PlayFest 2011 Version 2.0 (Day 1)
PlayFest 2011Version 2.0 (Day 1)
Orlando Shakespeare Theater
Orlando FL</strong>
This year’s New PlayFest (Version 1.0) landed in the middle of Florida Film Fest and for all I know auditions for the Second Coming. As the dynamic Orlando Arts Scene seeks equilibrium, PlayFest guru Pat Flick responded by dropping the “New” from the PlayFest title and shifting the event to the beginning of November. I love this new time slot; it’s just past the insanity of the September / October rush and just before the sappy “It’s A Wonderful Christmas Carol” Season. This is the pivotal week; a shortened program helps us all slip gears by squeezing everything into one long weekend and staking a claim for this week end in 2012. Wednesday is the Play-In-A-Day assignments, Sunday is the closing party, and in between every premier is run exactly once. The scheduling is quite nice; you can see everything with some effort and still have time for lunch. Here’s an event by event summary of the action:
Thursday Nov 3 – Play-In-A-Day
Now in its sixth year, Play-In-A-Day (PID) mixes up the talent and encourages artists to work with those they don’t normally collaborate with. But with all the familiar high profile faces and a smattering of newbies, that vital mix is getting harder to achieve. Still, the results are solid, this is the best PID I’ve seen so far. The gimmick works like this: a writer gets a cast and a “twist” and 12 hours to crank out a 10 minute script; a director and cast have 12 hours to get off book and get the show on its feet. And NO props.
Long time PID participant Davis Lee gives us “Family Road Trip…” (Directed by Beth Marshall) It’s a surreal and flighty in-joke about the material in the past years of PID. Stephen Middleton and a dragged out John Cannon cruise the area attractions with a hype active Sarah Lockhart in the back seat pointing out past themes and absurdities, always falling back to things that come in threes and fours. It’s a bit of Firesign Theater, and a bit of insider humor, and surprisingly funny.
Josh Geoghagan’s “Fair Enough” (Directed by Laurel Clark) takes us into a dysfunctional family wake. It teases with a Zombie Apocalypse lead in, but then delves into some family dirt that couldn’t be revealed until Jim Cundiff’s wife dies. His daughter Ally Gursky and her uncle Chuck Dent cover some squicky history, and agree they can get along with each other but not their grieving dad.
“Waiting” comes from out-of-towner Paul Strickland. (Directed by Tara Corless) This piece takes the most suspension of disbelief to appreciate as Neil Bernard seeks out the waiting rooms of life and meets his Godot as the love-struck Barry White. White thinks the bruises on his arms are from his brain, but we all know his performance artist girl friend left the marks. Either Samantha O’Hare is the best gosh darn dancer / actor in his life or Mr. White is in for a long dry spell. I think I liked it, but I’m not sure why.
Local hero Kenny Babel penned “Out On Top”, the most complex and funny of tonight’s productions. (Directed by Jay Hopkins) Daddy’s gone a-dying, he fell onto a model Bank of America model at Legoland, and that 5 dollar ATM fee don’t mean nothing no more. Stephen Johnson bids farewell to his brutal father with “Whose on top NOW, fucktard?” and we spend the next 10 minutes in a complex yet clearly delineated set of flash backs. Grieving mother Elizabeth Murf is horrified, and his brother Anthony Pyatt is impressed with Johnson’s bladder capacity, but by the end of the slot everything is perfectly clear. It’s a masterful script, made more so by Hopkins dynamic editing.
In “Welcome to Heaven” by Lindsay Cohen (Directed by Paul Castaneda) the stock Fringe theology script emerges. Local fav Becky Fisher is a big haired Baptist who pops into heaven and finds her personal greeter in the flamboyant Davis Monge. How dare God let gays into heaven! Just because He’s almighty doesn’t mean He has the right to offend his best believer. Director Castaneda keeps the action flowing even if the actors get stuck in a loop of lost lines and all we hope for a booming voice from above to intone “LINE!” Still, it’s fun to watch these two pros battle it out.
“Twilight Sleep” (writer Rob Anderson, Director Jeremy Seghers) does a flip on the surrogate dad theme. Nicole Carson and Eric Pinder have contractions every two minute as they enter the maternity ward of the Oompah Loompah’s. Behind the admission desk Arwin Lowbridge brushes them off – she’s not ready to accept a man giving birth, even if it’s the All Tapping, All Singing, All Dancing Mr. Pinder. He’s a man above men – semi transgender, impregnated and ready for a tabloid headline. Maybe if Arwen’s role had a cut of the tabloid fees, she’d be much nicer to this stressed out couple.
The most provocative show wraps up the night – Rob Ward’s “The Special” (director Leesa Halstead) brings out Lauren O’Quinn as the divorced and cruising women fed up with men. She has a date with Dorothy Massey and ice cold feat. They meet at the No Props Restaurant hosted by Brett Carson and while O’Quinn trembles and Massy taunts, Carson shows the genius of comic timing – it’s not what you same, but when to the millisecond you say it.
As the lights go up was all congratulate each other and retire to the lobby for a small plate of cheese cubes and a cash bar. The noisy buzz of a party fades, and we all agree it was a great night of schmoozing and boozing. More tomorrow!
More information about PlayFest may be found at http://orlandoshakes.org/plays-events/playfest/index.html
