Fringe 2023 - Returning Favorites - an alleged Theatre Company

A Swimming Lesson in a Theatre Without a Lifeguard

Three swim instructors attempt to teach swimming and water safety to an audience seated in a theatre without a pool. There will be quizzes to test your knowledge and a chance to win a whistle.

Venue: Theatre In The Round
Tagged for: Comedy, Audience Participation
Content Warnings: None

Due to the vagaries of chance, I keep ending up seeing Fringe shows from an alleged Theatre Company toward the end of the festival and then don’t end up posting a full review.

They first appeared on my pre-Fringe Top 20 list in 2019 just barely out of the Top 10 in the #11 slot with their show “Which Middle Name of Philip Seymour Hoffman Are You?” and on the fly after seeing it I tweeted:

“2019 MNFringe: Which Middle Name of Philip Seymour Hoffman Are You? - such a fun, odd, razor-sharp bit of satirical comedy writing, breathless performance, and audience interaction; just wonderfully absurd - 5 stars”

Then there was the two year pandemic pause, and when the Fringe came back last year, alleged was back as well with “3 Guys On Stage Who Get Hit With Hot Dogs, Snow Cones, etc.” - which was exactly what the title says (and of course, more than that).  Again I dashed off a quick reaction after seeing the show:

“#mnfringe 3 Guys/Hot Dogs etc.: Torn; they executed the concept perfectly but I kept thinking 1) tired of stories where cruelty wins; 2) waste of food and water; they’re *really* good; I just may not be their audience (sigh) - 4.5 stars”

Now, I think I still am their audience, just not for that one show, because I quite enjoyed the other one, and that was a very weird summer for me, so enjoyment was hard to come by.

I find it amusing that we seem to be developing a new genre of landlocked, largely dry swimming shows in the Fringe (see last year’s swim team, and now this year’s alleged addition to the swimming with no pool category of theater). It’s also intriguing because I just saw Walking Shadow’s production of Red Speedo a couple of weeks ago and they actually did perform right next to and in a real, live swimming pool on a college campus so… as theatergoing humans we appear to be drawn to water in contexts that discourage it.

Yet again, I have no idea what the alleged Theatre folks are up to, but I’m game to find out.  If I need reminding about their absurd brand of comedy, I need only look at the bios on their Fringe page to be reminded and get a chuckle.  If you need convincing, you could look at those as well.

Update, their Fringe preview:

 

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10, and Top 11-20 Lists, plus the full list of all returning favorites at this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.