Uncertainty at Fringe.

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Eric Pinder wrote and stars in Uncertainty, in which he goes back in time to give advice to his younger self, Blake (Clark Levi). Clark has an uncanny similarity in appearance to Eric and he manages to mimic Erics every Mannerism. Blake’s demanding mother (Jessica Hoehn) is determined to see her son go to Princeton to become a lawyer but he has more artistic ambitions. The house lights flashed as Pinder returned to his past to confront his younger self in his 1960s tie die shirt. His first advice to himself was to moisturize his skin. Of course Blake doesn’t believe he is speaking to himself so Pinder had to convince him by remembering very specific  events form his past.

In a very convincing scene, Blake confides in a boy friend that he is attracted to him. The feeling is mutual and there is nothing quite like seeing young love bloom. When his mom finds out he is gay, she is confused. It doesn’t fit into her grand plan for her son. There is a lovely scene in which her husband comforts her and the love between the married couple feels tangible. That level of affection used to seem unreal but I’m starting to appreciate it. The mom as the antagonist was on stage for only brief moments, yet she must have been a huge influence on young Blake. Why did she project so many ambitions on her son?

At on half hour, the show flew by leaving me wanting more. I barely had time to get my tiny sketch on the page. I imagine that going into your past could be useful, but the only tangible message seemed to be to stay true to yourself. The visit from the future must have prompted the ability to come out to his parents. Hiding who you are must have lasting future repercussions, but they were never discussed in the play. Friends and family accepted him for who he was. Most already knew.

Black in the Box at Fringe.

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Black in the Box starring Marlon Andrew Burnlet was held in the red venue. The screen at the back of the stage flickered with static, and the actor suddenly was thrust out from behind the screen. He would recover and make his way back only to be trust our again. Audio of slave auctions and viscous bidding filled the room. Whips snapped.

Ultimately he dragged out a large wooden box wrapped in chains. It was heavy judging from his gestures and the sweat that flowed down his back. He struggled to unwrap the box from its chains and then he looked inside and froze in horror. The audience couldn’t see what was inside. He stepped inside and the screen flickered backwards the dates jumping back decades and hundreds of years at at a time. In this was he immersed us all in the world of his past ancestors, reliving the lives of those who came before.

Slaves struggled and toiled with whippings and starvation as their only reward. Families were ripped apart. Ultimately the Civil War brought with it the hope of freedom. The actor wore a tattered uniform and fired a gun at his oppressors. However this hope of idealistic freedom was short lived as racism meant that jobs weren’t much better after the war.

Just being able to wear shoes was a luxury and as soon as he put the shoes on he began to tap dance, feeling the rhythms of his past. Vaudeville offered a place to earn a buck through dance but it was grueling work. Hecklers from the audience treated him like a dancing monkey, an oddity. Between performances he took out a hip flask and sipped booze. His pants were piss stained. Throughout, the actor wore masks that were grotesque visions of how blacks were seen by their oppressors.

This was serious and strong theater. I felt uncomfortable at times, perhaps guilty of my white privilege. I glanced around the audience to see that there were no black reporters in the press preview. The actor threw himself into the rolls, sweating profusely and exerting himself in every way. Historic photos reminded me of every phase of my country’s inhumanity to man. Several hundred years later that inhumanity remains. An insane man can use an assault rifle to gun down dancing patrons a dozen at a time, blacks, whites and Latinos.  Progress is slow and painful.

The Lawn of Fabulousness at the Fringe.

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Much of the magic of the Fringe happens on the Green Lawn of Fabulousness. The beer tent is the place to go to order a beer and talk to actors and producers to find out the buzz about the top shows each year. As I was finishing up a drink and waiting for a friend, I noticed these fairy wings being created. I asked to do a sketch and she was fine with me sitting and observing. The wings made from flexible branches and light pink weave were going to be used for an interactive show happening in the evenings at the large live oak tree in front of the Mennello Museum. This wings had two battery packs which illuminated a series of tiny lights.

The wings were for Phoenix Tears Production’s Stardust After Dark immersive experience.The production company featured two immersive audio dramas at Orlando Fringe. With nothing more than a smart phone and a pair of headphones they will
transformed the area around Loch Haven Park into the magical Stardust
Kingdom. In Stardust After Dark, which takes place in the evenings, the audience encountered two characters as they invite
you to shed the mortal world and come and join them in an 18+
celebration full of pixie dust, rum, and the seductive call of a Siren.

I didn’t have a chance to catch the actual show. My only hint at the magic was this pair of light gossamer wings which were crafted with loving care.

Cows invade the Green venue at Fringe.

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We are all familiar with the cows that paint roadway billboards that read “Eat more Chikin.” The fact that cows cant spell comes across as endearing and cute. The fact that they are calling for the slaughter of countless chickens to save their own hides makes sense but might make more sense if they wanted everyone to become vegetarians or eat vegan.

