Fringelog 2008: Coffee Dad, Chicken Mom, and the Fabulous Buddha Boy
I’m not entirely sure I got the title right here, but it’s close enough. This was a Trevor Schmidt/Nick Green play. Those two are people you hear about at every fringe as they’re involved with usually several plays at the fringe. Generally ones that tackle gay themes and issues.
Well, this one was definitely about those types of issues (which I was actually not expecting). It’s basically 3 segments, each dedicated to one member of a family that’s falling apart due to the various usual life issues you can imagine (including the son being gay).
There is a definite element of mysticism to each of the plots in this play. The father believes the messages on his coffee cups (think Jones soda lid kind of thing) are telling him things that help him in his life (see Joan of Arcadia/Wonderfall). The mother seems to use “Why did the chicken cross the road?” jokes to help her process her life. The son is inspired by a boy who decided to go off and meditate for 6 years, and wants to learn to meditate and elevate himself above his painful memories.
All in all, it was definitely not a happy play. It was good though. I would have liked more cohesiveness between the three plots (eg what DID the father ‘remember’ to bring flowers for, anyways?), but it worked well enough.
Oh, and one note: Women do not talk like stereotypical gay men. I find this a lot in plays where a man is playing a woman. I know it’s hard to portray yourself as a woman when you’re a bald heavyset man wearing a button-up open to your chest, but still. They do not talk like that.
