Today’s Fringe binge
It’s Monday, and as we dive into the work week, let’s also dive back into the Orlando Fringe Festival. Shows start at 5:30 tonight in Loch Haven Park and surrounding venues. Get the scoop at OrlandoFringe.org. Find more than 75 reviews at OrlandoSentinel.com/fringe. Here are two of them:
‘Shakespeare’s Terminator the Second’
Here’s the gist of the very funny “Shakespeare’s Terminator the Second”: The basic story line of the movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” is re-enacted onstage, using only lines written by Shakespeare in any of his plays. The proper nouns from the movie — Skynet, Sarah Connor, Cyberdine, etc. — are substituted for Shakespeare’s nouns. It’s brilliant. And the more Shakespeare you know, the more you appreciate it. (There’s “Macbeth,” now “Lear,” a little “Romeo and Juliet”…)
However, you don’t have to be a Shakespearean scholar to join in the laughs. It’s easy to follow the movie’s progression and watching that play out is comedy enough.
Director Simon Needham has a topnotch cast. Matt Doman has the body, the Ah-nold accent and the cool vibe to play the Terminator. With the blank stare used by the film actor, John Reid Adams is very funny as the evil T-1000. Pam Stone gives a spot-on blank reading a la Linda Hamilton in Sarah’s narrations, and Jolie Hart is a perfectly gung-ho John Connor.
Bill Warriner’s fight choreography is invaluable to maintaining the mood of the show; this is an action-adventure play, after all. And it’s a show that’s far more entertaining than the movie it’s spoofing.
Details: Gold venue, 60 minutes, 13 & older, $12, through May 25
‘Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard!’
Dandy Darkly makes a comical figure – white face paint, glitter eye shadow, gold lame pants that match the tablecloth (How often do you see that?).
But Dandy, the alter ego of Neil Arthur James, is no mere clown. In “All Aboard!” James weaves a Southern Gothic yarn that holds a mirror up to the America of yesteryear – and the America of today. It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s a vivid and engrossing one thanks to Dandy’s/James’ highenergy delivery and tight story construction.
Each segment of his wild tale is like a chapter of a novel, and as directed by Ian Bjorklund, builds to a surprise cliffhanger. Ghosts, an old African god, creepy robot toys, a mustache-twirling villain named Cornelius Cracker, a young boy facing a difficult road. It all erupts from Dandy at a beautiful fever pitch, with a soundscape of music, train whistles and more.
Whether he’s talking about skeletons in the closet or imprisoned children in the basement, Dandy has your attention. And slowly you begin to see the horror in what this fable tells us about society today – and where it’s headed. No Dandy isn’t a clown; he’s a fortuneteller. And let’s hope we hear his message and change our future.
Details: Green venue, 60 minutes, 18 & older, $12, through May 26
Fringe-bit
Hear top spoken-word artists do their thing in the annual Fringe Poetry Smackdown at 8:15 tonight at the Outdoor Stage. It’s free. Like spoken word and stories? Orlando Story Club takes the stage Tuesday at 8:15 for a performance that’s also free.