Don’t tell my beloved wife — whom I met at the Fringe exactly 17 years ago — but I just got one of the loveliest love letters I’ve received in my life, and it didn’t come from her. Orlando ex-pat writer/performer Amanda Grace is visiting from England to hold her “Love In,” and she invites you to lounge in the Shakes’ rear courtyard with her for an intimate one-on-one encounter, accompanied by a one-of-a-kind souvenir.
Our 25 minutes together flew by, as Grace graciously engaged me in a gently probing dialogue, eliciting thoughtful responses with her empathetic listening skills. All the while, she’s deftly inscribing delicate cursive script onto pastel notepaper using an old-fashioned fountain pen, without ever missing a conversational cue.
In the end, I walked away with a petite personalized packet — containing stickers, small messages, and the love letter in question (whose secrets I shall never reveal) — along with a soothing surge of positive vibes similar to what you feel after a good yoga meditation. Grace says she’s attempting to create “actual generous art,” and I wholeheartedly agree that she’s succeeded. I can’t come up with an adequately uplifting equivalent for the word “haunting,” but if it exists, this unforgettable ethereal epistolary experiment would be its living definition.
Orlando Fringe Festival: Tickets and times for “Love In”
Seth Kubersky
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