Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 13: Doozy: Destiny Davison and collaborators keep topping themselves each new show; live action cartoon/puppetry in black and white; goofy time loop revenge plot on Dolly by abandoned imaginary friend Doozy, who talks by harmonica; packed with whimsical cardboard creations - 5 stars
Getting stuck in a time loop on a very rare day off doesn’t seem like it’d be all that terrible - endless vacation, anyone? But of course, the day never changes, and that can get old. To get out of the time loop, Dolly Who (Destiny Davison) needs to mend the relationship with her childhood best friend Doozy (Britt Johnson), a glove with big, bulbous eyes who speak only via harmonica. However, first Dolly has to remember that Doozy exists.
“Do you ever think about time?”
Dolly also has invisible roommates, the Movers (Cody Madison and Deanna Pistono), who helped her move in and never left, existing as they do in a dimension right next to our own. So Dolly can’t see the Movers (though we of course can), but she does see when they move things, like pulling out a chair for her, or moving a piece on the game board. Seated at a table on the side of the stage is Erik (Erik Ostrom), providing music and sound effects.
“Revenge is the whipped cream on a ‘cry for help’ sundae.”
Doozy presents her scheme to the audience at the top of the show by unfurling a large paper scroll with the steps of her plan written and cartooned in amusing fashion, which also conjure up sound effect memories of the past friendship that only enrage Doozy more.
“Doozy, I’ll never forget you… forget you… forget you…”
Dolly at first is just having a hard time with the concept of a day off. Normally she works as the host of an educational show that’s a cross between PeeWee’s Playhouse and Sesame Street, and she sort of lives inside the show. So she has to stop herself from spelling everything out or imparting simple life lessons. She still engages with some of the show’s regular characters, like the Sad Sunflower, or Trash Heap, the talking trash can, both of whom have the same big eyes that Doozy does (both also Johnson), and the Good Morning Birds, who insist on singing about everything from friendly greetings to eating breakfast (also Madison and Pistono)
“How will I sustain my mistresses?!”
This may make it sound like the world is very colorful, but Davison’s artistic signature is cartoons drawn in black and white, and the set and props and characters are all extensions of this. Dolly and the Movers are dressed in black, though Dolly has white accents painted on both layers of her costume, the outer jumpsuit and the next layer of formal clothing underneath it. Sad Sunflower is a cardboard or foam cut-out three dimensional version of a a black and white cartoon. Trash Heap is a small trash can, painted white, with those big eyes attached to the lid which moves up and down like a mouth.
“Don’t eat Frosted Flakes!”
There’s a whole impressive setting created by Davison, manifesting her style all over the Open Eye Theatre stage, including a large cardboard wall with a big opening in it to serve as Dolly’s TV screen, presenting snippets of several different satirical TV shows spoofing soap operas, reality TV, and personal injury law firm commercials. Madison and Pistono act all these out using black and white cartoon puppet figures. It’s all very amusing and inventive, just like Dolly’s bizarro world board game, and enormous TV remote control, again manifested in black and white painted cardboard.
“Let’s be bad - they’ve also got godlike power over space and time.”
No one’s aware of Doozy’s time loop revenge plot/cry for attention until Doozy literally rewinds the clock and everyone goes through the entirety of the first chunk of the Fringe show in reverse, and then Dolly starts the whole show over again, hit over and over with a sense of deja vu. Everyone needs to learn a lesson about friendship, however quirky and offbeat, in order to resolve the crisis.
“You’ve been out here the whole time. I just didn’t see you.”
Destiny Davison has found a great team of collaborators here, who help her do much more than she could do with a solo show. The sheer scale of the production is impressive, yet another step up from her previous, and equally enjoyable past shows. Adults and kids alike will enjoy this production.
If you’re looking for something different, or just want a bit of whimsy, and to see an artist create a world on a 3-D canvas, Doozy is a great option for you this Fringe.
5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended
You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.
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