ORLANDO, Fla. – From a show about a young man becoming a grandma in a witness protection program, to a one woman titanic parody, and another show honoring the works of Stephen Sodheim, Orlando Fringe is bringing back its winter festival with performances for all kinds of theatre lovers.
This year, though, the show takes on a new name called, “FESTN4.”
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The four-day festival will be at Fringe ArtSpace on Church Street in downtown Orlando Jan. 11-14. The goal of the festival is to bridge the gap from Orlando Fringe’s annual May festival, with a more reduced experience of shows in a shorter period of days in one location.
Keith Banks stars in his show, “Becoming Grandma Kat.” It’s about a social media influencer who unknowingly was involved in a pyramid scheme. He decided to join the witness protection program, but federal agents are trying reveal his true identity. He starts dressing up as an elderly deaf woman named Grandma Kat who runs a small diner. As he becomes trapped in his new persona, he faces challenges that test his ability to keep his identity hidden.
Banks grew up in Orlando, where he lost his hearing at a young age and began wearing hearing aids. When he had to transition into high school, he enrolled in the Florida School For The Deaf And The Blind in St. Augustine. He learned more about deaf culture, and American Sign Language, and gained a lot of resources that got him interested in performing.
“As a deaf performer, I hope to shine a positive light and connect with mainstream audiences. There are limited opportunities here in Florida for deaf and hard-of-hearing artists to portray their artistry works on stage and/or in mainstream media compared to other states in the United States,” Banks said. “As I learned about my identities and talents throughout the years, I wanted to bring them back to my hometown area.”
Banks said his long-term goal is to establish a nonprofit deaf theatre company in Orlando to serve and uplift the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
“Grandma Kat” will not be ASL Interpreted, but Banks will be using ASL throughout the entirety of the performance.
Unlike the May Festival, FESTN4 is curated, featuring more than 20 shows.
“Selecting performances for this year involved a thoughtful process, with a focus on diversity in performance art,” said Orlando Fringe Producer, Tempestt Hallstead.
She said you can expect to see a great variety of shows, some are even aimed toward kids.
“If you are a solo-story type of person we have you covered. You like ensemble, toe-tapping musicals – we have it! Want to laugh through physical comedy, you bet! We wanted to reach a diverse audience and highlight the quality performances that are available to us and sometimes not available to us through international touring artists.”
All shows are 70 minutes or less and are around $15.
You can find a complete list of all the shows and their descriptions here.
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