We review three Orlando Fringe shows about storytellers — dramatic, comedic and musical.
Erika Kate MacDonald made a splash at the 2014 Orlando Fringe when she won a Critics’ Choice Award for her performance in “Tap Me on the Shoulder,” about how she found her voice through rap music.
She’s back this year with “Evacuated!,” a more conventional storytelling show but with the same buoyant charm and focused energy that make her performances such a pleasure.
In “Evacuated!,” MacDonald shares her experiences living in Indonesia as a high school exchange student some years ago. Her stay there ended under less than ideal circumstances, as the show title suggests, but the bulk of MacDonald’s engaging travelogue is devoted to happier times.
She doesn’t take photographs, she tells us, so her recollections might not be precise. They’re better — a kaleidoscope of vignettes that evoke the exhilaration of traveling alone to brave new worlds for the first time. The Fringe Factor:
The evacuation of the title happens amid the chaos surrounding the resignation of longtime Indonesian leader Suharto. Mentioning him and the political situation earlier on would be helpful for those of us who have killed a few brain cells in the beer tent. It also could strengthen a foreshadowing element that the real drama lies ahead.
Curtain Call: MacDonald might not be the best cultural spokesperson for Indonesia — giant roaches! — but she is a mighty fine ambadassor of storytelling.
Where & When: Pink venue, 60 minutes, $12, 13 and up. 5:15 p.m. Friday; 6:45 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. Sunday.