Andrea Barello from Los Angeles California presented Fool of Grace a the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The premise was pretty straight forward, Fringe patrons could enter this sanctuary for a less than traditional religious experience.
Father Andrea walked on stage while crossing himself in a random pattern. I believe a Catholic will cross their heart from top down left then right to mark a cross on their chest. The father crossed himself in all manner of random patterns. He took a particular delight in sprinkling holy water on the audience. Being in the second row, I was in the splash zone. I leaned forward and shielded the sketch with my body. Working in watercolor was risky in this Fringe parish.
The whole show left me laughing. I am not Catholic, but I have seen enough services to understand how the father was twisting and mocking the service for our entertainment. As the father started, he wrestled a music stand to hilarious comic effect. It seemed that the father wanted to conduct a holy and sacred service but things kept going wrong. Holy water was held in a sacred Darth Vader cup. When conducting blessings for an audience member, the father was playing a tic tac toe game with his hand gestures.
The subtle physical comedy just kept coming. To add some musical punch to the service, he didn’t rely on traditional hymns. He chose excerpts from Jesus Christ Superstar to add some inspiring punch to the service. When. it came time to pass the basked among the sheep in the audience, The hit song, Money from the musical Cabaret loosened up the audience pocket books.
For audience participation, the father invited anyone on stage who wanted to confess their sins. The Ten10 Brewing theater space fell silent for the longest time. The father remained silent and soon enough someone got on stage to confess. This seemed a risky moment since the confession was heart felt and honest. The father offered assurances before finding a way to bring comedy back onto the mix.
So many religious services involve call and response and telling the sheep when to stand and when to sit. Since I was sketching I couldn’t keep standing and sitting, it would interrupt the flow of the sketch. When the father insisted that the parish all stand and start doing the Macarena, I had to follow along and swing my hips, sketch be damned. Any service that involves dancing in the aisles along with plenty of laughter is a service worth attending.