Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival—Fifth Report
Loch Haven Park, Orlando, Florida
by Carl F. Gauze
Be A Pirate!
Rogue Stage
Orange Venue
If it’s a life at sea that appeals to you, this goofy love story might be your cup of grog. Tom Mesrobian dresses up in his pirate drag, teaches us the the rules of the trade, and then slips into a charming love story about a man who gives up the sea for love. It’s campy, but not exactly for small children. And if you want, you can get a pirate tattoo while waiting in the line to get in.
A Solo from the Pit
Theater KEF
Green Venue
This guy has been here before, but his act, with avant-garde electronics and digitally enhanced trombone work, is fascinating. Formally in Europe for this instrument, he lands a job at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. While the pay is good, he abandons the job to play his own sounds, which are the highlight of show. Loops and special effects may not be danceable, but they are interesting, and his story shows that success isn’t always in the big time.
Generic Male: Just What We Need, Another Show About Men
PUSH Physical Theatre
Silver Venue
An hour of surrealism takes us into the mind and body of two very fit men who do body balancing and nonsensical stories. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you check your email, but most of the time you think: how can anyone be in that good of shape?
The Walk in the Snow: The True Story of Lise Meitner
Big Word Performance
Yellow Venue
Lise Meitner was a true oddity in the 1930s. She had a technical education, and as a Jewish female, she had difficulty getting work. But she made significant progress in nuclear chemistry, and first suggested the application for Einstein’s famous E = mc2. Her work directly led to the atom bomb and understanding the complex physics of ultra heavy elements, the key to atomic weapons. Gem Rolls presents this exciting tale in a terse, assertive voice, giving us a taut reconstruction of her history. While she and her fellow physicists could have given the Nazis atomic weapons, Nazis put ideology above all else. They drove her away rather than admit a Jew could do anything useful. It’s a great description of this complex story, and very accessible to the not scientist.
