Ray Bradbury’s H2O at Fringe

Posted on by Thor

Susan Turner and Kangagirl Productions is presenting H20, conceived and performed by David Lee. I went to a tech rehearsal to sketch. The production is centered around three Ray Bradbury short stories. The Lake had a young boy yearning for a moment alone by running along the shore. When truly alone, he began to miss Tally, perhaps his sister or a dear friend who he used to help build sand castles. At 12 years old she swam out into the lake, never to return. He built half a sand castle hoping she would return to build the rest.

In The Season of Calm Weather, George Smith and his wife were vacationing in France. He didn’t mind the art of Caravaggio or the thick wormed yellows of a Van Gogh sunflower, but he truly loved the paintings of Pablo Picasso. He hoped to one day pay Picasso $5000, telling the artist “Give us the sea, the sand, that sky, or any old thing you want, we’ll be happy.” George took a walk along the beach and in the distance saw a tan old man drawing in the sand with a popsicle stick. He was drawing incredible figures. He was completely absorbed in his work drawing one figure and then another, and another. The sand flew as he sketched wildly. What appeared was free-running bacchanal, with satyrs, fauns, wine-dipped maidens, prancing unicorns, and piping youths dancing toward distant meadows, woodlands, ruined temples, and volcanoes.

The artist stopped and discovered George standing behind him. The artist shrugged his shoulders as if saying “Look what I’ve done; see what a child? Allow an old fool this, eh?” He wanted to run back to his room for a camera to capture the scene but there wasn’t time, the sun was setting fast and the tide was coming in. He only had time to walk along the length of the creation to soak it all in before the sun slipped below the horizon.  Then, the tide came in, ironing the sand flat. I loved this story which was a reminder that nothing we create will last forever. However as artists, we can’t help ourselves.

The third story was The Million Year Picnic, about a family trip to Mars. Blue lights on the edge of the stage created subtle ripple patterns on the ceiling and walls of the theater. This visual clue tied together the three stories, which each had the common element of water. The stories were at times haunting and foreboding about how small we are in the grand scheme of the universe. David did block out each scene by moving around the stage taking on the parts of each character in turn. His goal was to focus on the rich language of Bradbury. This created a staged reading where Ray Bradbury’s mesmerizing phrasing could shine. It was raining hard while this rehearsal took place further emphasizing the theme of H2O as the storm pounded the theater roof. There was magic in every moment.

Ray Bradbury’s H2O is in the Yellow venue in the Orlando Shakes,  812 E. Rollins St Orlando, Florida 32803. Tickets are $12 plus a $10 Fringe button. The show runs 60 minutes.

The remaining show dates are:

7:30 PM

12:15 PM

8:30 PM

10:45 PM

7:15 PM

Van Gogh Find Yourself at the Orlando Fringe Festival

Posted on by Thor

Van Gogh Find Yourself can be found in the Gold Venue inside the Orlando Museum of Art (2416 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL 32803.) A woman in line had said that she thought Van Gogh would be sketching everyone in the audience. I let her know that would likely not be the case. No artist works that fast. He sat on the stage sketching as the audience filtered into the theater. I sat in the front row to sketch him, and he immediately started to sketch me. He really does look like Van Gogh with the thick red beard and furrowed brow. He invited members of the audience to join him on stage, saying, “people kept a distance from me my whole life.”

He invited someone on stage to be sketches by him and the comedian Polly Esther, from Dammit Jim, I’m a comedian not a Doctor took the seat offered. He stood at the easel and sketched her. She pitched her show as she was being sketched but then he explained that silence while creating is alright. He started talking about his life as a minister in a coal mining town. When he saw the suffering around him, he gave up his possessions to live more like the people he was preaching to. His father intervened and told him to stop being so dramatic. Ultimately this was not to be his life’s work.

His brother Theo suggested Van Gogh learn to paint. This he picked up with an equal passion. Theo helped support Van Gogh’s painting obsession and ultimately he settled in the south of France. He had dreams of starting an artists colony and Gauguin took Theo’s several hundred dollar stipend to join Van Gogh painting in the south of France. The two artists had totally different views on art and were soon fighting.

