Still trying to figure out the best way to navigate social media platforms that are increasingly full of garbage. No longer using the site formerly known as Twitter, giving BlueSky a try (a lot fewer Nazis). So that’s where the posts on the fly during the festival will be posted (https://bsky.app/profile/matthewaeverett.bsky.social), and then I’ll gather them here at the end of each day for the snapshot of my daily festival travels from show to show, with longer reviews to follow.
MN Fringe show #50: Death! a Musical - remarkable effort for young artists, unusual theology/mythology for the afterlife but a lot of humor and catchy tunes to move things along as a teenage girl needs to face the reality (necessity?) of death; solid production from promising new talent - 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #51: Jewelry Power Elite - Lauren Anderson had audience eating out of her hand at minute 1 as she unpacked her personal history and philosophy of a fabulously accessorized life; enough humor and heart to light up the whole Fringe Festival; already can’t wait for what’s next - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #52: Dice of Destiny: Neon City - Bearded Company’s improv comedy based on the random roll of a 20-sided die for success or failure in a spoof of 1980s action flicks, where 2024 is the distant future; so much fluorescent clothing; so much silliness - 4.5 stars
MN Fringe show #53: A Good Cancer To Have - yes, I’ve seen it 3 times; each time it gets better, I hear different details; like all good art, it’s worth revisiting; a treat at the end of Fringe I know is great, plus an hour I don’t need to take notes, I can just be; thanks, Sam and Leah - 5 stars
MN Fringe show #54: Someone Always Pays - well, it was brief; so many questions; is the waitress in some kind of doom loop, since the other character doesn’t seem to know what’s going on but she does? Why is she stuck here? Why are we? At least they let her sing a song? Baffling - 2.5 stars
MN Fringe show #55: Hamluke - a suitably cheesy end to my Fringe for the year; brows both high and low; Shakespeare and Lucas; John Williams’ music and puppets; Hamlet mashed up with Star Wars; oddly moving, these sights and sounds of my childhood; Mom would’ve loved it - 5 stars
MN Fringe update: Closing Night Party at the Cedar was fun to drop in on; mostly there to see which shows ended up getting Golden Lanyard Awards for biggest attendance, as well as from Fringe staff, audience and fellow artists; as ever, a lot of shows I saw, and a bunch more I didn't. Great year!
Here’s some handy links to coverage of 5 Star and 4.5 Star Shows I've Seen (VERY Highly Recommend), 4 Star and 3.5 Star Shows I've Seen (Highly Recommended), Other Shows I've Seen (3 Stars or Less), as well as my Fringe Top 10, Top 11 to 20 and Returning Favorites lists for this year, and all the coverage of this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival.
As I’m sure many artists are, I find myself struggling with the idea of
just “taking time off” (what a luxury) and submerging myself in a whole
lot of theater for 11 days while the world is on fire so… I’m going to
put some phrases and links down here (and at the end of each post going
forward) and if you find yourself compelled to explore one or more of
them, so much the better. There’s a lot going on, and it can be easy to
get overwhelmed and tune out, but as Congresswoman Sarah McBride
recently said, “If everybody shows a little courage, nobody needs to be a
hero.” I freely admit this list and these links are hardly
exhaustive. It's just something to get started. Do what you can, where
you can, however you can. Let’s help one another get through this.
Contacting your elected officials about the issues that matter to you (and protesting as necessary)
Starvation in the Gaza Strip
Immigration raids around the United States
Ukraine fighting off invasion by Russia
Trans rights
Climate change action
Housing shortage and the unhoused
Reproductive Rights
Voting rights, and running for office
The courts, from the Supreme Court on down to the local level
Don’t forget to laugh - even gallows humor is still humor
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