Orlando Fringe 2023 review: ‘The One With the Ghost’

Playwright finds an apartment in his price range; the only catch is that it’s haunted

By Seth Kubersky on Fri, May 19, 2023 at 7:56 pm

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Playwright finds an apartment in his price range, the only catch is that it's haunted

Unpublished playwright Bryan has finally found an apartment near his day job in his price range. The only catch is that it happens to be haunted by Benji, a Black phantom who is still a fabulous interior designer, despite having died the day before the Friends finale. But hey … utilities are included!

Benji (who is “more Casper than Paranormal Activity”) gives Bryan a Queer Eye-esque makeover and lessons in toxic masculinity and emotional abuse, to help this short-tempered condescending “nice guy” reconcile with Kristin, his manipulative nightclub promoter girlfriend. But the couple’s bickering is way more credible than their canoodling, making it difficult for audiences to buy into their relationship.

The bromance between Bryan and Benji is far more believable, but director Jerry Jobe Jr. allows their heavier couch-bound conversation to slow down the snappy sitcom pacing. And the complication- and confession-stuffed climax feels like the anti-climactic end of a TV pilot that never got picked up.

My favorite thing about writer Jena Rashid's The One With the Ghost was Billie Jane Aubertin, who brightens up the show with her crack comic timing in brief interstitial bits as a high-priced, high-pressure realtor; she deserves her own spinoff way more than Joey did.

And as someone who's never seen a single episode of Friends, my second favorite thing is that the series referenced in the title is completely superfluous to following this well-meaning but ultimately unsatisfying show.