Still trying to figure out the best way to navigate social media platforms that are increasingly full of garbage. No longer using the site formerly known as Twitter, giving BlueSky a try (a lot fewer Nazis). So that’s where the posts on the fly during the festival will be posted (https://bsky.app/profile/matthewaeverett.bsky.social), and then I’ll gather them here at the end of each day for the snapshot of my daily festival travels from show to show, with longer reviews to follow.
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 #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
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 #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
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 #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 5 Star and 4.5 Star Shows I've Seen (VERY Highly Recommend), 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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