Of the nine shows I’ve seen at the Fringe so far, Diane Jorge’s Solovela, an Improvised Solo Telenovela succeeds most thoroughly on its own terms.
As the title lets us know, Jorge performs the body of the show by herself. But first she interviews an audience volunteer for about five minutes, gathering a handful of details from their life, basics like their job and more intriguing tidbits, including folks who might qualify as villains. (You don’t have to use real names.)
Then Jorge takes these five or six little building blocks and spins them into a full-blown story, with all the melodrama, plot twists, and romance of a telenovela.
And, in doing that, she exposes the absolute friggin’ wondrousness of creativity. It’s like the best magic trick. I laughed and laughed with surprise — and a kind of amazement — as she wove her plot threads into a satisfying whole.
This artist deserves to have her shows sell out.
Detail: At the performance I attended, Silken, the audience volunteer, was there with her partner Favio. Jorge named that day’s telenovela Nombres de Amor (The Names of Love). I couldn’t have liked it more.
Remaining performances: September 13 (8:30 p.m.), 15 (5:00 p.m.), 19 (6:20 p.m.), and 20 (3:00 p.m.) Tickets and information.
PHOTO CREDIT: Cannavo Studios
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