Splash!
Splash! Written by Brandon Roberts, Jason Horne, and Mike Koenig
Directed by PB&J Theatre Factory Production
Music by Mike Gill
Starring Kate Zaloumes
Orlando Shakespeare Center, Orlando </strong>
Get to this show early so you can listen to the pre-show music, its jam packed with obscure songs that all seem to use the word “woody”, including one I’ve never heard before “She likes my little…” Well, you know. After a few choruses of this, I’m ready for a trip to the beach. We open in a travel agency with Kate Zaloumes stamping passport applications. Her boss Becky Eck steals her prospects, and she drifts off into a day dream. Sun, surf and an annoying cell phone ring fill her day as she dreams away on a clever flip-over set. She falls for slick Joe Summer (Jason Horne) with his leather coat, dark glasses and switch blade comb. He’s got other plans; Becky Eck expanded in this dream and continues to taunt Kate as does Clancy Gull (Mark Koenig) and the Gull Gang. Her little travel agent heart is broken, so the witch Doctor (Brandon Roberts) send her on a quest – she needs a white coat from the gulls, a red pair of sunglasses from Becky, a green comb from Joe, and a Blue surfboard from the doctor to enter a surfing contest and find where her heart truly lies. It’s like “Into the Woods” but without the complicated Sondheim soundtrack and endless symbolism.
With no dialog and a ton of sight gags, this show doesn’t suffer deconstruction easily, but will keep you engaged with clever costumes, low impact romance and a gang of completely cool sea gulls. The easy bird poop jokes are passed by; the bathing suits are modest with even Mr. Roberts’s costume failure a non-crisis. There’s an exceptionally early start time, so it’s safe to bring the kids and still get them to bed before they fuss. Summer at the beach with mimes? No problem, just imagine they just put on too much sunscreen. Just don’t try to explain the preshow music to your kiddies
For more information on PB&J you’ll have to visit them on Facebook
Orlando Shakespeare Festival has a real web site; you can find it at http://orlandoshakes.org/</em>
