“Fancifool!” — described as a hilarious, heart-warming and thought-provoking show about love — will have performances this weekend at Open Space for Arts & Community.
This award-winning 12-character solo show features dancing, singing, mime, clown, film and edgy social commentary by performing artist Ananda Bena-Weber, based on true stories of the lives of real New Yorkers.
In a review, Irene Hsiao, of the San Francisco Weekly, described the show.
“A graffiti artist, a janitor, and an ethnobotanist walk into a bar. They proceed to sing, dance, tell stories, mime. The punchline is a Venn diagram, a host of personalities, a flipbook of faces, a variety show, and they all belong to a single performer with a thousand disguises: funny, beautiful, strange, sad, wonderful, whimsical Ananda Bena-Weber,” Hsiao wrote.
Nancy Stetson, of Florida Weekly, called Weber’s characters “lively and intelligent, bristling with ideas and fire.”
“Fancifool!” is being presented as Open Space for Arts & Community’s second artist-in-residence program.
Last February, Open Space hosted New York-based multi-media artist Julia Wilkins for its inaugural artist-in-residence program, “Solitude_The Exhibition.”
“We’ve been working since 2020 to bring “Fancifool!” to the island,” said Open Space’s producing director, David Godsey. “Our Artist in Residence program is such an exciting opportunity to allow phenomenal artists to set up in Open Space and put together something special.”
While in residence, Bena-Weber will develop an alternate version of her hilarious, heart-warming, and thought-provoking show about love and sex, “Fancifool! Sex Edition,” which will premiere later this month.
Performances of the original “Fancifool!” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, and 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, at Open Space for Arts & Community, 18870 103rd Ave SW.
Tickets start at $15 and are for sale online and at the door. Nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. A limited number of free youth tickets are available. Masks are recommended.
Tickets and information are available at OpenSpaceVashon.org.
