Here's a handy list of coverage of the shows I've seen so far at the
Fringe that are VERY HIGHLY Recommended, getting either 5 stars or 4.5
stars, with links to full-length reviews as they're posted, in
alphabetical order by title:
5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended (aka, Life-Altering Experience)
MN Fringe show #2: A Good Cancer to Have
- easily the funniest thing I've ever seen about cancer; Sam Sweere has
a great sense of the absurd, as well as the human, in a story like
this; twisting theatrical conventions in ways I need more than a post to
unpack; stellar work, start to finish; 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show #38: A Good Cancer To Have
(2nd viewing) - Sam Sweere's show has only gotten more confident (and
funnier) since I saw its first performance a week ago (and I thought it was pretty great back then); the way his "theater brain" constructs a show fascinates (and entertains) me - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #53: A Good Cancer To Have
- yes, I’ve seen it 3 times; each time it gets better, I hear different
details; like all good art, it’s worth revisiting; a treat at the end
of Fringe I know is great, plus an hour I don’t need to take notes, I
can just be; thanks, Sam and Leah - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #17: A Sad Carousel 2 - just the kind of insulting,
Fringe-bashing, self-referential meta nonsense we look for in a sequel
such as this; we’ve missed you while you were in that coma, Herschel
Douscheburg (explaining jokes in a review will of course be
self-defeating) - 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show #19: All Your Shimmering Gold; nuclear arms manufacturers
stage a few scenes from Das Rheingold for us, the American public,
their very generous customer base; based on details of a real contract
we’re really paying for; dazzling and unsettling - 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show #20: Breach - fantastic use of TRP space, all its levels
and corners, light, shadow and sound, to create a fishing vessel on a
high pressure job, with weather and tempers threatening to undo the
crew; great script, cast, direction; plus a giant hallucinatory monster
crab - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #21: Breakneck 12th Night - it’s a marvel the way Tim
Mooney can shave a 5 act play down to just under an hour, play all the
characters, include the basics of every scene, and throw in the songs
for good measure; 12th Night’s always a pleasure, even in miniature - 5
stars
MN Fringe show #25: Cabin Fever - so many lesbians, so little time; this
cast of improvisers/drag queen nails all the conventions of the reality
TV dating genre and will say and do pretty much anything they can’t
broadcast for the public :) just as funny as it is bawdy and unexpected -
5 stars
MN Fringe show #7: Clown Funeral - red noses for all! 4 distinctive
clowns, a lecturing banana, a dolly cart that is also Dolly Parton, a
corpse with a surprise, a reading of a will as insult comedy, audience
singalongs, the most amusing funeral I've had the pleasure to attend
(HONK!); 5 stars
MN Fringe show #31: Curly Hair Boy - delightful surprise, tale of boy
with ability to heal and communicate with nature on quest to rescue his 2
older sisters; 3 perform entirely in Nepalese, a 4th gives English
introduction then joins others; sweet, whimsical - 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show #49: Delete Later
- surprisingly stirring way to end long day of Fringe; YPC's Young
Artist's Council assembled a killer group of vocalists performing
inspiring/funny/thoughtful songs and monologues about...well, life these
days; opens and ends w/a bang, strong throughout - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #27: Director’s Cut, Where Play Becomes Magic
- audience chooses the scene based just on some descriptive words; then
the director and actors collaborate on building the scene, with
director giving insights into their particular process; fascinating peek
behind the curtain - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #44: Dolly Who’s Holiday Horror Show