This play, Now with Chikin was staged entirely on a billboard platform as two cows wrestle with the ethics of what they have been hired to do. The female cow had a pink fanny pack where her utters would be and the male cow wore a pink baseball cap. A slick advertising executive showed the audience that had a chart showing that the most successful advertising campaigns had cute animal mascots, like the Geico lizard. To sell more chicken, animal mascots were needed. The executive recruited a disgruntled female cow who was angry about the genocide of her species for burgers on Memorial Day. The other cow was concerned about raising enough money to raise his family. He did the job but had concerns about how chickens would now be murdered.

An angry chicken started throwing tomatoes at the cows as they worked. Tomatoes meant for the cows also bounced off into the audience. She had plenty of activist spunk. This was a fun premise for a show but it would have worked as a short much better than as a full length production. I started to drift as the cows discussed the ethics of their profession.

PeeVira’s SCAREavan at Fringe.

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I went to a press preview for PeeVira’s SCAREavan at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The van pulled up in front of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. A chauffeur wearing a black cap came out and welcomed the audience. She guided us ti the back of the van and opened the doors. A blood spattered curtain welcomed  us. This felt a bit more like a kidnapping rather than a show. we piled in and wedged ourselves up against the walls of the van cabin. I started sketching the cramped quarters immediately. We lurched forward and the show was on the move.

The van was driving over cobblestones. It made sketching a real challenge. Then PeeVira opened the curtain and sate back in the cabin with us. She got a phone call from a menacing third party and was told that if the people in the van didn’t answer trivia questions, then the van would be blown up. Each of us were given a microphone and we began singing a series of 70s and 80s TV theme songs. Luckily one passenger knew her stuff. Each right answers was awarded with some smarties candy. I managed to win one round by knowing the theme song for Sex and the City.

Most pop music trivia however eluded me and I kept getting soaked with a penis water pistol being fired by PeeVira. periodically there was a loud scream and we all wondered if the chauffeur had run over a pedestrian. From my sketching vantage point, I could see that we were circling the Shakespeare parking lot. The show was an unexpected change from the usual Fringe performance. It was fun if a little unnerving.

ThanksKilling the Musical at Fringe.

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ThanksKilling the Musical is based on the motion picture, “ThanksKilling” written by Jordan Downey and Kevin Stewart. The musical features music and lyrics by Jeff Thomson and Jordan Mann. With songs like “Boobies”, “The Jock and the Hick and the Nerd and the Slut” and Gobble Gobble Mother Fucker”, you know you are in for a fun ride. A stereo typical group of teens take a jeep on a road trip. It breaks down leaving them stranded. They make the best of the situation and build a campfire. The teens are terrorized by a killer turkey that began his killing spree because of some totem pole desecration.

One by one the students and then their parents are picked off by the killer turkey. One particularly memorable number featured Ali (Kayla Alvarez) having sex with her boyfriend the Hick (Johnnie Maier) . Greg is taking Ali from behind. Te turkey sneaks up behind Greg and slits his throat and then rapes Ali who is singing a song about Jon Benet Ramsey. She didn’t seem to notice the turkey as being any different than her boyfriend, until the turkey snaps her neck.

The remaining students do research and discover that they must remove a talisman from around the turkeys neck before they can murder the beast in a fiery blaze. All the music was campy and over the top. As one boy dies in the nerd’s arms they remember the amazing times they had together and sing a song of man love. Both are killed by the turkey and find themselves dressed in white singing a reprise to man love. If you like gore, sex and plenty of campy weird horror, then this is the musical for you.

Show Up at Fringe.

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Pete Michael Marino from New York City, grew tired of seeing solo Fringe shows about a person’s life. He decided to instead create a show built around the lives of members of his audience. He pointed out a quote by Woody Allen that said “Showing up is 80 percent of life. Sometimes it’s easier to hide home in bed. I’ve done both.” Since we had shown up for his show, he felt we were all 80% of the way towards an amazing and entertaining show.

Pete picked out a cute young woman from the audience and he dubbed her his stage manager. Her job became to reorganize the chairs and table for each scene. On the back wall of the theater there were large post it notes that were used to define the basic structure for the stories to follow. The audience was asked questions that then became the underlying structure for each scene.

Pete confided that he had been diagnosed with an early case of Alzheimer’s…. by his friends. He therefor was fine with staying “on Book” referring to loose notes he had scribbled on a sheet of paper. Much of each scene however was pure long form improvisation and he flew by the seat of his pants. According to him, he had no idea what he was doing which added to the allure that the show could potentially self destruct at any moment. He managed to keep the show light and entertaining despite the challenges.

After the last scene he divided up the audience into sections and invited us all to mingle on the stage for a party. I was assigned to serve imaginary drinks which I did with gusto. Once everyone had imaginary drinks in hand they felt comfortable to mingle and mix on the stage. A string of Christmas lights was unfurled among the party goers. It was certainly a fun and unexpected way to end the show.

