Red, White and Ignorant: An American Love Story
Red, White and Ignorant: An American Love Story
By Spencer Downing
Pink Venue
Orlando International Theater Fringe Festival, Orlando, FL</strong>
This year’s Fringe seems packed with more then the usual selection of great monologists. I entered this show not expecting much as the publicity and beer tent buzz were minimal to non-existent. But once the show began, I found a compelling story of a man’s disillusionment and loss of ideals as a teacher. Mr. Downing graduated from college at a loss for what to do, and ended up in the Teach America program, a sort of military academy for academics. Infused with ideals and sense of his own immortality as a teacher, he was sure he and his compatriots could wrench America’s children from the worst of poverty and abuse by instilling them with grammar, mathematics, and a knowledge of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Needless to say, this didn’t pan out.
As Mr. Downing tells his story, he adds layers of clothing and experience, transforming himself from a feckless colleague grad to a hardened teacher of science to the rednecks of rural North Carolina. His best students send him threatening letters, and after a few months, the realization dawns on him – these people can barely read, and if they did, they wouldn’t be interesting in reading much beyond the next issue of Field and Stream.
While the material seems unpromising, Downing’s delivery and confidence hold your focus for the whole hour. While his experience is bleak, he isn’t, and is message boils down to “You’re not as smart as you think, but that doesn’t mean change is impossible.” Creative ignorance can make a difference – it’s the practicum of what you accomplish that matters, and not your high. Ben Franklin said something like that long ago, and he’s almost always right.
This show is presented as part of the 17th Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival. Information on times, tickets, and venue location my be found at http://orlandofringe.org/</a</em>>
