Their son, precocious local producer/performer Clark Levi, had a life-saving surgery at age 15, which they relive in this confessional two-hander that’s equal parts family therapy session and multimedia Bar Mitzvah toast. Levi isn’t a professional actor, but he has a way with prose (“pediatric ICU is a place of quiet nightmares”) and wonderful marital rapport with Linn, as they bicker over dishtowels and crack each other up laughing.
An emotional roller coaster with wide swings from humor to pathos, including a slapstick home surgery sequence, this uneven show could use fewer fulsome thank-you's to community members, and I couldn’t help but cringe on behalf of Clark (who doesn’t participate in the production) as he stood in the back corner while his mom discussed embarrassingly intimate breastfeeding details.
Clark Levi’s parents may not be brain surgeons — they still can’t exactly agree on what his diagnosis actually was — but they are kind, engaging people whose pain and joy is easy to empathize with.
Orlando Fringe Festival: Tickets and times for "Clark Levi, Your Parents Are Not Brain Surgeons"
