Review - Pride and Prejudice - Theater in the Round Players - Jane Austen Dance Party - 4 stars

Theatre in the Round Players is kicking off their 74th season with a party for the whole audience.  TRP’s production of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” adapted by Kate Hamill and directed by Penelope Parsons-Lord, is full of music, dance and laughter, so if you’re looking for a fun time, this show is your ticket.  Hamill has been an adapting whirlwind of a playwright over the last decade or so and is one of the most produced playwrights in the country.  (The Guthrie has produced a couple of her other Austen adaptations in recent years: “Sense and Sensibility” [which I liked] and “Emma” [which I… didn’t]).  Going in, it was a coin flip whether I was going to enjoy myself at this re-telling of Austen’s best known (and oft-adapted) novel.  I should have had more faith in the basic plot of “Pride and Prejudice” to deliver, regardless of the trappings.  The production is well-executed and the cast is fully throwing themselves into romantic comedy vibes of it all.

“I just hate to think of her up there… in bed… alone.”

For the uninitiated (or if, like me, you sometimes can’t keep the plotlines of the different Austen novels straight): “Pride and Prejudice” is the tale of headstrong, intelligent Elizabeth (Lizzy) Bennet (Eva Gemlo) and her three sisters - her beautiful but shy elder sister Jane (Erika Sasseville), her severe and intense younger sister Mary (Stephanie Kahle), and her naive and flighty youngest sister Lydia (Maya Vagle).  Since there’s no brother to take over the estate from their good-natured father Mr. Bennet (Nick Menzhuber), their loud and slightly frantic mother Mrs. Bennet (Alison Anderson) is desperately trying to get her girls all married off to well-to-do bachelors to secure their futures in 19th century society, where a woman’s options were limited.

“The soundest nets will sometimes catch the smallest fish.”

Fortune seems to smile on them when Jane catches the eye of the new man of means about town Charles Bingley (Michael Hundevad) - though his sister Caroline (Sydney Payne) does her best to undermine the budding relationship.  Caroline seems to have an ally in Bingley’s awkward (but very rich) friend Mr. Darcy (Luke Langfeldt).  Darcy seems to continually cross paths (and butt heads) with Lizzy, and yet despite the friction, the two of them can’t seem to stay away from one another.  Further complicating matters are other potential suitors for Lizzy - the clergyman Mr. Collins (Davin Grindstaff ) (also a cousin to the Bennets, who is set to inherit the home they all live in when Mr. Bennet dies); and Mr. Wickham (Adam Rider), a soldier with a past tied to Mr. Darcy.  Also in the mix are Lizzy’s friend Charlotte (Reese Noelle Marcus) who is also in need of a husband, and Mr. Collins’ very self-important patroness Lady Catherine (Anna Olson) and her ghoulish constantly veiled daughter Ann (Mary Lofreddo), with actors Lizzie Esposito, Scott Hoffman, and Krista Weiss rounding out the large ensemble of players.

“I apologize for the chaos.  I wish I could say it was unusual.”

The first thing that catches your eye before the show even starts is how set designer Madison Bunnell has transformed the TRP space - climbing vines cover the two support columns in the house, hedges and bookshelves front several of the audience sections, and there are picture frames as well as chandeliers hanging in the air.  But this is one of those rare set designs that reveals more detail the more time you spend looking at it. For instance, the bookshelves - half of each bookshelf has straight, normal shelves, the other side has shelves that are titled up or down, sort of quirky and precarious-looking (half Darcy, half Bennet, if you will). These shelves are populated by some of prop designer Dominic Detwiler’s many props helping to give each room that appears a touch of period feel.  There are also some large frames fronting one audience section that are off-kilter - but moveable - and throughout the play some characters feel compelled to adjust them and straighten them up. The painting of the floor around the edges evokes flowing water, and the small circles which are part of the geometric pattern in the center of the floor have fields of stars in them.

“Reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful.”

There’s also a lot of furniture moving around and multiple high-speed scene changes happening as the story rapidly moves from one location to the next.  This is the place where Alita Robertson’s bright, colorful lighting design, and the music-stuffed sound design from Robert Hoffman and director Parsons-Lord keep the audience alert and engaged between scenes.  It can also be where a lot of the dance is thrown in as well (choreographed by Claire Achen).  Scene shifts can be where a lot of the air and momentum go out of a production, so keeping these transitions lively and engaging is smart.

