aesthetic felt fizzled among this rocking-rebellion-movement piece when unionization seemed to be the theme to hit home across all presented disciplines. In three sentences: sometimes counter culture rises, sometimes it falls. This one couldn’t quite rally its workers, as if the spotlight always shined on one of the disciplines over the other. However it’s a show who has segments worth the giggles and grimaces it creates, moments that may be worth your viewing.

Creative and Inventive

This was filled with excellent movement and story telling. Dock Work depicted the story of workers and the monotony of their jobs. The lack of union representation keeping them from moving up was spotlighted in the performance. Accented with live music and abstract symbolism with red yarn. Intriguing!

What did I just watch

This show was reaching so hard for something and missed the mark completely. The first twenty minutes were movement that really had no framework as to what was guiding it. The music was extremely loud, might I add. The spoken word pieces were all over the place and the one that was the most memorable had nothing to do with docks… it was about unionizing at Starbucks. The idea behind the spoken word was there, but it once again, missed the mark. The band seemed like it was a last minute addition, and was unnecessary. Overall, the acting was good considering the piece they devised. If you go, be prepared for a loud and confusing 45 minutes that seems to have nothing to do with dock workers.

Visually Stunning and Poignant

There is little more poignant than discussions of unionizing at the current moment with countless strikes across industries, high costs of living, and low wages. Dock Work uses familiar but fresh techniques to convey its importance; rigid grids and lines the actors follow, poetry, and an incredible live band. One of it's stand-out moments is their use of a ball of red yarn, where the actors unwound it in a triangle as if workers on a line, stretching and pulling at the string only to pass it on, getting themselves and their stools more and more entangled with every pass, only then to broaden it into an intricately spun web that was both visually stunning and thought provoking. Wonderful, experimental work!

UNIONS MATTER! Right for All Workers!

From the history of dock workers organizing through other workers of today, this show rocks! Using movement, dance, drama and music the audience is shown the importance of unions and sometimes the price of organizing labor. Don't be put off my anti-union people. See this show! YOU might want the rights and protection of a union, if you don't already have them. (Notes: I am a proud member of IATSE, Local 13 in entertainment industry! As a person with a neurological disability including sensory overload, the rock band was too loud and upstaged the spoken word.)

An excellent package

Everything about this show came together wonderfully. The music, the movement, the lighting, the costumes. Everything worked together to create a very specific and intriguing atmosphere.

Very loud

I loved the hats. The movement was fun to watch. The yarn interplay created a fun visual but I didn't piece together what the message was really about. Yes- I know. Unions, but like... how did the movement and yarn and band really cohesively put that message together? Dock workers and Starbucks have unionization in common, I guess...

A Drug Play World

Felt very in the "universe" of their last fringe show. But with new inspiration. Maybe some same cast? A lot of fun. A lot of intensity.

Banger

Great movement great words great music Lots of fun good message excellent show

Great performance!

I loved the combination of spoken word, movement, and music!

Great Raw Work

This is a abstract creation which tell the story of the working class. The cast and crew did a fantastic job building movement and I loved the live band aspect! I have never seen a Fringe show like this before and highly recommend for those interested in solidarity, punk music, and/or movement work

Liked The Pro Union Message

Loved the pro Labor message. But s lot of the material did not register for me. Lots of energy, but not clear I was tracking as well as I could have if writing an transitions were smother.

Touching Avant-Garde Art

The movement, music, and text were so well done. The ensemble worked together beautifully, and really utilized their movement to convey a powerful show of frustration and aggression. I’ve never seen a punk band onstage at Fringe, but they killed it! Such a touching story - the ensemble and the band absolutely crushed.

Passionate, Frenetic Fragments about Unions

Dock Work ignited the first night of Fringe with an explosion of sound and energy. The movement began in the pre-show and never relented. Dance, spoken word, sketch, Nirvana songs, red yarn, and other cacophonous elements coalesce in short stories about Unions. I felt sometimes the show became too abstract for the message to fully land but everything was delivered with such conviction by the cast and backing grunge band to create a uniquely memorable experience.

Captivating

I loved this production. The ensemble worked seamlessly together to paint a picture of life of the working class. The movement was captivating and the band brought a lot of energy to the stage. I highly recommend checking out this performance!

Incredible

An amazing display of spectacle. With nearly no set, a small ensemble manages to use a very spacious performance space with excellence.

Incredible! A must see!

This show was everything I didn’t expect in the most beautiful way possible. Songs that touched my inner spirit and poems and monologues that peaked my psyche. Please go see this performance!

DO Even Fucking Think/Talk/DO something about it

A few things out of the way: I didn't realize this was an AD showing, so there was a person speaking in the upper floor seats the whole of the show whom was, in fact, describing the show verbally for another audience member and not just talking ad nauseum about ... who knows what. That was my bad for thinking they were some very bad viewer until towards the end of the show when I could make out some of the words they were saying, which were describing the movements of the devisers on stage. And oh, were the movements captivating, as were the spoken poetry that each of three devisers shared the labor of weaving into their movement work. Shame that I kept getting distracted by the low whisper of a competing voice; the poetry itself was already so efflorescent and delicate in its imagery, ideas, and emotions but was very hard to keep apace with in light of the other voice. Perhaps this is a crude way to say it, that I am thankful for my senses to experience the sight and sound of spoken word, movement art, and music as they emulsify with themes of class struggle, of fighting for the redistribution of bread / housing / power while celebrating the capacity for humankind to create beautiful things with our vast array of intellects. Each devised segment had choreography that emulated the movement of manual laborers in ways that elevated such movement to that of inventive homage to the spirit and struggle of manual labor work. The music, performed by a three-piece, were a series of song covers with what sounded like adapted lyrics that I couldn't make out, but felt through the crushing flurry of noisy garage rock. However you're able to experience a show like this, with whatever sensory abilities, you ought to experience it. Written by Tri Vo, performer in Coyfish.

Beauty and Something Different

This is something out of a dream. Poetry, testimony, allegory and the like, complete with a live band! A manifestation of frustration through the lens of a tired and burnt out working class. Be prepared to draw connections, let your imagination run and let the ensemble assemble the canvas for your thoughts. Zach Christensen's direction shines in this as he curated events to flow with beautiful hills and valleys. Go see it!

Road cone zumba ended as a rock concert

It all started as a march, then a dance and a workoout with bar stools. Then working union screaming, and all ended up as a red string theory at the edge of rock music!

You Don't Have to Be Nice to Your Boss

This show is frickin' cool - the dancers move in a sort of clockwork fashion, or like an assembly line, that's perfect for a show about workplaces and unionizing. The punk band in the back is really punchy. There's a great bit where they simulate one of those creepy corporate anti-unionizing videos. I was lucky enough to see a woman who's been working to help establish various unions for 20+ years approach one of the performers outside the theater and tell them how much this show meant to them. Just really cool stuff