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 update: Just as a marker, I had a discussion about this with friends at the end of the night last night; we're all seeing a lot of great shows this year, very few clunkers; I don't rate everything 5 stars as a default; we're just getting a really good Fringe across the board this year :)
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 #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 #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 #30: The Professionals: A Broadcast - so many interesting ideas here, perhaps too many? The cast is energetically committed but to what, exactly? Show rarely lands on a concept long enough to convey it to audience so it ends up a bit of a confusing dystopian muddle - 2.5 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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