Writing Group Fringe Shout-Out - Revolt of the Beavers, and Doug Sees God: A Funnie Thing Happened On The Way To Adulthood

These didn’t make their way onto any of the other lists but I figured I’d give them a shout-out all the same as both the scripts in their formative stages came through my writing group this year.

Doug Sees God - Doug Funnie is your average millennial, starting his freshman year at Nickelodeon University. With the help of some other classic Nickelodeon characters, Doug must navigate the perils of 21st century life.

As far as Doug goes, that animated Nickelodeon came along after my time (heck, Nickelodeon came along after my time), so I’ll freely admit I didn’t get a lot of the jokes that everyone else did.  The Fringe preview was quite popular.  The script as a whole was quite charming.  (I was fearing a much darker take on life ala Dog Sees God, which took a knife to the Charlie Brown characters’ lives.)  If the whole Nickelodeon era was your thing as a kid, or if your kids introduced it to you, and you have a soft spot in your heart for Doug, you’ll probably really enjoy this one.

They have three shows opening weekend (on the Rarig Thrust) - Thursday 8/2 (tonight) at 5:30pm,  Saturday 8/4 at 1pm, and Sunday 8/5 at 8:30pm

Revolt of the Beavers - A fun, topical adaptation of the Federal Theatre Projects's controversial 1937 "children's play" about labor exploitation, inequality and the power of collective action. And the importance of unions.

As far as the Beavers go, the WPA Federal Theater Project was well before my time, but I thoroughly enjoyed It Can’t Happen Here in last year’s Fringe, another adaptation by the same writer of a political play from a bygone age that seems all too apt these days, too.  This one’s a pro-labor children’s play, with beavers who need to fight for their collective rights as workers.  (No, Revolt Of The Beavers is a not a euphemism for Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.  They’re actually beavers.  Of the animal variety.  But I’m sure there’s still a drinking game in their somewhere.)  It Can’t Happen Here was grim but still packed them into the Ritz Studio last year.  The lighter touch of Revolt of the Beavers may do the same thing at Mixed Blood.  (I have to stop now before I resort to more beaver jokes.)

They have two shows opening weekend (at Mixed Blood Theater) - Friday 8/3 (tomorrow) at 8:30pm, and Sunday 8/5 at 2:30pm

Here's some handy links to my full Top 10, Top 11-20 and Returning Favorites lists.