Orlando Fringe 2025

Beth & Josie EXPOSED: F*&# De$antis

Exposed

Genre: Clown, Comedic, Dramedy, Feminist Theatre, LGBTQIA+, Political, Stand-Up, Storytelling

Venue: Pink

Festival: Orlando Fringe

Low Down

Review

For those less aware of the Florida arts scene, last year Ron DeSantis removed all arts funding from the state of Florida because fringe was a “sex-fest.” This fringe season has been a strong pushback to that absurdity and attempts at censorship. EXPOSED is a brilliant protest back at it. Led by fringe veterans Beth Marshall and Josie Nixon (performing as Juice the Trauma Clown), they invite one other performer (and the audience) to join them on stage to spill their secrets. As the audience enters, they are asked to write down an anonymous confession, which will later be made into an art installation.

Juice serves as the MC for the evening. Her hilarity, bitterness, and wit are an entertaining persona. Juice is unapologetic about your pain, stating boldly, “You aren’t special because you’ve gone through trauma. You’re special because you’ve grown from it.” Juice is an empathetic clown, but one that is simultaneously ready to slap you awake.

Beth Marshall only appears at the end, alongside Ella Hadley, to tell a short story of Marshall’s own traumatic past of racism and sex. The staging of this piece was outstanding. Using Hadley as Marshall’s younger self was a smart choice, allowing a feeling of dissociation through the performance but likewise a dual pain of a present and past self. Marshall’s story, unlike the rest of the evening, is brutally vulnerable and upsetting. It is theatre storytelling DeSantis would certainly censor due to its explicit discussion of racism and sexuality. Yet, that is why it serves as a beautiful finale, as the piece has an incredible amount of artistic merit and honesty. Only here could this story be told.

Each performance, a different performer takes the stage alongside Juice and Marshall to tell their own “exposed story.” On my night, we had Bobby Wesley. Wesley’s anecdotes were comedic and had some stand-out lines. He was a welcome reprieve from the intense storytelling and stand-up that Marshall and Juice had to offer. From what I heard from other audience members, the other six storytellers varied massively in quality, especially when put up alongside the headliners. Wesley certainly, however, stood his own and was a welcome addition to the evening.

Exposed is an act of protest. You should expect to go in to explore everything DeSantis and his cronies deplore. And what do they hate so much? Honest, frank, uncensored, and thought-provoking storytelling.

Published May 31, 2025May 31, 2025 by Noah Pantano