Every family has its own lore, a melange of fact and fiction that fuses into a shared history, but too many of us allow those stories to fade away with the passing of older generations. Storyteller Deanna Braunstein, with the assistance of her sister, has combed through her late mother’s papers to reconstruct some of her humorous homilies, and is now sharing them with Fringe audiences in Taurus Faeces, a warm hug of a one-woman show.

Braunstein’s mother was intelligent, educated woman who acted under a young Sidney Lumet and taught her high-school students how to swear in Latin (hence the excretory title). But most of the memories she shares are the sort of motherhood horror stories that any parent (or child) can relate to: toddlers playing with tar, toddlers playing with roaches, toddlers playing with poop, toddlers playing with tranquilizers.

Deanna delivers her treasure trove of family tales in her mother’s voice, and her aura of casual intimacy belies the thoughtful effort that’s gone into staging these vignettes, as she fills the venue with her exuberant physicality while relying on a bare minimum of props. I wish she’d dwelt more on her and her sister’s conflicting perspectives on their mom’s depression, but this show is less about tear-jerking than gently coaxing chuckles of recognition.

Braunstein concludes with an emotional plea encouraging audience members to collect family stories before it’s too late. I know I had an irresistible urge to phone home immediately after the preview, making this show an ideal Mother’s Day experience.

Taurus Faeces
Deanna Braunstein, Orlando, FL
13 & Up – Mild Language
60 Minutes
Red Venue
Thursday, May 17, 2018 @ 5:45 PM
Saturday, May 19, 2018 @ 2:30 PM
Monday, May 21, 2018 @ 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 24, 2018 @ 6:00 PM
Saturday, May 26, 2018 @ 3:00 PM
Sunday, May 27, 2018 @ 8:00 PM

Check out ALL of our Fringe 2018 reviews at orlandoweekly.com/fringe2018

This article appears in May 9-15, 2018.