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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
The Holy Land Experience
Our Rating: 
New York storyteller Martin Dockery is a mesmerizing performer. His words come out in a preacher-like torrent — at times approaching Jim Carrey-style mania — while his extravagant gestures carve the air into vivid scenes.
This year’s true-life Dockery monologue — part quippy standup routine, part confessional essay — recounts his pilgrimage to a cheesy Florida theme park called The Holy Land Experience, then to the real Holy Land, where he spends Christmas Eve. A non-believer, he has fun with the absurdities of both meccas, but the underlying theme is a quest for redemption from his own dishonesty.
In spite of his compelling presence, Dockery falls short of universal resonance. He aspires to be more than entertaining, but there’s too much travelogue padding, too many easy jokes and not enough playwriting craft for this parable to be crowned with five-star laurels.
— Alison Mayes
From the Fringe program:
From a religious theme park in Orlando to Christmas Day in Bethlehem comes one man's ineptly comic and exhilarating pursuit of something–anything–to believe in.
Creator of sell-out shows "Wanderlust", "The Bike Trip" and "Bursting Into Flames", Dockery ("A masterful storyteller." - The Herald Sun, Melbourne) weaves a true tale of faith and infidelity.
"Astonishing. Exhilarating. This kind of theatre is church for us non-believers." – Orlando Sentinel
Recommended For: Mature Audience
Length: 75 min
Tickets: $10
Warnings: Subject Matter
History
Updated on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 1:00 PM CDT:
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