Wednesday, August 07, 2024

Fringe 2024 - Day 6 In Brief


The day in Threads

Mixed bag of shows, starting strong with a fun dance show, ups and down thereafter, but hey, at least it was dry today. However, the worst performance of the day was actually from two people in the audience at Teen Wolf Killed My Grandma. So, well done, artists! Don’t let the rude ones get you down.

Threads review, mnfringe show 27, Interstella 5555: A Daft Punk Discovery - a concept dance show based off the 2001 album Discovery from French electronic music duo Daft Punk and it’s accompanying animated sci fi film (no, really); and it’s a lot of (very weird) fun - 5 stars


Threads review, mnfringe show 28, Teen Wolf Killed My Grandma; first, as expected, I’m definitely the target audience for this; 2nd, there’s a LOT going on in this show, and all the production elements are there to make it happen; needs a bit more polish but as is, it works most of the time - 4 stars (my Fringe Top 10 write-up)

Side note thread: Prize for worst mnfringe audience members goes to the elderly couple clearly visible in 2nd row at Teen Wolf Killed My Grandma; not enjoying themselves, they snarked like they were home watching TV; then decided to get up and leave 5 min. before the end, while actor giving speech about death of grandma; stay classy, folks


Threads review, mnfringe show 29, Once Upon a Pine, the Adventures of Pinocchio; this one’s on me, I didn’t do enough homework, so I was genuinely expecting more of a puppet show; can’t blame them for not delivering that; also not going to dunk on a cast of young actors; however, the script and direction… eesh - 3 stars

Threads review, mnfringe show 30, Dream of Me: a young grieving widow, aided by her scientist best friend, gets a chance to see her dead husband again in her dreams; no spoilers, but when has using science to mess around with the brain’s concept of reality ever gone off without a hitch? - 4 stars (my Fringe Top 10 write-up)



Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

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