- Destiny Davison’s cartoons are adorably goofy, and creating a new
holiday improv-style as a crowd amidst her established bits was a great
communal experience; joy is in short supply so this was a real tonic :) -
5 stars
MN Fringe show #14: Philip Simondet’s Fall of the High School Valedictorian - definitely the rawest thing I’ve seen; still a bit
stunned; music great, though intense; warning about graphic depictions
of self-harm is no joke, though there is also actual humor; great show
but steel yourself - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #37: Fangs and Bangs (and Sangs)
- Nissa Nordland is a fearless mistress of ceremonies, embracing the
absurdity of her teenage musings in journals, song and sexy vampire
fanfiction, enlisting fellow actors and musicians to help bring it to
awkward life with hilarious results - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #55: Hamluke
- a suitably cheesy end to my Fringe for the year; brows both high and
low; Shakespeare and Lucas; John Williams’ music and puppets; Hamlet
mashed up with Star Wars; oddly moving, these sights and sounds of my
childhood; Mom would’ve loved it - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #29: husk/vessel
from Kairos Dance; five dancers in a continuous evolving piece of
movement set to a modern electronic instrumental soundscape; hard to
summarize but you kind of feel it in your gut (in a good way); really
impressive what some human bodies and fabric can do - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #23: I Have Griefances - solid recommendation from
friends on this one; Wells Farnham delivers a very funny solo show that
is oddly sweet despite all the profanity, in tribute to the multiple
members of his family that keep coming down with various strains of
cancer - 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show #51: Jewelry Power Elite
- Lauren Anderson had audience eating out of her hand at minute 1 as
she unpacked her personal history and philosophy of a fabulously
accessorized life; enough humor and heart to light up the whole Fringe
Festival; already can’t wait for what’s next - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #26: Joan of Arc for Miss Teen Queen USA
- it would've been so easy for this to be a surface-level, flashy, one
joke premise kind of comedy, so kudos to Melancholics Anonymous for
serving up something not just funny but having depth, great characters;
fascinating all-around - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #9: Jon Bennett: American’t - everything I want to talk
about would also kind of be a spoiler so I’ll just say this solo show is
perfectly crafted, full of surprises, and extremely funny, even better
than his last one (more later, when I’ve figured out how not to spoil
it) 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show # 10: Mind Reader - somehow I managed to not get selected
as a volunteer; wild feats of memory and stuff that shouldn’t be able
to happen; had Steven Nicholas read my mind, all he probably would have
gotten was “wow, he has really nice arms” 5 stars (for the show as well
as the arms) (full review here)
MN Fringe show #41: Ping Prov - great mix of improvisers in this
performance; their 3 sets were fun, and then they all went in hard on
the Ping Prov of it all as a group with bizarre and entertaining
results; they were sharp and on it the whole time, which is all you
could ask - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #18: Ranger Jim - may we all be able to still hold a
stage and still spin a tale with the skill and precision and humor and
humanity that Jim Stowell still does now in his 80s, remarkable stories
of the collision of nature and people in the US national parks - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #47: Rec League
- a whole team of first-class improvisers hilariously pretending to
play softball all over the theater; while also working out their
personal issues in the dugout and the outfield; crazy funny rolling bits
cascading over one another; plus wild sound cues - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #11: Songs Without Words - Holy sh*t, that was amazing!