Beau and Arrow: Crash Landing at Fringe.

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A Little Bit Off, from Portland, Oregon presented Beau and Aero: Crash Landing, a show featuring a whirlwind of acrobatic and slapstick antics. Pilot Beau and his sidekick Aero,two bumbling aviators,have crash landed, and will try anything to get back in the air. These foolish pilots live in a world where balloons are bountiful, laughs are abundant, and hardly a word is spoken.

After hearing a plane crash in the darkness of the theater, Beau stumbled out wrapped inside a parachute. A rag doll version of Arrow was thrust up and over a black backstage curtain. The house went black Beau tried to revive his side kick. she was fine, but playfully slid back to a reclined position any time Beau turned his back.

Much of the involved playful uses for balloons. Beau offered a balloon to a young girl in the audience and right before she grabbed it, he let go ad the balloon spit out air and flew away in s spiraling trajectory. A woman picked from the audience held a fool wide hoop which Beau shoot a sputtering balloon through. The balloons always flew off course. Somehow a ping pong ball was thrust inside arrow’s balloon. She squeezed the balloon and it shot the ping pong ball right into Beau’s chest. He then went into slow sequence in which he acted out his horror ad shock about being shot. He stumbled over to the woman from the audience, and she held him much like the Pieta as he faded away. The sweat on Beau’s brow reminded me that all the antics aren’t easy.

As a giant 5 foot high red balloon was inflated, the audience was covered with the parachute. Amazingly both Beau and arrow crawled inside the balloon. The audience was warned that there would be a loud noise, and the balloon popped To show that Beau and Aero had both changed into brightly colored acrobat’s jump suits. It is rare for a show to make me feel a child like wonder, but Beau and Arrow accomplished that.

Remaining show times,

Sunday May 28, 2017 at 4:30pm in the Green Venue 1001 East Princeton Street Orlando FL.

There aint No More; Death of a Folksinger, at Fringe.

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Death of a Folksinger is a one man show based on the legends of American Folk Music and the early vaudeville stage. Willie Carlisle took the audience on a high energy romp through the history of the music genera. The scene opened with Willie wearing an old man mask as he sang a lonesome tune. Different characters played banjo, violin, and a squeeze box.

He did a quick series of snippets as if performing with the USO for troops over seas. He would hold the banjo suggestively to his hips and thrust if forward announcing his presence at hill 69. Of course the hill had another number instead. A scroll behind him was turned to show a series of black and white shadow illustrations that visualized the characters in a song.

Described as a haunting and heartfelt hootenanny, the multi layered show had Willie exhausted and sweating as he danced and performed his heart out. The mask he wore had a skull painted on the inside surface and when he saw that he performed with even more gusto to try and save off death. I had fun documenting this very American musical performance.

Martin Dockery’s Delirium at Fringe.

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Delirium is a one man show starring Martin Dockery from Brooklyn New York at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. He is an amazing story teller. His high energy delivery is unrelenting. He has the most expressive hand gestures of any storyteller I have ever seen. His gestures are as expressive as the story being told.

He told a story about his desire to set up a restaurant at Burning man that only served strawberries. The irony was that he wanted the restaurant to have a huge staff of waiters, maitred’ and sous chefs. He had a year to plan but when burning Man fast approached, he realized he hadn’t done a thing to make his dream a reality. He finally decided to do it himself with a few throw pillows and a cooler. Embarrassed, he set up shop one night as everyone else was partying. He decided to call out to a hulk of a man in a black trench coat and dark hat. He though he had made a mistake as the man approached. however the man sat down and ordered a strawberry dish. Martin realized as he served up the dish that he should make small talk since he was sort of like a bartender. The conversation turned serious as the man related a story about that last time he was at burning man.it involved a relationship with a tragic ending. Just the act of listening helped the man in his healing process. A simple and silly concept served just one costumer, but the interaction changed both men.

Another vivid story revolved around the loss of Martin’s dog. His description of why dog ownership is so enticing had me wanting to get a dog for myself. There is something about walking down a street with a dog that is so excited about everything he encounters. As Marti  sat at his computer doing human things, he could look across the room at the dog and there was a realization that they were is that space and time together. Martin was there when the dog had to be put down because of a cancerous growth. The loss was devastating.

So many of his stories were about love and loss. With the loss still fresh in Orlando after the Pulse shooting that took 49 lives we all need to be reminded that love is possible despite the darkness of the infinite universe. It is the one thing that makes sense when facing an indifferent world. The frantic delivery of each tale makes the telling of the stories seem imperative and desperately needed. This is theater at its best with a storyteller relating stories that can touch and perhaps change and inspire anyone who listens.

Tickets:

Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 10:45 pm EST at the Pink Venue $12 plus a Fringe button.