Fringe, Reviewed: Ben to the Future

[ comedy ]

Ben to the Future by Salamé Studios 

Attended: Fri., Sept. 12., Tattooed Mom. Closes Sat., Sept. 19

A young Ben Franklin is jolted into modern-day Philadelphia, only finding a colonial tour guide to believe his story. At first he is shocked, but soon enough, Franklin lets loose and becomes the city’s patriarchal party animal. Ben overstays his welcome with his only true friend as his fame grows and takes over the city.

WE THINK:

FringeArts is, in part, a great opportunity to see performances in unorthodox locations. But few performances are high-caliber enough to make you forget that you’re sitting in a dingy, graffiti-covered upstairs bar, mere feet away from a sound system playing terrible alternative rock and a street scene dominated by inane scavenger hunts.

Unfortunately for the folks at Salamé Studios, a young and fun theater company on the rise (last year was their first Fringe appearance), Ben to the Future is not a good or tight enough comedy to outlast its premise and take over the space. Enacted as a theater-in-round ribald comedy, its premise is clear: Ben Franklin gets struck by lightning and ends up in 2014, greeted and believed only by a pathetic historical re-enactor. Adapting to the modern age, Franklin becomes the party icon that we’d expect — drinking, doing drugs, having sex with strangers, and spreading STIs.

The play was mainly conceived of through improvisation, according to one performer who I spoke to during intermission. When evaluated as a UCB-esque ribald improv comedy, Ben to the Future is decent. The vulgarity wears on you at some point, as does the sort of nudge-and-wink poor acting that the young performers try to master; that said, their ambition in trying to take this premise to its illogical extremes should be praised. The performances from Rob Taylor as the namesake character and Jordyn Kramer as a lust-struck bar-hopper-turned-agent-of-the future (she literally warns against the spread of “super syphilis”) are committed and tight. The actual script, though having a very loose and improbable feel throughout most of it, has some moments of great comedic timing.

All in all, though, this isn’t a play for anybody who wants tight professionalism in an idealized package. You go, play drinking games that the cast engages you in, and take it for what it is — any further engagement than that, and you might be woefully underwhelmed. Perhaps next week’s performance, their final one, will be tighter, but you’d be missing the point to expect that.