The cast of Four Dinners at Orlando Fringe Credit: Courtesy Photo

Four Dinners is a sharp, emotionally messy queer dramedy that follows a chronological structure over four meals. These dinners take place in something that feels more like a pressure cooker than an apartment, belonging to roommates Penny (Liv Rawls) and Ynez (Marissa Rodriguez). A complicated dynamic becomes even messier somehow when Penny’s sister, Charlie (McKenna Russell), and Penny’s ex, Talia (Hailee Barrett), enter the picture. 

Written and directed by Emmy Frederickson and Kelsey Grace Kidd, the play is built around a love rectangle that keeps folding in upon itself. That setup gives the show its strongest material, as Penny’s apartment quickly becomes filled with sexual claustrophobia. The sexual humor in the show doesn’t always land cleanly; it can come off as a little obscene. At times, I felt like I was interrupting something. However, I did feel within the same breath that the show makes important thematic statements about the awkwardness of queer adulthood itself, and the complications that come with it. 

What keeps Four Dinners afloat is its sincerity. Beneath the mess that occurs within the plot, it presents a clear emotional argument about belonging, desire and the difficulty of growing up into adulthood. The writing, although vulgar, does give room for each character to grow, and even when the behavior is ugly, there is still real vulnerability.

Paper Rose Theatrics (Winter Park, FL)
Scarlet Venue, Orlando Family Stage
50 minutes; 18 and up
Tickets: $10

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This article appears in Orlando Fringe 2026.