(Photo courtesy Orlando Fringe)
This show contains Adult Language, Death and Mature Themes
Billie Jane’s “Then, Eve” arrives at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival at the Renaissance Theatre Company set on the same stage used for the Studio 54-inspired Disco “Boots.”
Surprisingly, it doesn’t distract, as the performance quickly drops us into a new world: the Garden of Eden.
“Then, Eve” comes across as a thoughtful, intimate and emotionally raw exploration of identity and self-discovery.
We meet a restless soul dropped into a brand-new world with very little guidance beyond one divine rule: don’t eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
What follows is a surprisingly mundane existence: naming animals, asking questions no one is around to answer and trying to make sense of a world that feels unfinished. It’s that familiar Fringe idea of someone trying to exist without instructions, and Billie Jane leans right into that awkward, lonely uncertainty.
Most of the world is built through conversations with animals, which sounds absurd on paper but ends up grounding the piece in unexpected ways. One connection in particular, with a caterpillar, becomes the emotional anchor of the show.
And honestly, you don’t expect to get that invested in a bug.
When that caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it’s one of those Fringe moments that lands softer than you think it will, quiet, fragile, almost hopeful. So when that beauty is later ripped away following the forbidden fruit’s consumption, it hits harder than it has any right to. The character spirals into guilt and grief, convinced it is punishment from above.
It shouldn’t work. It does.
Without giving too much away, “Then, Eve” slowly shifts into something deeper about identity, misgendering and the exhausting process of trying to define yourself in a world that already thinks it knows who you are. There’s frustration here, and moments of anger toward an omnipotent creator that feel very human; moving between pleading, rage and confusion in quick bursts.
What really holds the piece together, though, is Billie Jane’s performance. Carrying a solo show like this is no small task, but Billie moves through it with ease, funny when it needs to be, vulnerable when it matters and fully grounded throughout.
For longtime Fringe audiences, this also feels like a clear step forward. There’s a confidence here that wasn’t always as visible in earlier work, more control, more restraint and a stronger sense of command over both silence and emotion.
And while “Then, Eve” deals with loneliness, guilt and self-discovery, it never gets stuck in the heaviness. At its core, it’s rooted in trans joy, not just survival after generational struggle, but something closer to celebration.
The production frames self-discovery not as punishment or corruption, but as liberation. That moment of finally understanding yourself and asking the world to do the same, lands just as strongly as the heartbreak around it.
Most importantly, “Then, Eve” never loses sight of that joy. Beneath all the confusion is something simple and honest about becoming who you are.
Go ahead, take a bite and see why “Then, Eve” was simply… then, wonderful.
“Then, Eve” plays at the Renaissance Theatre Company on May 14 at 9:30 p.m., May 16 at 1:30 p.m., May 17 at 7:30 p.m., May 19 at 9:30 p.m., May 20 at 8:00 p.m., May 23 at 9:00 p.m., May 24 at 1:30 p.m.
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Read more about Orlando Fringe’s 35th annual festival here and in the Orlando Fringe program.
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