Review: BLACKTOP HIGHWAY - A Trippy Ride Down A Road Not Usually Taken

BLACKTOP HIGHWAY/by John Fleck/directed by Randee Trabitz/Odyssey Theatre/thru December 15, 2018

Performance artist extraordinaire John Fleck owns the Odyssey Theatre stage with his one-man Gothic horror piece BLACKTOP HIGHWAY. Framed as a screenplay being shot through the camera lens of a movie director, Fleck makes maximum and inventive use of his talent for animal mimicry, pre-recorded vignettes and real-time videos paired with miniature props and puppetry. Randee Trabitz ably directs Fleck through his high-energy, fast-talking dialogue between Fleck and Fleck himself, in a multitude of characters.

BLACKTOP HIGHWAY cleverly opens with a winsome POV from the movie camera filming a toy car running up Fleck's white-striped trimmed, black track pants (the blacktop highway). The toy car 'driven by William' gets into an accident. With no cell service, William walks to find the nearest house to use their landline. At the first house he encounters, Williams meets Jane, the proprietor of a combo veterinarian/taxidermist business. Spooky, and a bit eccentric, Jane allows William into her living room brimming with animals in cages. Fleck imitates the distinct sounds of the countless varieties of caged animals he sees. With no landline available (or a vehicle to reach the next town), William spends the night in a rarely used room in Jane's house. Fleck's shrewdly employs his puppetry in his fateful night full of creepy goings-on. Jane's brother Frank comes home, not happy to find William in their household. Remember: all these characters and more are played by Fleck.

After a short break, with Fleck breaking the fourth wall and directly commenting on current day politics, the Gothic tale resumes.

BLACKTOP HIGHWAY's a must for John Fleck performance art aficionados, well-aware of Fleck's affinity to touch on topics that might make some uncomfortable.

OdysseyTheatre.com

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