A biblical saying about persons "who suffer fools gladly" has entered into modern language in the reverse, generally used when describing someone who has no patience for idiocy or exasperating behavior (one who ‘doesn’t suffer fools gladly’ and so on). From this slight context, local theatre artists Buz Davis and Leah Strasser have composed a wild collage filled with clowning, parody, music and puppetry, all built around the notion that fools are everywhere.
In an interesting bit of wordplay, the performers explain to us that they are professional ‘Suffer Fools’, which is to say that they’re available for a fee to take your place when you're faced with a particularly irritating or exasperating person. In other words, they’ll "put up with it" so that you don’t have to. We repeatedly hear their business phone number, as we might on a late-night TV ad, and their experiences are shown to us — sometimes in a literal puppet theatre, sometimes in stream-of-consciousness monologues, etc. One of the show's highlight is an elaborate sound design by David Levy complete with music, TV themes, phone calls and the like which lends the performance ample texture and helps underscore the show's frenetic structure.
The other highlight was the skill level of both actors. This was not so much a scripted piece as it was an expression of an idea and a feeling, of how frustrating and defeating it is to deal with the stupidity we all face daily in our lives. Davis and Strasser are gifted physical actors and each has a presence that commands your attention. Some of it was exhausting for them and the audience, as they ran between juggling, playing instruments, singing, moving puppets, etc. And it was deliberately profane, both in their language and some comic-crude imagery. But eventually, they literally are spent because of their job. Taking on the task of dealing with the idiocy in the world proves to be an impossible one. And sometimes you just have to curse at it and the futility of it all.
This is the sort of show that has a home in a Fringe Festival. It has no traditional ‘play’ structure and Davis/Strasser throw a lot at the audience, hoping that the point hits home. And for 50 minutes or so, because a couple of excellent performers are giving it all they have, we get it; and it’s well worth seeing.
The Cincinnati Fringe Festival runs through June 15. Find showtimes, tickets and more info here. Check out more reviews from our CityBeat team here. For a comprehensive list click here.
