Ada and the Engine at Playfest.

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Prior to the rehearsal for Ada and the Engine all the actors sat at a conference table in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater with director David Lee for a Skype video conference with the playwright Lauren Gunderson. Lauren, who lives in San Francisco has been writing plays for years and recently has been getting rave reviews. David pointed out that she has resisted the pull of both LA and NYC. There were technical glitches getting the Skype conference started, having to do with audio and it was finally resolved by ignoring the digital tech and using an analog phone.

Each actor in turn got to ask Lauren a question about the play that they had been rehearsing. Lauren reminded us that a story should involve not just the conflict of separation or failed relationships, but also the revelations and excitement that comes from true discovery. The play is about Ada, a young strong willed and very intelligent woman who had a mind for mathematics at a time when women were only known for their abilities to win a man and raise children. Her mother, Lady Byron, had every intention of seeing that she followed the norms of the day. However when Ada meets mathematician Charles Babbage, they discover a true affinity in the power of numbers and the possibility of an analytical computing machine that could solve extremely complicated mathematical problems. Their excited revelations are the basis of the first computers that used punch cards to store data. Ada’s vision of the future of this machine even went on to imagine a machine that could compose music. She envisions a whole new world where art and information converge. A
world she might not live to see.

Although it is clear that Ada and Charles are soul mates, they never become involved since she was so much younger than he was. She ends up marrying a Mr. Lovelace who is handsome and a good dancer, but his vision of her responsibilities certainly limited her future in math and science.

This was a story of love,
friendship, and dreams of the future. It is refreshing and exciting to see a play in which two geniuses inspire each other. In an age where pop culture only celebrates sports figures and celebrities, this play celebrates inspiration and ingenuity, which should always be at the heart of the American Dream.

Playfest offers seven new plays over two weekends.

Tickets for “Ada and the Engine”

By Lauren Gunderson are $10

John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center

812 E Rollins St, Orlando, Florida 32803

Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 8 p.m.

PLAYFEST SPECIAL EVENTS

PlayFest Party!

Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Buffet dinner provided by Bubbalou’s Bodacious BBQ.

Saturday, November 4, 2017 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Buffet dinner provided by Spoleto – My Italian Kitchen.

Join the featured PlayFest 2017 playwrights and actors for an
exclusive PlayFest Party inside the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare
Center. Tickets ($12) for the PlayFest Party can be added onto your
PlayFest 2017 tickets online at www.orlandoshakes.org,
by phone at (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, or in person at the John and Rita
Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street). Only 60 slots per
PlayFest Party available.

After Orlando at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center.

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I went to a rehearsal for After Orlando which is part of Play Fest at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center. The stage floor in the Margeson Theater had beautiful postcard painted images of fall foliage from New York and New England. After Orlando consists of a series of short one a c) plays that are about recovery and loss after the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. A table was set up with scripts and other materials. Each rehearsal had to be short and succinct. There was a small green
hat made out of paper that had green triangular leaves as a brim. The
theater tech explained the she was going to be a strawberry for
Halloween and the hat completed her costume.

The first play, O-Town written by David Lee is a simple narration that describes Orlando in such a way that any tourist could identify with. It was reminiscent of Our Town. Landmarks and people are identified as they are on a typical day, and then how they will be changed after the shooting. A homeless man takes is upon himself to relight all the candles at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts make shift memorial. A merchant creates thousands of rainbow ribbons that are distributed around the world. The Center is faced with an incredible challenge after the shooting and they rise like a phoenix to meet the needs. 

In another play two men chat playfully. One is a professional boxer and he doesn’t want to be seen being affectionate in public because it would make him seem weak. His partner, found on Tinder, is playful and flamboyant. He wants to go to the club, but the boxer is resolute and wants to stay in. They share a connection that goes beyond sexuality. Music fills the room and the playful partner danced with abandon trying to encourage his stoic partner to join in. When he leaves to go alone to the club, his partner begins to sway to the beat, alone. It becomes clear that one of them might not live to see the next day. 

In another play, three men interact inside the club. They are celebrating life and poking fun at American culture that ignores their Latina culture. the in playful banter is endearing. As they dance, one of them freezes looking out into the audience. Then the other two freeze to see what sees. Each in turn falls backwards, as if hit in the chest, while letting out a loud staccato beat box vocal. They turn away from the audience. After a long pause, they each say their name and age. It was a sobering moment.

