Poems for God was a hilarious one woman show at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Victoria Watson Sepejak, a Toronto based artist looked like a 10-year-old boy with baggy pants, a yellow jacket which was a bit too big, and a skull cap. Her mannerisms and her petite size made her very convincing as a young boy. People in the audience were throwing things at her on stage. They were not tomatoes, but she made it seem she was devastated any time an audience member managed to hit her. It was a fun interactive show from the moment the audience got settled finding their seats.
For her first sketch, she wanted to go sledding. She brought a black plastic sled on stage and then she saw her father in the audience. Her father was actually a surprised member of the audience. She asked him if he would pull her up the hill while she was in the sled. He agreed and dragged her around on stage. She took delight in every moment and expressed her affection for dad helping her out.
After a quick costume change, she sang about the ideal of womanhood while Belle from Beauty and the Beast was on screen singing about wanting more that her provincial life. One clip kept repeating of a gruff baker yelling at his wife, “Marie, the baguettes, hurry up!!”. Victoria read deep into the ongoing verbal abuse that Marie must have to endure. When repeated over and over, you begin to wonder if more than bread is pounded each day by the baker in this provincial village.
Late in the show, the actress performed as a men’s club dancer. She wore a cheep blonde wig and danced with plenty of twerking. I still couldn’t get over the fact that she still seemed to be 10 years old. The man she had brought on stage to act as her father now was brought on stage to squirt body lotion on her while she acted like she was enjoying the shower as if in Flash Dance. She opened her mouth but thankfully the dad missed the mark getting it in her eye and face instead. Though funny, it also felt very wrong.
This was a very funny hour that twisted ideals of affection, womanhood and sensuality.