One Act Festival
One Act Festival
Breakthrough Theatre
Winter Park, FL</strong>
It’s spring and Arts Festivals are popping up like condos after an interest rate cut. Problem is, they don’t seem to coordinate very well and three or four fell this week. With only a single weekend and an erratic set of shows, what I might have missed as Breathrough’s premire event, but I’ll fill you in on Saturday nights event.
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“Relatively Craze” (written and directed by Danielle Dilks) brings to the stage the flavor of early Andy Warhol surrealism. It not clear that was the intent, but that what this 20 minute shorty felt like. Aggie and Clarence (Fo’i Meleah and Christian Barba) sneak into her mom’s house. Aggie want’s to spice up their love life with a quickie on the antique carpet but Clarence isn’t so sure; there might be dog hair in that rug. As they debate whether they should divorce so Aggie can hook up with the pizza guy, a steady stream of relatives enter, each with their own little agenda. Like a cloged pipe, they say their piece and then hang around on stage like day labourers, hopeing the writer will give them something to do. The climatic even is an on stage birth which mirros Dashilee Hammets detective wrting advice: “If you don’t know what to do, add a man with a gun.” The acting was recitative more than emotive, and this is as good as an example of why writers shouldn’t direct their own material.
After a short break (OK, I want home and had dinner) “The Scandalous Edward George” (Katie They and directed by Mike LiCastri) took us through the moral dilemmas a presidential candidate might face. Edwin George (Christian Checker) made it as far at the convention with his ideals unsullied. But that nomination speech opened him up to ever so much bigger contributions from evil industrialists (Alberto Piedra) and he becomes the focus of an epic battle between Good and Evil. Delilah (Joanna Eliza Steven) haunts him in a short red dress and Angela (Rachel West) flits around on ineffectual wings. Like any good mortality play, there are advances and feints on both sides, and when the Woman In The Crotch-High Slit Skirt (Olivia Murphy) attacks, Eddy folds.
While this story has the potential to become a brutal lecture, Thayer and LiCastri take deft approach, and the morality is frosted with enough laugher coating to make this medicine pretty tasty.
“The Pier” (Written by Michael Licastri and directed by Katie Thayer) is little more than 20 minutes of ’90s pop culture references, but they are darn funny references Mike LiCastri picked up a full ride to law school in Atlanta, and his buddies Mike Hawley and Mike Maples try to talk him out of leaving home. Reason to move to Atlanta – midget strippers. Reasons to say home – it’s where your buddies are, and no one ever makes friends in law school. While Hawley was heard to hear, Maples did an excellent job of emoting with a mouthful of fake Ritz crackers. He also nicked me with his stunt fish hook, but the bleeding stopped with some ice and a small tourneqite. If only they could have explained who Justin Bieber is….
OK, on to “Gooseberry Pie” (Written and directed by Charles Gershman.) This mysterious dialog avoids the tired cliché of Subject-Verb-Direct Object and relies on snippets of cross finished dialog between Barbara (Barbara Logan) and Joan (Elizabeth Judith). Perhaps its about a pie recipe, perhaps it’s about a love affair, and perhaps its just the old “Pendulum in the kitchen with her husband” routine. Either way it’s just a bit odd and very similar to overhearing a conversation at a restaurant. You might be disconnected from both endpoints but its still more interesting than whatever your doing this week. Both Logan and Judith danced on the edge of a sexual encounter, but never crossed the line to creepy.
We’re in the home stretch with Nicole Carson’s ‘The Chubby Chaser.” This story has been rattling around in Orlando Play Development hell, but it look like it’s found its legs. Sam (Scott Browning) is master of the slow burn and suffers a horrible internal conflict – He fantasizes about large women, but feel a need to date a skinny Pilates instructor (Melissa Cooper) so his lawyer friends won’t laugh at him even though he’s bonking his purportedly over weight boss (Avis Marie Barnes). Watching over him is his hybrid Jewish / Italian mother (Nicole Carson). She doles out nosey advice and tablespoons of back story and outs him to Miss Skinny Thinmint so he can fall in love with his special soul mate Gina (Carol Palumbo.) In this production, the humor hits spot on and there’s a steady stream of laughs as well as a solid interest in what happens to Sam’s love life. This show is almost ready for Fringe.
We wrap up with the blazingly funny “The Customer” (Written and directed by George Zanata) a perky customer service representative Mandy (Hollie Anderson) at The Bog Box Store encounters the customer from hell. She claims she can meet all his needs, including disposing of kittens, spot welding and subbing for his alcoholic wife. Eventually manger Bob (Jeff Hole) intervenes, and it’s back to basic training for poor Mr. Customer. Brilliantly written, it builds slowly and reasonably to comic climaxes, all polished by a totally professional cast.
This One Act Show showcased some outstanding scripts and performances, and only needs a beer tent and a longer run to hold its own in the crowded field of central Florida art events. And if Mr. Hair could better coordinate with Amtrak, that would a nice touch as well
For more information, please visit http://www.breakthroughtheatre.com
