Tony Solo writes and performs this one-person play, which touches on religion through storytelling.
Playing as part of the Alabama International Fringe Festival, in association with Thornhill Theatre Space, this is a bare bones straight to camera piece of 42 minutes which is dry, funny, and entertaining.
Anyone who went to church as a child will recognise the place depicted here, when young minds try to work out the meaning of the Bible verses they are encouraged to commit to memory.
I would have liked to see Solo looking more at the camera for immediacy than clearly reading off-script, but that’s a small quibble for a performer who speaks well and tells a good tale.
When we segue into cleverly depicted and named clowns Farting in Church heads into the definite area of the bizarre; and when mixed with long hair (“a hippy, a girl, or a Unitarian”) things get weird.
If you are looking for something in the low farce line, this play isn’t necessarily it, and it is more fire and brimstone than scatalogical. It’s more about community, acceptance, friendship and the warm bubble of organised religion.
Perhaps a few too many characters get mentioned in this piece, without much way of differentiating them. I found it easier to concentrate on a couple of characters (or clowns) to keep the momentum going.
A good starting point for AIFF’s digital festival, Farting in Church is very watchable, with good production values. It may have been better edited down just a little, but I enjoyed it overall.
You can watch Farting in Church now on Thornhill Theatre Space’s YouTube channel, alongside the other ten shows in the AIFF.
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