There were more plays that needed to be rehearsed, but I slipped out and drove to a friends. On the drive, I saw children dressed as skeleton’s and zombies as they pillaged a neighborhood for candy.  Orlando has faced a very real horror. Seeing the children wandering in the dark was strangely reassuring.


PayFest, runs from November 3rd to the 6th.

PlayFest offers you the rare opportunity to participate in the
development of new plays. Converse with playwrights, directors, and
actors while absorbing groundbreaking new works. This four-day event
tears down the barrier between artist and audience, putting YOU at the
heart of the process.

Your input is vital to the extended life of new plays. Many audience favorites from PlayFest have been developed into full productions in Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s Signature Series!

This season we’re dedicating PlayFest to six new plays plus a special reading of The Laramie Project. All selected plays explore issues surrounding the Pulse tragedy that occurred in Orlando in the early morning of June 12, 2016.  In selecting plays for the weekend, we’re concentrating on plays that explore the following issues:

  • LGBTQ struggles and responses to violence and hate
  • Discrimination against Hispanics/Latinos and efforts for acceptance and inclusion
  • Terrorism acts
  • Mental health and gun violence
  • Individual and community responses to mass violence

  • Individual Reading Tickets: $10

  • Click here to book individual tickets for PlayFest Readings. General Admission Seating.

Save now with a PlayFest Package!

  • PlayFest Pass – $49 per person (Value: $70)

    See all 7 Readings and save with a PlayFest Pass! Click here to book a PlayFest Pass.

  • PlayFest VIP – $100 per person

    Want to make sure you get one of the best seats in the
    house?  We’re offering the opportunity to upgrade your PlayFest Pass to
    VIP status to ensure a reserved seat for all six new plays and The Laramie Project.  Become a PlayFest VIP to reserve your seat up front in one of the first four rows of the Margeson Theater. Click here to become a PlayFest VIP.

  • PlayFest Patron – $250 per individual

    Reserved seating in the front rows of the Margeson Theater,
    complimentary drink tickets, special recognition in the program, and a
    private event with the PlayFest playwrights. Make your experience a
    memorable one! Please email development@orlandoshakes.org for more information.

Make a commitment to new plays! Call the Box Office at 407-447-1700 ext. 1 for more information. All Passes Expire November 12, 2016.

Drama erupts at Saint Mathew’s Tavern with Joe’s NYC Bar.

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I always tell people that if you sketch on location, some drama always unfolds. David Lee invited me to sketch at Saint Mathew’s Tavern (1300 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL) and there was drama in spades. I found a seat in the corner of the bar next to a large speaker and got to work. I sketch in bars all the time but I seldom get to experience this level of heart felt camaraderie and gut wrenching drama. From the outset I felt this was a bar where everybody knew my name and I was invested in these peoples lives. This was interactive theater at its best.

Joe’s NYC Bar is an interactive, improvisational, immersive theatre
experience in which the audience is transported to a bar on Manhattan’s
lower east side. Debuting as part of the 2001 Orlando International
Fringe Theatre Festival, Joe’s ran for 4 years and 76 performances. This
past March Joe’s returned from a ten year absence and was greeted with
positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The show sold out 5
of 6 shows in March and then all 4 performances at the 2015 Orlando
International Fringe Festival. Ten years later, Joe’s has proven to be a
concept and piece of theatre more relevant and popular than ever.

It was hard to tell where the play stopped and the inside jokes began. Some of the funniest moments were so topical that they had to be improvised. A straight laced Republican in a suit (Tim Williams) sat at my end of the bar and he seemed a bit out of place when everyone else was sleeveless or in T shirts. In a heated scene he confronted everyone saying “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through.” This was true of everyone in the bar. What unfolded slowly, pealed away the layers to expose the inner pain that drove defensive behaviors. Much later in the evening, the Republican returned to the bar and found his recently separated wife (Anitra Pritchard-Bryant) was present. The bar went silent before the couple confronted each other.

