KC Fringe "Jesus, Shakespeare and Lincoln" review by pacconci

Jesus et. al. in a bar

Rating: 2

Jesus, Shakespeare, and Lincoln Walk into a Bar

KC Fringe Festival

This show had its high and low points. Let's start with a high--Carlos Portillo as Jesus. The slight Hispanic accent was not off-putting; it seemed almost right. He has appropriately shoulder-length son-o-God hair and robes, and his feet were clad in converse, which was okay. The great thing about Carlos' portrayal of the Lamb of God was his sweet and gentle demeanor. He was soft-spoken and some of his lines were lost, but that is largely because writer/director/actor Kris Owens, located his actors in a row downstage of his own perch at the bar, forcing them to turn around when they talked to him, and deliver their lines away from the audience.

Jesus was the first character on stage, so he had the most dialogue with the bartender, who upstaged him and the rest of the cast every time they spoke to him. Besides the awkwardness of the bar placement, the director should also be taken to task for arranging his actors in a single line of folding chairs--sort of like the last supper but without the dinner table.

Poor Shakespeare. He had no English accent, few Britishisms and very few laugh lines. I got the feeling he was there only to fill out the title joke. Buddah, on the other hand, was perfect-- a chubby, barefoot, robe-bedecked Asian, who always had a smile on his face and a yoga mat at his side.

Things really fell apart when a sequin-spangled, uber-gay Abe Lincoln swished his way into the bar. I became uncomfortable with the writing at this point. Lincoln was beyond flaming, a collection of every  homosexual stereotype ever devised-- as another reviewer mentioned-- the squirm-inducing gay equivalent of blackface.

I felt like walking out but I was glad I stayed as the best was yet to come. Abe flipped a few switches and we got to see some home movies of the boys frolicking in KC parks and cutting up in yoga class. This small bit of film was filled with the joy and good humor the play lacked. Perhaps Owens should give up the stage for film.