Orlando Fringe 2024 review: ‘Quill & Thread’s Excellent Journey: A Totally Not Bogus Sword Fighting Adventure’

A billion years ago, back when I was in my 20s, two of my favorite forms of recreation were the Bill & Ted spoof shows at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and the Society for Creative Anachronism’s medieval combat re-creations. Orlando’s Live Action Novelty Combat Entertainment (LANCE) has brought the two together in “Quill & Thread’s Excellent Journey,” a totally non-bogus mashup of literary comedy and stage combat that’s worth braving the bugs and mud to see.

Set in the round on the lawn outside Orlando Family Stage, with audiences perched on primitive wooden benches surrounding a circular arena, this show from writer/director Michael Corinella sends two amiable airheads (Cameron Sellers and AJ Harrett) on a heroes’ quest through classic stories, courtesy of a time-traveling tome amusingly powered by rainbow rhythmic gymnastics ribbons. At each stop re-creating a scene from “The Three Musketeers” or other action classics, they engage in some ridiculous repartee before their swords inevitably start swinging.

Corinella’s script mixes an affectionate parody of the Bill & Ted films with inside jokes for fencing aficionados, while also making room for some surprisingly serious acting. Of particular note are Charles Hale as Cyrano De Bergerac, whose insults are as sharp as his prosthetic proboscis, and Susan Woodbury as Romeo & Juliet’s Mercutio, whose dying monologue is so dramatic that it brings the jokes to a jarring halt, until the monologuing villain (Elizabeth Weisstein) arrives to kick off the battle royale finale.

The leading pair have good comedic chemistry, and it’s impressive how well some of the cast can recite rhyming couplets while simultaneously swinging a cutlass, although uncooperative microphones and inconsistent accents made much of the dialogue difficult to understand. But the swashbuckling is the real reason to see this show, and fight director Casey Robbins’s comic choreography is cleverly designed with a good variety of tactics and techniques.

Hopefully, as the run progresses they’ll put a little more oomph into their attacks, as several of the sequences I saw seemed to be running at three-quarters rehearsal speed. But even at its current pace, “Quill & Thread”‘s most triumphant message — that there’s more to being a hero than wielding a weapon — deserves to be trumpeted across the Loch Haven lawn.

Orlando Fringe Festival: Tickets and times for “Quill & Thread’s Excellent Journey”

This article appears in May 15-21, 2024.