Christian Kelty originated the idea for this interactive show. The seed was planted when he worked in a Renaissance festival show that invited the audience to participate. In this age of social media people are often interested in the endless drama that surfaces online every day. We have become a society of reality show voyeurs. In this everyday bar setting it becomes easy to let go and become part of the scene. Over the course of the evening it was possible to get to walk a mile in each character’s shoes. Even in this rehearsal, I wasn’t sure who was an actor and who just happened to be there for a drink. With a sold out show, that fourth wall must be even more blurry. Add a couple of drinks and the line is further blurred. Live local music acts fill out the evening, making it a typical night in the Mill’s 50 bar scene. Don’t just go to see a show. Be the show.


6 Performances
Running September 13th-October 18th
Sunday Matinees ONLY!
3:00pm doors 3:30 Showtime

Tickets available at:
www.wanzie.com
$17 in advance / $25 day of show

The stellar casts features: Anitra Pritchard-Bryant, Ali Flores, John Connon, Michael Marinaccio, Jenn Gannon, Simon Needham, Christian Kelty, David Lee, Tim Williams and Jodi Chase.

Musical Acts
9/20 The Smoking Jackets
9/27 and 10/4 Eugene Snowden (The Legendary JC’s) and Friends
10/11 DJ Jay Ross Barwick
10/18 TBA

Dress Rehearsal

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David Lee the author of this play had been given the wrong theme before he started writing. Chasmin Hallyburton had told him the theme was Traditions rather than Transitions. He started writing at 2am and the final draft seems to fit the intended theme perfectly anyway. Play in a day works in strange and twisted ways.

Beth Marshall came out to the courtyard after lunch with some touristy clothing on hangers. She had a black mu-mu for John Connon who was going to play her. She gave him her necklace and he was given a big red wig and as the crowning touch, a Mickey Mouse beanie. Sarah Lockhard had a bright orange T-shirt that said, “Aqua Girl.” She was given a Stitch hat with floppy alien ears and a tiny Stitch head hanging from a chord. The fact that I had worked on Lilo and Stitch when I was at Disney Feature Animation warmed my heart. Stitch is as much a pop icon as Mickey now. Being the youngest member of the cast Sarah had fun playing a spunky child. Steven Middleton had his own costume picked out. His loud Hawaiian shirt had palm trees and a bright sunset against the bright blue design.

Beth wanted John to have her tattoos so I stepped in and painted the tattoos in watercolor on his arms and feet. His right arm had an intricate spiraling ivy pattern festooned with leaves and a spade. His left arm had an owl and each foot had a tattoo. I simplified the designs since I knew they would be seen from a distance. He was a little worried at how permanent they might be but I assured him they would wash right off. Watercolor always washes off my skin easily. Clothing on the other hand…

I watched the actors rehearse again and again till the play was second nature. Sarah grew more animated and energetic with each pass. Though I heard this short play perhaps 20 to 4o times, I always found something fresh and unexpected in each performance that made me laugh. When there was a line that said, “We’re traveling light, no props Missy.” John looked at his non-existent cigarette with disdain. Sarah discovered the sunroof as she shouted, “I AM a seagull.” Extending her wings in the wind.

Play in a Day

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Beth Marshall invited me down to the Orlando Shakes on November 3rd to experience the creative process of Play in a Day. Play in a Day kicked off the festivities for Playfest, the Harriet Lake Festival of New Plays which ran from November 3-6. When I entered the Shakes, actors were already divided into six groups and they were doing the initial read throughs of of the scripts. Play authors had been given the theme of unexpected transitions and a twist, no props allowed, the previous day. Most scripts had been written overnight right up to the moment they had been turned in at 7am. There was then a thirty minute pow wow between the writer, director and actors. Then the writers were asked to leave to avoid endless re-writes. I decided to sketch actors Sarah Lockhard, John Connon and Steve Middleton who were reading and laughing. The play was short, only about seven minutes, but it was fun. Someone in the lower lobby shouted, “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s funny!” Beth Marshal who had just sat down said “That is the perfect review.” Rob Ward had also stopped in to read the part of Michael Wanzie. He did a hilarious, spot on impersonation.

