The Perfect Gift
The Perfect Gift
Written and Directed by Winnie Wenglewick
Dangerous Theater, Sanford FL</strong>
It’s time to head back north to Sanford and see what’s become of the old Princess Theatre. The previous tenants disappeared Brigadoon-like into Florida theatrical mist, and now the Dungeon Mistress of the Performance Space Orlando is back from Denver to provide off-beat entertainment. The build-out isn’t done, but the seats are less cramped, and parking is still abundant and free.
This version of “The Perfect Gift” expands on the show that ran at the Marshall Ellis space a few months ago. Now it goes something like this: It’s almost Christmas under the old over pass, and Stacia (Wenglewick) takes her lunch with homeless Winter (Thomas C. Taffinder). He’s more interesting and less bigoted than her office mates, and after some holiday grousing from Stacia, he invites her back to his under-bridge encampment for a Dollar Store holiday meal. Here we meet is ambiguous buddy Harold (Larry Stallings). Harold is making his famous chocolate covered pretzel; the recipe calls for a Hershey bar and a butane lighter. The party is soon threatened by a jar of pickled herring, but no one is desperate enough to eat this obscure Norther European delicacy (Disclaimer: my dad loved this stuff for New Years, but no one else in the family would touch it). All three have invisible friends; some friendly and some downright scary. If there’s a moral here, it might be holiday joy does little to ease mental health issues.
While the holiday complaints are standard, and there are some long blocks of exposition; each character is neatly conceived and executed. Winter bubbles with an endless positive attitude; Harold is sweetly tragic, and the normally tough-as-nails Stacia folds like a card table when the shocker at the end appears. Technically, the space offers excellent lights and sounds, the seating is still rather eclectic. The PVC set needed a can of pipe solvent but overall this is a much better experience than the previous resident company provided. Right now most of the space is just painter tape and big ideas, but all is supposed to be in place by March. Meanwhile, here’s a holiday event that avoids most of the traditional sappiness of feel good Christmas shows.
For more information on Dangerous Theater (of Central Florida) check http://www.dangeroustheatre.com/pg-orlando.html. They run another operation in Denver, CO so pay attention to what location the tickets are for.