“He did come in search of a wife, and I was there.”

Most of the acting ensemble is leaning hard into the comedy part of “romantic comedy” and that’s something that this stage adaptation encourages.  Part of Hamill’s appeal as an adapter is her ability to inject humor into almost any situation - whether it’s a good idea or not.  It can help make an old story more accessible to a modern audience, however there’s a difference between laughing with a character and laughing at them.  The play is sometimes winking so hard at the audience that I was afraid its metaphorical eyeball would fall out of its socket.  A tone like that can sometimes make it hard for me to fully engage with a story because the actors are being encouraged to draw attention to the fact that they’re telling a story rather than just living in the moment without commenting on it.  Also some running bits can undercut a character, like equating Bingley’s enthusiasm to that of a dog which eventually becomes a bunch of canine commands with a ball, like Sit, Stay or Speak.  It’s a joke, and it gets a laugh, but at the character’s expense - so it’s a bit harder to root for him and Jane to end up together, because he doesn’t seem like a real person with a brain in his head.  Again, not the actors’ fault, or even the director’s - the script is telling them to go there.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

At the end of the day, it’s still “Pride and Prejudice” and the story endures for a reason, because it works.  Lizzy and Darcy, Jane and Bingley, and the colorful cast of characters around them are fun to spend time with. There’s also real energy and joy in this production which make it an amusing watch, and the evening just sails right along.  TRP’s production of “Pride and Prejudice” is a solid piece of theater, with a large team of artists fiercely “committed to the bit,” as they say.  No snoozy period drama here, we get a Jane Austen dance party instead.

“Pride and Prejudice” plays at Theatre in the Round Players (245 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis, MN) through October 5, 2025.

4 stars - Highly Recommended

 

 

Fringe 2025 - Day 11 in Brief - Sun. Aug. 10th - Death, Jewelry, Neon, Cancer, Diner, Hamluke and Closing Night

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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #54: Someone Always Pays - well, it was brief; so many questions; is the waitress in some kind of doom loop, since the other character doesn’t seem to know what’s going on but she does? Why is she stuck here? Why are we? At least they let her sing a song? Baffling - 2.5 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 update: Closing Night Party at the Cedar was fun to drop in on; mostly there to see which shows ended up getting Golden Lanyard Awards for biggest attendance, as well as from Fringe staff, audience and fellow artists; as ever, a lot of shows I saw, and a bunch more I didn't. Great year! 

 

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 

 

 

Fringe 2025 - VERY Highly Recommended Shows I've Seen - 5 Stars, 4.5 Stars

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 

 

Fringe 2025 - Highly Recommended Shows I've Seen - 4 Stars, 3.5 Stars

Here's a handy list of coverage of the shows I've seen so far at the Fringe that are HIGHLY Recommended, getting either 4 stars or 3.5 stars, with links to full-length reviews as they're posted, in alphabetical order by title:

4 Stars - Highly Recommended (aka, Excellent)

MN Fringe show #39: Final Dress - Allison Vincent subbed in last minute as guest director, bringing that Transatlantic Love Affair physical theater vibe to Sean Dillon and Michael DallaValle’s fake final rehearsal before “opening” (it’s hard, but funny, faking a whole play from scratch :) - 4 stars  

 

MN Fringe show #5: This - I kinda figured Tim Uren had more theater/life stories than could comfortably fit in a 1 hr. time slot and I was accidentally right; the epilogue section of the opening performance got cut off because the show ran a titch too long; lot of good material, though :) 4 stars

 

MN Fringe show #35: Your Hello To My Goodbye - sweet family drama with eldest daughter heading off for a new life and career in NYC while her slightly dysfunctional family needs to figure out how they’re going to get along without her; script a bit repetitive; voice projection an issue; 4 stars 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.5 Stars - Highly Recommended (aka, Good Job Plus) 

(none yet...) 

 

 

Here’s some handy links to coverage of 5 Star and 4.5 Star Shows I've Seen (VERY Highly Recommend), 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