Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorite - Broken Wing Productions (Sheree & Scot Froelich, Nicole Wilder)

The Wind Phone
Broken Wing Productions

The Wind Phone is found in a quiet park, not connected to any earthly system. On it, mourners will call their loved ones passed in hopes of finding the peace to work through their pain.

Venue: The Ribs of Humanity at Campbell Plaza
Tagged For: Drama, LGBTQIA+ Content
Content Warnings: Adult Language
Ages 16 and up

So many reasons to see this one.

First, it’s the return of Broken Wing Productions after their award-winning previous Fringe show “My Empty Arms” back in 2022.

I caught it late in the festival so it didn’t get a full review from me at the time, but this was the tweet response (remember tweets? I’ve shifted to threads now…) I posted after seeing it:

"My Empty Arms: Sheree Froelich recounts the absurdity/cruelty of what it's like to be pregnant, want to keep the child, and live in a society that makes it impossible to do anything but give it up for adoption; devastating and beautiful - 5 stars"

So if Sheree Froelich is the playwright, I’m already on board.  This time she’s co-creating the piece Callie Aho.  Nicole Wilder is back again as director.

In the cast, some of my favorite local performers, including Sheree, Anthony Sisler-Neuman and Boo Segersin.

And you’d think after the grief journey I’ve been on these past five years, I might have tripped over the concept of a wind phone before now but this is first I’ve heard of it - and it’s fascinating!  Here’s some further detail from their More Information tab:

“Based on the therapeutic concept of speaking to our lost loved ones to gain closure and catharsis, The Wind Phone takes its inspiration from Japanese garden designer Itaru Sasaki. In 2010, Sasaki installed a phonebooth in his garden so he could call his deceased cousin - someone he'd loved and communicated with regularly. In 2011, the Tōhoku tsunami killed over 15,000 citizens of the region Sasaki lived, and he opened his wind phone to his neighbors.

Since 2011, wind phones have popped up in regions all over the globe. At the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival, you can see their therapeutic value in action. Who would you call?”

They also have some links to wind phone resources, which I’ll layer into this blog post as well.

I’ve walked by the outdoor sculpture The Ribs of Humanity many a time on my West Bank Fringe walks between the Rarig Center and other venues in that corner of the Minneapolis theater scene (Mixed Blood, TRP, Southern, and the Barbara Barker Center for Dance, to name a few).  So it’s cool that I already know where this is, and it’s right nearby so many other Fringe locales this year.  Limited shade and it’s outdoors, so be forewarned, but I’ll bring sunscreen and a cap and I should be good for an hour.

Original work, compelling subject matter, off-beat presentation - very Fringey all around.  Can’t wait.

 

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.