Last year, I missed Jackdonkey’s presentation of Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter (though they got a Golden Lanyard Award for Audience Favorite) (of course they did; they didn't make my pre-Fringe Top 10 back in 2023 for nothing :). This year, in addition to the Fringe, they’re presenting Shakespeare’s Henry V over at TRP right after the Fringe closes, so they have a very busy August ahead of them. First up, though, it’s…
503
Jackdonkey Productions
Venue: Rarig Thrust
Show Description:
Based on the novel WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin
A spacecraft engineer lives in the One State.
A nation constructed almost entirely of glass.
Written and performed by Jeffrey Nolan
Directed by Zach Christensen
Genre & Content:
Sci-Fi, Physical Theater, Literary Adaptation, Original Music, Political Content, Drama, Audience Participation
Warnings:
Adult Language, Drug Content, Loud Noises, Sexual Content, Flashing Lights, Violence, Gun/Weapon Usage, Abuse/Physical Violence
The source material, WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin (written in Russia in the early 1920s), is kind of the original dystopian future novel, inspiring everything from 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World to the countless, countless, countless entries in the dystopian literary genre (and movies and TV) that we have today. So I’m expecting a lot of it to feel very familiar, even though I haven’t read the book, or seen an adaptation before. I have seen and read many of its children. The description is fascinating, and apparently live music is also involved so I’m intrigued to see how the story manifests itself onstage.
Here’s some handy links to my Fringe Top 10, Top 11 to 20 and Returning Favorites lists for this year, as well as all the coverage of this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival.
As I’m sure many artists are, I find myself struggling with the idea of
just “taking time off” (what a luxury) and submerging myself in a whole
lot of theater for 11 days while the world is on fire so… I’m going to
put some phrases and links down here (and at the end of each post going
forward) and if you find yourself compelled to explore one or more of
them, so much the better. There’s a lot going on, and it can be easy to
get overwhelmed and tune out, but as Congresswoman Sarah McBride
recently said, “If everybody shows a little courage, nobody needs to be a
hero.” I freely admit this list and these links are hardly
exhaustive. It's just something to get started. Do what you can, where
you can, however you can. Let’s help one another get through this.
Contacting your elected officials about the issues that matter to you (and protesting as necessary)
Starvation in the Gaza Strip
Immigration raids around the United States
Ukraine fighting off invasion by Russia
Trans rights
Climate change action
Housing shortage and the unhoused
Reproductive Rights
Voting rights, and running for office
The courts, from the Supreme Court on down to the local level
Don’t forget to laugh - even gallows humor is still humor
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