Fringe 2009 - Top 20 - #14 - Something Witchy

If you removed that gun from my head and I could see another 10 Fringe shows, what would they be and why?

#14

Partizan Theater

Something Witchy

Los Angeles. August 9th, 1969. The crime of the century. Celebrity victims. And "the most dangerous man in the world." Sixteen years later, a 'family' member wants to forget.

But someone won't let her.

Closing night of the 2009 Minnesota Fringe Festival coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders, crimes that riveted the nation when the killers were found to be members of Charles Manson's 'family,' acting at his behest. Something Witchy imagines a member of Manson's family, only sixteen years old at the time of the murders, who leaves the group following the trial and melts back into middle class existence someplace in the midwest. With a husband and teenaged daughter, her anonymous domestic routine is interrupted suddenly sixteen years later, in 1986, when a mysterious man - private detective? Manson follower? cult fanatic? - tracks her down and threatens to expose her. This wrenching confrontation reignites her murderous past and leads to a shocking end.

Chris Carlson, another great Twin Cities-based actor, also one of the co-founders of the Thirst Theater experiment a few years back - and who played one of the roles in my first Thirst play, dropped me an e-mail about this one.

So did writer/director/producer James Vculek. When I remarked on what a great cast he had, he replied, "Yes, I couldn't be luckier with that cast. And what a find Lindsey was. I had not seen her before but knew she got rave reviews for her Juliet at the Children's Theater's Romeo and Juliet."

Partizan has a long, distinguished record, both on Fringe stages, and the indie film circuit. Here's a sampling from their press release...

"From the company that produced

the top five Fringe show in 2003 – Shtick, and Its Relation to the Unconscious, starring Ari Hoptman and Richard Ooms;

the top five show at the 2005 Fringe, The Princeton Seventh, starring Ari Hoptman, Alex Cole, Catherine Johnson Justice and James Cada;

and Angelina Jolie is a Zionist Whore! or, Plan 9 from Baghdad (2006), starring Alex Cole, Alayne Hopkins, Sam Landman, and Steve Lattery, which had a month-long run at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater;

[Blogger's note - How can you not love a company that comes up with the title "Angelina Jolie is a Zionist Whore! or, Plan 9 from Baghdad"?]

as well as the feature films Two Harbors (2005), starring Catherine Johnson Justice and Alex Cole, which screened at 25 film festivals world-wide, winning 10 awards, including six Best Feature awards at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, the Milwaukee International Film Festival, the Eugene International Film Festival and the Victoria (Australia) Film Festival among others;

The Quietest Sound (2006), starring Catherine Johnson Justice, which screened at ten film festivals, earning Justice a Best Actress award at the Fargo Film Festival;

and the upcoming The Confession of Lee Harvey Oswald (2009), starring Guthrie Theater legends Richard Ooms and Jim Lichtscheidl."

So, how much more convincing do you need?

If the story intrigues you, as it does me, you already know you're in good hands.

That should about do it.

Perhaps I'll see you there.

Their website - partizanpictures.com

Their show page