Best Look in a Mirror (Darkly) at Ourselves: The gorilla show at Fringe

orlandofringe.org

In a festival full of the avant-garde, one show stood out as an unsettling glimpse into our town's artistic soul. "A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves" has been performed at Fringes around the world, but its Orlando debut – a late-night one-off facilitated by Australian storyteller Jon Bennett – instantly devolved into an exhibitionist free-for-all, with drunken Fringers mocking and molesting the poor monkey. This is why we can't have nice things.