A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves - KC Fringe Festival
Reviewed By Kat Whalen
“A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves” was less a performance than a piece of performance art that doubled as a sort of after-party for Fringe artists and audience. True to the title, an uncredited performer dressed in a gorilla suit sat, sometimes rocking, in a chair on stage. For a while he just sat while occasionally rocking, but then people, primarily performers, began interacting with the impassive presence. They put various hats on him, gave him a cigarette and a shot (both ignored), put gorilla masks on his knees, whispered to him, kissed him, etc. The actions became more random as time went on, and the audience at various times did countdowns, and sang songs related to rocking, such as Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’ and Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’. At the end of the 56 minutes he got up and walked sedately off stage, to tumultuous applause. It was a suitably absurdist, if somewhat premature, end to this year's Fringe festival.