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Classic Tails.

at the Orl@ndo International Fringe Festival, starting around 2016, an avantgarde show popped up, called Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves. The entirety of the show is described in the title. that's all it was. it gained a cult following, as audiences loved the absurdity of it, some of them enjoyed taking pics with the gorilla, others got a little more raucous and got drunk and rowdy and joined the gorilla onstage.

It lead to a thinkpiece from a local theatre critic about the 'appropriate' way to watch this piece, with that author feeling that those who joined the gorilla onstage were out of control, endangering the performer, and this missed the point of the piece. Nonetheless, it's come back just about every year, and usually never announced in advance, often spread by word of mouth until being formally announced a few hours in advance.

well...controversy is afoot. because earlier today, the word of mouth begin spreading that gorilla show was back. but then it was announced, and people quickly noted a huge change in the title...as the gorilla was now a rabbit. and word quickly spread that the change was not one made by the artists, but that the Fringe staff informed the artist that the creature could not be a gorilla. the rationale given was that someone could take or has taken offense (though the only offense I've ever seen logged in the past was the way people acted at the show, though admittedly...I've never seen it and don't care about it).

Now, there's a heated debate online about how this makes the festival fall outside of the guidelines of a sanctioned Fringe festival, because a sanctioned Fringe festival must be unjuried, meaning the staff cannot select the plays performed based on merit, or make content adjustments. This is being viewed as artistic interference and there are some who are going to boycott the show now because of this.

tl;dr - a dialogue-free play that was once about a gorilla is now about a rabbit and people are upset. i love theater people.

my guess? it'll probably come out that the artist themselves made the decision and everybody will feel silly by midnight

(I guess the show originated in the UK and it was ported over here by an Australian performer)

Now we can't even have Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves", because of woke

Trump has vowed that the rabbit will be a gorilla again if elected

What if they just made it Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla, Dressed as a Rabbit, Dressed as an Old man Sits in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and then Leaves, as a compromise?

I'd need to see a snippet first before making a decision

Musselburgh ‘missing out’ due to ‘inadequate’ pétanque piste
By Avril Campbell22nd May
2
A call has been made for a better pétanque piste in Musselburgh.

The boules game has been regularly played by members of the local twinning association during the summer months on a “small piste squeezed in” next to the tennis courts in Lewisvale Park, which is provided by East Lothian Council.

But its temporary closure due to the tennis club pavilion being replaced, together with the “impossibility” of staging larger matches, has led the association to call for a “much better and larger facility” like those in a number of nearby towns.

Barry Turner, president of Musselburgh Twinning Association, told the Courier: “Pétanque is a popular game in France and it is catching on here in Scotland but Musselburgh is missing out in not having a decent playing area.

“Go to Haddington, Dunbar, Newtongrange, Penicuik and Roslin and you will see wonderful large pistes on which a number of teams can play at the same time. Another is about to be provided in Dalkeith, funded by the town’s equivalent of our Common Good fund. So why not Musselburgh, where we have what can only be described as an inadequate facility?

“If we had what the other towns have, we could attract more players, set up a club and hold inter-town tournaments as part of a proposed Lothian league. A good piste in one of the town’s public open spaces would cost £10,000 to £12,000, requires little maintenance and would be available free of charge to all-comers.

“This sociable, easy-to-play game is particularly attractive to older folk. All you need for a game is a set of boules, which cost about £20.

“We have been told by the council that if we can get a sizeable club going then a better piste might be possible. But we are in a catch-22 situation because we cannot interest enough people without a better piste.”

He pointed out that, in June, the twinning association had a party coming from its twinned town of Champigny, near Paris, and some games of pétanque with other twinning associations were in the programme.

He said that Musselburgh would like to host the games for its visitors but, even if the “modest” Lewisvale Park piste were available, games would only be possible by travelling to Haddington and Newtongrange in order to use the “excellent facilities” available there.

An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “The council’s club and community sport officer has been liaising with the group regarding the current piste within Lewisvale Park.

“The immediate focus has been how to accommodate key dates for the club whilst the adjacent new tennis pavilion is built and officers will continue to engage regarding the wider aspirations for alternative provision.”

so Gorilla-gate has ended, the show did indeed go on with a rabbit. people were pissed but it's over. since that time, the following has happened at this festival...

...one of my friends, who is probably in his 70s, and actually sponsored one of the venues for years, fell during a show he was watching and broke his leg last night.

...one of the most seasoned out of town performers, who is infamous for G0d is a Scottish Drag Queen, which he does every year, promptly cancelled all of his remaining performances because he's pissed at the venue over something. one of my other friends took to social media to say "God is a diva!"

...another friend of mine was once married to one of the performers at the festival this year and then went through a brutal divorce w/ her, who decided to put on a musical cabaret where she basically shits on him frequently (without naming him) throughout the show. and two of his friends are in the show.

god theatre people never skimp on the drama.

just to be clear i will never go to haddington

Neando, no offense to you and perhaps some of your pals, but theatre people are the reason I stopped acting. I was good at it and enjoyed it, but the constant drama made me just loathe the experience

No I feel the same way trust me lol

Like it's the main reason I cut back on doing it

Ha, what next? Gonna stop working at the hospital because of all the sickos?

big youthful vandal energy around these parts lately among a certain age demographic

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/azusa-serial-slingshot-shooter-vandalism-arrest/3422679/

An 81-year-old man described by authorities as a "serial slingshot shooter" and accused of victimizing neighbors in Azusa for years was arrested last week in the San Gabriel Valley community.

Police responded Thursday to the 900 block of North Enid Avenue for a "quality of life issue." Neighbors told officers a man armed with a slingshot and ball bearings had been breaking windows and car windshields over the past nine to 10 years.

In some cases, people were nearly struck with ball bearings, police said.

Officers served a search warrant in the neighborhood where the crimes were reported and arrested an 81-year-old man. During the search, ball bearings and a slingshot were found at the suspect's home, police said.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/pasadena-explosions-arrest/3417425/

A man has been arrested in connection with more than 150 mysterious explosions that baffled people in a Pasadena neighborhood for about two years.

Police, who shared video of one of the explosions with NBCLA, announced the arrest this week of a 63-year-old man in the case.

Some of the loud blasts near Allen Avenue and Washington Boulevard were reported by residents. Most were captured by ShotSpotter technology, commonly used by law enforcement departments to identify and locate the source of gunfire.

Kamaron Harris, who lives in the neighborhood, was one of the resident who noticed the loud sounds every few weeks late at night.

"It was always one big pop," Harris said. "Late at night I would hear loud pops. A single firework explosion. Sometimes, I would even see a flash outside my window."

The ShotSpotter system helped investigators track the sounds, police said.

"At times, we were getting numerous hits on the fireworks," said Lt. Monica Cuellar. "Based on that information the arson investigator was able to put together an investigation."

There were 14 explosions in the area during the last two weeks. Investigators identified two vehicles connected to the explosions and tracked down the registered owner, a Pasadena man.

On May 16, officers in the area heard an explosion and saw a white cloud rising from the neighborhood. Officers saw the man's 2013 BMW in the area of the explosion and took him into custody at the scene.