Van Gogh said that many of his best paintings were done in the insane asylum. Starry Night was projected on the screen. He found peace away from people. The towns people tormented him. He dispelled the notion that he cut his own ear off saying Gauguin cut him with a saber. He did admit to giving the ear fragment to a prostitute. He also dispelled the notion that he committed suicide. He claimed he was shot by a boy he approached in the fields where he painted. He didn’t want the boy to be in trouble so he kept the incident to himself. After he died, a doctor took some of his best paintings. Theo died shortly after wards of a broken heart.

When the artist on stage announced his true name was Walter DeForest, the illusion was broken. Walter was born on the day Van Gogh died.  Surprisingly the original Star Trek doctors actual name is DeForest Kelly. I had  learned many alternate truths about one off my favorite artists. As an artist this was a fun show to watch and sketch. I give it 8 of 10 sunflowers.

Tickets are $12 plus a Fringe button needed to get into any show.

Remaining show dates are:

7:15 PM

2:30 PM

Winter Park welcomes Dogs and bans Artists.

Posted on by Thor

On December 14, 2015 the City of Winter Park passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for artists to “perform” on Park Avenue, New England Avenue and Hannibal Square.  “Perform” is broadly defined as, ,”acting, singing, playing musical instruments, pantomime, mime, magic, dancing, artistry or the sale of visual art and wares.” The broad definition is because a city can’t discriminate based on content. Any artist caught performing could face 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. To protect our first amendment rights, the city designated Winter Park’s Central Park as a “First Amendment Zone.” This will make the annual Winter Park Sidewalk Art festival happening this coming March, a perfectly legal money maker for the City and Park Avenue merchants. If I try and sketch that festival from the opposite side of Park Avenue however, I could go to jail. It could be argued that taking a cell phone photo could be considered “artistry” or even witchery so keep those phones in your pockets people.

The ordinance, “finds that the existence of street performers … would interfere with
the public health, safety and welfare of the pedestrian traffic … [by]
attracting audiences which congest the prohibited public area” and would
“adversely affect the city’s interests in the aesthetics in a city with
a unique historic downtown district.” To think that a visual artist might attract an audience that could block traffic is ridiculous. Most people don’t even notice an artist at work. I’m also surprised they think artists are a public health hazard and ruin a city’s aesthetics.

The ordinance was modeled after a similar ordinance in Saint Augustine which bans street performers and artists. That ordinance is being contested in court. That ruling is still pending. Winter Park merchants decided they need the ordinance because of some rather loud street performers. One band allegedly used a car battery to power amplifiers that blasted the music so loud that nearby merchants couldn’t hear their own store muzak or thoughts. Rather than come up with an ordinance to ban amplified music or restrict noise above a certain decibel level, the city decided to ban all artists. Visual artists are not street performers. They are no more intrusive than a person reading a book, or an iPad. This is something that city officials and law makers do not seem to understand.

On January 5th, I was invited by a Winter Park merchant to sketch and report on the opening of their new men’s department store. I got to the store a bit early and peaked inside to find the place rather empty. It looked like a boring sketch opportunity.  Instead I strolled up Park Avenue with every intent to break the law. I stopped in front of Bank of America and decided to sketch a group of men having a bottle of wine outside the Wine Room. The scene reminded me of a cafe painted by Van Gogh in Provence. Thank god police didn’t catch him in the act. Flames flickered up in the vertical space heaters at Luma. For once it was cool enough out so that I wouldn’t sweat as I sketched. One person walking by joked that my sketch wasn’t complete, since I didn’t include the bank’s ATM. Another person wanted to shoot a photo of me at work. I allowed it, but now realize that the photo could be incriminating evidence in a court of law.

It turns out, that an old friend, was one of the men at the table. He was seated facing away from me, so I didn’t notice him at first. When he got up to leave he noticed me sketching and came over to say hello. He joked that most of the men at the table were deviants, but little did he know that he was speaking to a hardened criminal practicing his dark and mysterious craft. I love the warm glow of Park Avenue at night, but I was lucky that I wasn’t caught as I tried to capture it. Winter Park is now a place that doesn’t welcome artists, so I will simply no longer consider it one of my sketching destinations, unless there are protests against this insane new ordinance. After finishing a sketch, I usually order a drink or food, but this night I slipped away like a criminal into the night.