The short play, titled, “Family Road Trip” was about a family road trip to Orlando. Sarah was the daughter riding in the back seat and John played the mom while Stephen was the dad behind the wheel. David Lee the author now lives in NYC but he had a long history at the Orlando Shakes. Beth explained the piece to the actors, “David writes for the audience, the whole thing is a poem. He’s not Anton Chekhov.” She asked the actors to try a read through with British accents which she didn’t like, then Southern accents which worked better. When they pointed out specific Orlando venues, like the Orlando Science Center, the Orlando Rep and the Orlando Museum of Art, she asked them to loose the accent. Stephen asked for some clarification so he could better memorize the lines. Much of the dialogue centered around groupings of three.

David Lee texted Beth from NYC, “Do they like the skit?” Beth texted back, “Steven found all the deep meaning, Sarah is playing Veruka Salt and John is playing me! “When asked to describe the short play she was directing, Beth said, ” It is HA-Larious!” I decided to stick with this group of actors and see how the rehearsal progressed. They would have to be ready to perform at 7pm that night.

Fringe 0pening Night Gala Show

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The Fringe Gala Show was hosted by the Oops Guys, Dennis Giacino and Fiely Matias. They introduced a game show spoof entitled, “Drop your Balls!” This was an adult themed game show, so parents don’t let your children read this post! The five contestants were introduced and they sat in metal folding chairs in a neat line. Each contestant was given a clear nylon sack with several colorful balls. The sacks were tied to the contestants belts and they dangled between their legs. The rules were simple. At the end of the evening, the contestant with the most balls would win.

First in line for the brave contestants was an eating challenge. The challenges included, down that banana, spread the icing, suck a Twinkie or go down on Little Debbie. The first contestant was David Lee who is in the Pulitzer prize winning Fringe show titled, “Thom Paine” in the yellow venue. To find his challenge David had to “Spin the Asian” which involved gently pushing Fiely allowing him to spin in place. When he decided to stop spinning, he announced, “Suck that twinkie!” A chair was bought out to center stage and a plastic drop cloth was spread out on the floor with help from Katie Thayer dressed in a sexy red dress and knee high red leather high heel boots. She turned out to be from the show, “Big Swinging Dick’s Topless Bar and Naked Drag Queen Farting!” a hilarious show written by Carl F. Gauze in the green venue. The twinky was placed on the chair and gentle music began to play with the chirping of birds. David removed the Twinky from its wrapper, then he re-wrapped the twinky theatrically in the drop cloth implying he would only perform the act if it was done safely. He shouted, “This kind of reminds me of a Lucille Ball sketch.” He was awarded two balls for his performance.

Kevin J. Thornton from the show “I Love You, Were Fucked” was given the challenge to, “Down that Banana.” He turned his back to the audience as he gently peeled the banana which he held at his crotch. He then got on his back and lifted his legs and hips touching his toes way above his head. He then lowered his hips until he was able to nip off the tip of the banana. I wasn’t aware a person’s back muscles could stretch that much! The crowd went wild! He was awarded 3 balls.

Rob Gee who is in “Smart Arse” was given the challenge to “Lick that Pie.” He teased the pie by gently tapping it at first with his index finger until the crowd couldn’t take it anymore. He licked the red filling once and then devoured the pie in one ravenous mouth filled, masticating gulp. Lisa Sleeper was the only woman contestant. She plays Sleeping Beauty in “Bitches of the Kingdom” which is a musical satire about the pissed off princess’ of the Disney classics. Lulu Picart sang a song from the show. She plays Mulan. Since I worked so hard on that film with pride, doing so much overtime, I listened intently. The song was lyrical as she sang about how Asian girls are beautiful with those blossoms in their hair. But then she wondered why she was the only princess who didn’t get the guy. She realized she might be a lesbian. Fairy tails might be fine with some Gertrude Stein! Now this was a twist I didn’t expect, but I loved it, as did the audience! So Lisa had to contend with some sloppy banana action, she slipped the peeled banana in and out of her mouth multiple times before she dipped it in whipped cream and took a big ravenous bite. She was awarded two balls.

Pepe, who was there representing for Kids Fringe, was hilarious in every challenge. When asked to demonstrate how to give a flyer to an unsuspecting Fringe patron, Pepe provocatively insisted the audience member grab the flyer from his crotch with their teeth. When it came time for the contestants to count their balls, Pepe’s sack split open spilling all his balls on the stage. When his balls were collected, Pepe was the winner with eight balls.