Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 9: This Body, This Fruit: Davi Gray delivers poems like a conversation (granted, with better turns of phrase :) unfolding explorations of identity, gender and self in amusing, tender and thought-provoking ways; luxuriate in language for an hour, it's very refreshing - 5 stars
Just like I said above, Davi Gray’s solo Fringe show “This Body, This Fruit” was a refreshing change of pace on my schedule this festival. When you hear “solo show by a poet,” that could go either way. Some poets are great on the page, but less great reading their work aloud (and some poets’ work is hard to be read aloud by anyone, the poet included). Thankfully, Davi Gray has a really open, friendly stage presence and her poems are very conversational in style. So it’s like you’re sitting down to have a chat with her, or hear her inner thoughts.
“Sweetly suited to some other self.”
Of course, Gray is a poet, so the flow of their words is much more graceful than the average person. All the same, the speaking of those words still feels like a casual conversation. But the poems also provide a lot of insight into the daily experiences of living as a trans person, particularly a trans female. There is caution, of course. There are questions about identity and body image. But there is also joy - at being one’s self, at fully embracing the life you were meant to live, at no longer putting limitations on yourself because of what somebody else might think.
“Every day I read stories of transition… in the Bible.”
There are also some fabulous costume changes and bursts of color from both clothing and flowers, throughout. Sometimes there’s music during these changes in outfits, sometimes there is the voice over of another poem. Either way the mood is kept light and lyrical and celebratory.
“Please excuse Davi from their assigned gender…”
The poet’s own words make a better case than I could, so here another random sampling of things that stood out to me in my notes:
“Always happy to share my joy.”
“What would you try if you knew you could not succeed?”
“There was more fruit in the Garden of Eden.”
“This is not a word problem.”
“Whales were once land animals
Something like an elephant.”
“You would lick your tongue raw if you could.”
“Hurricanes…
Named after every woman
Bringing them terror, and ecstasy.”
“I am sometimes slow to see the blade.”
“Lot’s wife had a name…
Whoever turns around, it’s the woman who’s damned.”
“I used not to care about my body because it was more or less abstract.”
“Never nearly enough to save us from the fire.”
“I have heard the Spirit whisper in the wind.”
“The bittersweet taste at the back of your throat
As you kneel down to pray - for me.”
“I’m not a planet
I don’t have that kind of time.”
“Sometimes we are called to do God’s work.
Sometimes we must save ourselves.”
“But I know the earth is still turning.”
Of course, there are many more lovely words and intriguing turns of phrase in Gray’s work, but they’re best in their full context, and being read aloud by the poet herself. If you’re looking for some clever word play, "This Body, This Fruit" fits the bill. Treat yourself.
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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