Chained to Freedom
Open Door Productions
In Chained to Freedom, Alan Bounville charts his growth as a queer rights activist from impetus to his ongoing advocacy. It’s interesting to hear the steps that have led to this important work, but told in a one-man show format, on a bare stage with few props, the story isn’t quite as compelling as you would hope.
Trying to fill the stage when you are the only person on it is a unique challenge, and is done well by few actors. Bounville might have benefited from a little multi-media aid: projections or even slides would have helped engage the audience.
An Orlando rally over the passage of Amendment 2 provided an epiphany for the thirty-something, though he had flashes here and there that activism would be his calling. Hearing speakers on the steps of Orlando’s City Hall, he began to feel like he wanted to be one of the people speaking, leading. It is among the moments that may belie his activism as a simple need for attention.
To be sure, one of the dangers in telling your own story before an audience is that it will likely reveal more than you intended, perhaps even to you. The fact that Bounville “couldn’t stop thinking about” a failed attempt to get his former employer Orlando Health to extend domestic partner benefits, even after he had moved to New York City for grad school, seems more obsession than activism. Later, a mischievous glint in his eye and smile peeking at the corners of his mouth, as he tells of being arrested for an act of civil disobedience on Valentine’s Day, strikes as an odd reaction. He comes across tickled and not the least remorseful that his plight has taken him to such extremes.
That said, it’s going to take a village to achieve GLBT civil rights, and that goes for squeaky wheels like Alan Bounville. In the end, the most important thing about Chained to Freedom is the fact that Bounville is performing it at Orlando Fringe. Retelling this story of activism is activism in itself, and will hopefully get people to think.
To see a full schedule for the 2010 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, and purchase tickets, visit OrlandoFringe.org.
