"The prosecution doth protest too much."
The Nonsense Company
Storm Still
Outside an abandoned school a war rages.
Inside, three kids have been performing an unsupervised rendition of King Lear for years.
Further inside, the mad King debates the purpose of theater with his Fool, a licensed therapist.
Another returning favorite and thank God they're back. These guys are amazing - and more than a little intimidating to me, personally, as a playwright. Nicest guys in the world. It's not a personality thing. But they are so smart, talented, informed, politically savvy and artistically versatile that... well, for instance, their first Minnesota Fringe outing in 2006 - Great Hymn of Thanksgiving/Conversation Storm - was so good it made me feel like a hack for a good 24 hours. Took me a while to bounce back from that one. It was mind-bogglingly good. Their follow-up in 2007, due to a technical disaster, ended up being The Prince Myshkins - comic and dramatic songs of politics colliding with humanity that were hilarious and gave your brain and heart a workout at the same time.
And now they're tackling King Lear.
If anyone can wrestle the old dog to the ground, it's these guys. A pantsless singing lunatic, a jester turned lawyer, and a mad king. Shakespeare makes a cameo appearance in the form of a nutcracker. (No, really.) As always, funny, smart, enormously entertaining. They're a must see. As they always are. (They're probably the only out of towners we should ban for making us locals look bad. But then, if we did, we'd miss such great theater. Aw, let them in, and keep challenging us to up our game, I say.)
Fair warning - this is one of the only exceptions to the Fringe's 60 minutes or less rule this season. It's one of the reasons they're performing in the last slot on the schedule at their bring-your-own-venue each night (well, that, and it's spookier at 10pm. For Lear, you need the spooky). 95 minutes. No intermission.
You have to see this. Trust me.
Their website - nonsensecompany.com
Their show page
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