Brilliant script,effortless performance, and music friends said she
nailed all those details and it made them want to run home and listen to
more music by *both* the Mendelssohns; 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show #32: That Which Is Green - Michael Rogers does it again,
and this time he’s not alone on stage for his character’s existential
crisis; Alex Van Loh is there, too, which makes all the difference; a
lovely, funny, moving exploration of growing up and moving on - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #28: The Abortion Chronicles
- new stories, new urgency; the variety of different specific deeply
personal tales is just the right mix; makes you stop and consider your
own connections to the current situation we’re all living in - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #16: The Big Secret - Brad Lawrence’s storytelling is
mesmerizing; this is the 4th Fringe I’ve seen him in and he never
disappoints; this time, it’s excavating the world around a secret shared
by 17 yr old Jessica with 14 yr old Brad, just 2 years before her death
- 5 stars
MN Fringe show #24: The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club from Comedy Suitcase -
so many great one liners, so many ridiculous characters, so many
painful looking stage “accidents” Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi
Weinhagen serve up comedy from so many directions; brilliant - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #43: The Show Must Go On
- this “backstage” puzzle game in the Phoenix Theater lobby was a lot
of fun (made good time, 41 min.); tip: shows are sell out risk because
it’s just 8 people each, but unless it says sold out, there’s still tix,
go for it! - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #36: The Temporary Tattoo Trio
- this time, I get it; while I don't always "get" the oddball
sensibility of an alleged Theatre Co.'s work, this awkward tale of
fraying bonds of friendship and reluctant growing up, combined with
amusing audience interaction, connects with me - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #12: The Wickie - just delightfully goofy, well-executed
clowning from beginning to end as a beleaguered lighthouse keeper
battles the ocean that stole his left shoe; great crowd engagement and
world building, so inventive and funny; 5 stars (full review here)
MN Fringe show #42: Trust Exercises/Exorcises: Phil Gonzales spins the
wonder wheel of story options to expel toxic memories associated with
the truly bonkers real life theater cult centered on his high school
teacher (yikes); just as full of manic energy, humor and honesty as ever
(wow) - 5 stars
4.5 Stars - Very Highly Recommeded (aka, Damn Near Perfect)
MN Fringe show #1:
(long title) aka The Fart Show
- Malcolm Dekker and his Fringe vet dad Kyle have crafted a clever,
inventive, goofy little show, with lots of fun audience fart sound
participation, providing structure to something that might have just
been a string of fart jokes; 4.5 stars
(full review here)
MN Fringe show #50: Death! a Musical
- remarkable effort for young artists, unusual theology/mythology for
the afterlife but a lot of humor and catchy tunes to move things along
as a teenage girl needs to face the reality (necessity?) of death; solid
production from promising new talent - 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #52: Dice of Destiny: Neon City
- Bearded Company’s improv comedy based on the random roll of a
20-sided die for success or failure in a spoof of 1980s action flicks,
where 2024 is the distant future; so much fluorescent clothing; so much
silliness - 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #33: In The Garden of American Heroes - Andrew Erskine
Wheeler has a thornier subject this time, General Custer as a
representative of many of the founding (and continuing) sins of this
country; pacing, staging just a bit off, but guy still commands a stage
like few others - 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #48: Insomnia Dogs
- not at all what I thought it’d be, in the best way; personal dynamics
of a group of 5 female college friends experimenting with sleep
deprivation to enhance their creativity; inventive new play, clever
staging; happily embraces fluidity of sexuality - 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #46: Shrieking Harpies: Period Piece
- online poll chose American frontier for this improvised musical so we
got twins, prostitutes, girl raised by wolves who wrote an opera, and a
pivotal tin of crackers; mind-boggling that the keyboard and singing
all come outa nowhere - 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #8: The Jaws That Bite, The Claws That Catch: a show that
knows what it's doing, but what is it doing? your interpretation of a
presentation from a man clinging to his memories and the poem
"Jabberwocky" in a degenerating spiral may vary; few answers, many
questions; 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #3:
The Kendra Plant Variety Hour
- Plant is a charming host; all 3 guests crackle with how good they are
at what they do; stunning Japanese dragon dance, drumming and pipe;
heartfelt songs of trans liberation; eye-popping ballet contortions plus
burlesque; variety indeed; 4.5 stars
(full review here)
MN Fringe show #22: Winding Sheet Outfit's admitted work in progress The Spirit Moves You To Color The Unseen already firing on all cylinders in
acting, music, design and execution; the art of subject Hilma af Klint
is still half understood so the script can only go so far; gorgeous; 4.5
stars
Here’s some handy links to coverage of 4 Star and 3.5 Star Shows I've Seen (Highly Recommended), Other Shows I've Seen (3 Stars or Less), as well as my Fringe Top 10, Top 11 to 20 and Returning Favorites lists for this year, and 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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