Since the new top 10/top 20 list and the related project of my Fringe schedule is taking a bit longer than expected to congeal while juggling the two day jobs, being treasurer of my condo association, literary director of a small queer theater company, writing the final report to a granting organization for the aforementioned small queer theater company, and participating on the negotiating team for a new union contract at the Guthrie Theater (phew), let’s get the blog rolling by writing about some things that are less complicated, like shows from returning artists that I’m happy to see creating new Fringe productions.
Let’s kick it off with the folks who did my favorite Fringe show last year:
Theatre on the Rocks
(aka, writer/performer Sam Sweere, with support from director Hannah Steblay, stage manager Marsh Kelly (both part of last year’s show) and new addition this year, Leah Sweere)
Last year, Sam & Co. concocted “A Horse Walks Out Onto The Stage and Dies” which caught my eye in previews, and delivered in such unexpected and compelling ways that I ended up seeing the thing three times (a rarity in my Fringe-going, with so many shows to see, and such limited time in which to see them.). They ended up snagging two Golden Lanyard Awards at the end of the Festival, one for having the highest audience attendance for their venue, and one from their fellow Fringe artists, the Underdog Award for a first time Fringe producer taking bold risks.
What do you follow that up with?
Well, that’s assuming it’s up to you what happens next.
Let’s let Sweere’s publicity pitch do the talking:
Here’s the summary of the show on their page on the Fringe website:
A Good Cancer To Have
Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre (no pun intended)
Show Description: This year cancer tried to kill me. This is the show I wrote about it.
It’s billed as a solo show, with Sam Sweere as “Cancer Guy” but also has Leah Sweere listed as “Wife”
It’s also billed as a comedy.
Which makes sense, because if you can get that many laughs out of the death of a horse, you should be able to make fun of your own cancer as well.
For instance, try the More Information tab on their show page:
Everything you've heard about cancer isn't true.
It's actually cool and a good hang.
All it does is give you
intense chills,
hot flashes,
nightmares,
blisters,
mouth sores,
anemia,
a compromised immune system,
the destruction of your bone marrow,
malaise,
fatigue to the point that keeping your head up is hard,
gross things I don't want to write on the public page,
acidic urine,
depression,
anxiety,
rubbery skin,
brain fog,
intense stomach pain
and your mouth tasting like nickels all the time.
It's genuinely not that bad.
The pitch in the Fringe press packet went like this:
After producing "A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies" to critical and audience acclaim at the 2024 Fringe Festival, the stage was set for another exciting, genre pushing and ultimately entertaining show from Sam Sweere!
Unfortunately instead he got cancer. So now he has to do a show about his cancer.
And if you went to the goofy horse show and don't go to the show about a twenty-five year old's battle with cancer it says a lot about you as a person.
"A Good Cancer to Have", A somewhat exciting, debatably genre pushing and yet still entertaining show premiering at the Mixed Blood Theatre
One might think, since my mother died from a brain tumor just six years ago, that I might not be on board for shows about cancer, and you’d be half right. Shows about people dying from cancer, I’ll pass. Shows about people surviving cancer, that I’ll watch.
And honestly, any show Sam Sweere puts on, I’m there.
His theater brain doesn’t work like my theater brain, and I’m fascinated watching it in action and trying to figure it out. It’s like reading poetry. I can’t write poetry, but I enjoy a good poem when I read it. I can’t do the kind of theater Sam Sweeere does, but as an audience member, I find it enormously compelling. If you saw “A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies” last year, you know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, “A Good Cancer To Have” is your chance to see what all the fuss is about.
I already know I’m seeing it opening night of the festival this year. And there’s also three other shows I really wanted to see playing at the same venue the rest of the night around “A Good Cancer To Have” so that’s an easy first day of Fringing all planned out already. Maybe I’ll see you there.
Update 7/24/2025, this week's Fringe preview:
Here’s some handy links to my Fringe Top 10, Top 11 to 20 and Returning Favorites lists for this year, as well as all the coverage of this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival.
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