Fringe 2005 - The Fringe Preview Circuit

Most of you already know this but just in case...You know you don't have to wait til the Fringe comes around to see Fringe-worthy theater. It's all over Minneapolis. Just a couple of examples of places you might find it...

Heidi Arneson's currently still on the wait list for this year's Fringe, but she's hardly just sitting around waiting. The play she intends to do, Beast of Nothing, an anti-war comedy, recently hit the stage at Red Eye (a frequent Fringe host venue).

Youth Performance Company is also on the wait list, but their offering The Talk - An Intercourse About Coming Of Age, recently had a sold out run at the Bryant Lake Bowl (host to the Fringe's 90 minute offerings the last several years).

And, not that I have much use for The Playwrights' Center anymore these days - after all, what can you say about an organization that doesn't consider a Fringe production to be a production of a play? - but even they have Fringey material coming through their doors.

Theatre Unbound presents many of their regular season offerings in the Waring Jones Theater at the Center. This year, they're schedule to bring "Chicks In Space" to the Fringe. And Mary Jo Pehl - of the late lamented Mystery Science Theater 3000 - recently had a reading of her Fringe play "Man Saved" as part of the Center's weekly new play reading series The Roundtable.

This week, Theatre Unbound is holding their annual benefit and 24 Hour Play Project at Illusion Theater's space at the Hennepin Center for the Arts (528 Hennepin Avenue, 8th floor). 6 teams of playwrights create new plays overnight Friday night April 1st into early Saturday morning April 2nd. Then directors and cast are assigned and rehearsed and at 8pm on Saturday evening, the plays are performed - all within a 24 hour period. I've participated in the past and do so again this weekend. There's always strange and wonderful theater that results from the pressure cooker. And it's for a good cause - good theater from Theatre Unbound. The event begins at 7pm on Saturday, April 2nd; the plays go up at 8pm. Live music, silent auction and more round out the evening. Tickets are $25. Call 651-331-0129 for reservations. For more information, visit my site or www.theatreunbound.com

And to get your Fringe fix year round, check out Red Eye at www.redeye.org

or the Bryant Lake Bowl at www.bryantlakebowl.com

among many other theater spaces that host innovative theater year round.

Check out Heidi Arneson at www.heidihouse.com

or Theatre Unbound at www.theatreundbound.com

or Youth Performance Company at www.youthperformaneco.com

Get on their mailing lists and be in the know.

And don't forget to support Theatre Unbound this Saturday and see new plays that are hot off the presses.

(For more of my writing - plays, past blog entries and more - visit www.matthewaeverett.com)