Fringe 2024 - Scheduling Struggles

This is just one example of how behind schedule I am these days.  In years past, I’d have the full first weekend of Fringe, Thursday through Sunday, all mapped out already, before my late mother arrived for her annual Fringe pilgrimage. And if I had slot on the schedule I couldn’t make a clear decision on because, at the beginning of the festival, there are just too many good options for things I hadn’t seen yet, I’d just wait for Mom to get here and lay out the options and get her to help me decide. We’d probably also have her Monday and Tuesday roughly mapped out as well, maybe finishing it between shows over the weekend.

I was not sure yesterday morning when I awoke what I was going to see last night, much less the rest of the weekend.  Yikes.  I was flopping around the 16 options on the West Bank options for four slots on my schedule, particularly between two specific venues that both had four solid options that completely overlapped.  I finally settled on two shows at one and two at another.

Tonight for the four slots of Friday’s schedule, there’s a pull for me between hitting the West Bank again, and heading over to Uptown instead.

I’m settling on a night at the Phoenix for several reasons:

Given the road construction going on right now, I can’t imagine being able to zip back and forth between venues if I include Uptown in the mix, so I could plan on staying put if possible, particularly on a Friday night.

Tonight the Phoenix has two one-person shows (one an artist returning from out of town, another local presenting their very first show), both of which are on my Top 20 list this year of things I really want to see,

Francis Grey and the Case of his Dead Boyfriend: a One-Person Whodunnit - 5:30pm

A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies - 8:30pm

plus a show that I don’t think existed a few days ago because they just filled a gap in the schedule when another company dropped out (and one of the actors in the cast was smart enough to send out a Facebook invite, which was what flagged it for me - old school social media for the win).

A Number - 10pm
3 identical sons (Clarence Wethern) confront the sins of their father (Gabriele Angieri) in Caryl Churchill’s thrilling, darkly funny sci-fi psychodrama about the high cost of starting over.

[Editor’s Note - Great playwright, new play from them I haven’t seen before, plus two genuinely great local actors I’ve seen in other wonderful productions before. Sci-Fi Comedy Drama. You don’t have to twist my arm on this one.]

And then there’s also a new play with music from a company that regularly produces in the Fringe with a cast of eight plus multiple other collaborators that probably doesn’t need my attention quite as much.  But I’m there, so why not stay for that as well?

Gasthaus - 7pm
In this historical fictional drama set in 1952, citizens of East and West Germany navigate the tensions and complexities created within a GASTHAUS that sits on the fault line of a Cold War inner German border.

But two one-person shows, and a brand new show that hasn’t had the same time to drum up a crowd?  At a venue penned in by road construction? They probably need an extra person in the audience on the second day of Fringe.  So that’s why I’m drawn to the Phoenix on the night 2.

But I could also make a great case for myself for the West Bank this evening, and it was my default for a while because…

At 5:30pm I could see
Defibrillator
The Camp Out
All The Hullabaloo

At 7pm I could see
The Light Bringer
Dream of Me
Monster Science lecture on Medusa and Pals

 

At 8:30pm I could see
All The Hullabaloo (yes, they have two shows this evening, they’re filling at slot at 5:30pm for another show)

At 10pm I could see
Transmasculine Cabaret, starring Vulva Va-Voom

And that’s just the shows I’ve written about and were on my radar.  There’s nine more in the area over those four time slots, including a dance show at 10pm, 

Something Together, that kicked serious ass in previews because, when the sound board melted down and their music wouldn’t play, they just did some dance moves anyway, providing verbal narration as they went. The perfect “show must go on” kind of attitude to have during Fringe season. I’d be interested in seeing them dance when they actually get some music behind them.

Also Yo-Ho-Hum: A Pirate’s Mid-Life Crisis at 8:30pm, from returning Fringe favorites I haven’t written up yet - writer/director Marcus Anthony’s Hey Rube productions, with a cast including Joshua English Scrimshaw, Kirsten Stephens, and Natalie Rae Wass (who’s in Dream of Me at the same venue in the previous slot, phew, busy night for her).

I can see any of that just by staying in the same general area, all of them in easy walking distance of each other.

So if any of that assortment seems interesting to you, I can’t blame you for tilting to the West Bank instead.

Me, I’ll be hanging at the Phoenix, and leaving myself a lot of extra time to get there and find parking :)

Happy Fringing, everyone!

Now I’ve got some reviews to write.

(And I’ll be figuring out my Saturday and Sunday between shows tonight, probably :)

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.