Fringe Fest 2013: Innocent When You Dream surreally funny

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      Yeah, baby! This one made me cheer. Texan Zeb L. West tells the story of a guy who’s been dumped by his girlfriend and swallowed by a whale. He has only two books to read, Don Quixote and Moby Dick. Add this up and you get a witty take on romantic obsession, including Captain Ahab’s cetaceous crush. West uses puppets and props in insane ways. Just wait till Ahab turns up in his novel—physically. Overall, the look of the show, which includes charcoal drawings on chunks of old sailcloth, is humbly gorgeous. Colliding sensibilities make Innocent When You Dream surrealistically funny. Referring to Moby Dick’s chapter on whiteness, the hero cites, “the whiteness of death, the whiteness of ghosts, Betty White”. And there’s a moving undertow. After a break-up, who hasn’t been unbuckled by the possibility that their love was a delusion?

      At Origins Organic Coffee on September 7 (1:45 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.), 8 (7:30 p.m.), 10 (7:15 p.m.), 12 (8:45 p.m.), 13 (8: 25 p.m.), 14 (1:30 p.m.), and 15 (8:30 p.m.).

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