Off The Tongue
Off The Tongue
With Jem Rolls
Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, Brown Venue</strong>
No one beats the Scots to open mike poetry reading. It’s not that they grasp pain better, or they have a deeper insight into the human condition, but they just have that wonderful accent, a strong sense of irony, and a suitcase full of phrase that make the English language a magical experience. Mr. Rolls is a tall imposing man; he’s sort of a working class John Cleese with better eye brows. His poems are fascinating to the point of incredulity: “We Broke Up Because the Sex Was Too God” is such a great title he could have stopped the show right. Phrases like “It’s gone all pear shaped” and “Suffering for the sake of suffering just so they would have something to complain about.” are the words of which dreams made. There’s even a “found” poem; it’s a semi reasonable transcription about a man describing a gang fight in patois so thick it should be slathers on a scone. Its one man, one point of view and one hell of a time. Or how ever the Scots say that.
This commentary was based on a technical rehearsal.
This production is part of the 2014 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. Information on tickets and show times may be found at http://OrlandoFringe.org/
