IMAGE VIA ORLANDO FRINGE
Four Dinners (Website) is a dramedy about the interactions of four young lesbians. There is Penny, a no-nonsense schoolteacher, her ne’er-do-well quick-to-the-sheets sister Charlie, her roommate Ynez, and Talia (I’ll avoid spoilers and let you see for yourself how she fits in). While the title might make you think you’re in for intellectual discussions, the humor in the script by Emmy Fredrickson and Kelsey Grace Kidd is more reminiscent of campy spring break films.
Which is too bad, because they clearly have a desire to explore the stories of twenty-something lesbian lives. And it’s a genre I think deserves more time on the stage.
Fredrickson and Kidd might have a better idea of their audience, however. The production had a packed house during the performance I attended, and that audience found plenty of laughs, though some of them also tittered over two women kissing. I would have liked to have seen more of the clever dialogue, like Penny describing an idiom parade to her sister. Penny herself is going to the school function dressed in hay, patting herself constantly – she’s “hitting the hay.”
When Four Dinners works best is during the final scene when the four characters come together for a dinner mandated by Penny for the foursome to lay bare their betrayals, indiscretions, and heartbreak. The dialogue here is tighter, relying less on ribald. Penny introduces a Respectful Rat into the situation – someone can only speak if they’re holding the stuffed rat. It brings to mind the conch from Lord of the Flies and, for these young women, the stakes here are just as high as they were for those young boys on that desert island.
Remaining Performances:
- May 21 at 8:30 p.m. $10
- May 23 at 4:15 p.m. $10
Event Details
Venue: Scarlet
Genre: Comedy, Drama, LGBT Themes, Theatre
Duration: 50 mins
Price: $10
Age Rating: 18 & Up
Warnings: Adult Language, Mature Themes, Sexual Content
