Fringe 2023 - “How Do You Choose What To See?”

I get a variation of this question a lot, and I’ve been challenged by it more than usual in the years since my Fringe-going companion for 16 years, my mother, died four years ago.

I used to have a few more parameters I needed to take into account - not just my returning favorites from past Fringes, but also mom’s (which often overlapped, but we’d be sure to prioritize her favorites in the first week of the festival when she was here).  And after one year where we were really pushing her limits for how fast she could get around, I started to schedule chunks of the schedule in the same general vicinity so there were less long hikes, or dashes to hop in the car and drive somewhere else quickly.

Now it’s just me and how fast I can get around.

But in thinking about it, the underlying strategy is basically the same.

Look at the schedule for a day.

Then trust your instincts.  You know what you like.

What is the show you most want to see, for whatever reason; what show are you most excited by or interested in?

That show is your anchor, that show is your tentpole.  Build the rest of the day around that one.

The Fringe this year is making it a bit easier because the vast majority of the shows are all in venues in the Cedar Riverside hub.  So unless your favorite show of the day is out at Strike or Phoenix Theaters, you’re bound to have a whole bunch of choices nearby for other shows to see.

Take opening night tonight, Thursday 8/3/2023

In some ways it’s a lot easier than the weekend, or even tomorrow night, because neither Strike nor Phoenix have a slate of shows on tonight.  

[There’s three other independent venues with a single show going on (Maison Bodega with “Well-Made Bread” and the Hook and Ladder Theater and Lounge with “In Celebration of the Mysterious” both at 7pm, and Crane Theater with “Stabby Stab Stab” at 10pm) none of which were way at the top of my list, so I’ll set them aside for now.]

We’re just in Cedar-Riverside, and it’s opening night, so I haven’t seen anything yet, so literally everything would be a new option for me.

We have just four slots to see a show in - 5:30pm, 7pm, 8:30pm, 10pm

The show I most want to see of 30 shows offered (normally it’d be 32 but neither of the Augsburg stages have a 5:30pm show on Thursday) would be:

10pm - Baldwin’s Last Fire, at Theater In the Round (it’s #2 on my top 10 list this year)

So that’s where I want to end up.

I’m still in decent enough shape that I could walk from any of the other venues to this one in less that half an hour between shows, so I could choose anything for the 8:30pm slot, which is a relief, but also doesn’t help me narrow it down.

Let’s look at the other end of the evening, 5:30pm

The two shows I’m most interested in at 5:30pm are both in my Top 20 this year, both newcomers to the Minnesota Fringe (but have toured elsewhere), and Thursday at 5:30pm is a tough slot, they could both use the audience. They also both had great previews on Fringe Eve last night.

Coin-flip really, but I was thinking that the multi-character solo show drama of Reincarnation Soup might have a little more trouble luring people on the first day than the stand-up comedian from Germany with his 5-Step Guide to Being German.

So I’m going to start with Reincarnation Soup at the Southern at 5:30pm

Then at 7pm at the Southern is Allegro, an inventive show that’s supposed to have queer content which jumped into my Top 20 this year after it really caught my eye (and ear) at the first set of Fringe previews last week.

So I’m going to stay put at the Southern for the 7pm slot as well (even though there are a couple of other shows I want to see, too, but at different nearby venues (Dock Work and The Place I Return To, both on my Top 20 this year) - it’s a good night for shows.

8:30pm, I’m going with a reliable Fringe artist of many Fringes past (and a favorite without whom Mom didn’t really feel like it was Fringe if he wasn’t around), Les Kurkendaal-Barrett and his solo storytelling show, Climbing My Family Tree (with another [unsurprisingly] good showing at the Fringe Eve previews last night).  Les is always a good way to round out a day of Fringe, and a good excuse to pop over to the very busy 3-in-1 Rarig Center venue on opening day.

Then off to Baldwin’s Last Fire at 10pm at TRP to finish things off for the day.

And that’s how I build a day of Fringe.

 

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