Fringe 2017 - Returning Favorite - Matthew Foster

Matthew Foster (2003 Top 10) of
American Civic Forum - Themselves They Made Immaculate: Clara Barton at Andersonville

In 1866, Clara Barton, the Civil War's Angel of the Battlefield, testified to Congress on her work in the postwar South. Linda Sue Anderson performs this sobering—but heartening—look into our past and present.

Mr. Foster, then at the head of the Ministry of Cultural Warfare, was on the very first of these Top 10 lists I was asked to compile.  Last year, heading up the American Civic Forum, he was back again entertaining Mom and me with - of all things - dramatic readings from Supreme Court decisions and dissents.  We weren’t the only ones who loved it.  This year, it’s Clara Barton and Andersonville.  I am chagrined I didn’t have a frame of reference but a quick Google search guarantees me that anything they choose to do with this subject is going to be compelling Fringe fare.  Can’t wait.

And here's some handy links to the full list of pre-Fringe top 10, and 11-20, the rest of the returning favorites, and all the random shout outs in these Top 10/Top 20 posts - links all gathered in a single list to take you to fuller posts and Fringe pages.  Enjoy!

Fringe 2009 - Returning Favorites - Rockstar Storytellers

Every year I clear out the pre-Fringe Top 10/Top 20 roster and make way for new blood. Every year, bunches of artists from previous lists pop up again on the Fringe schedule. Like me, they apparently can't stay away from the lunacy and head rush of it all. Consequently, there's plenty of proven folks I'm happy to recommend, along with each year's crop of newbies.

It seems there isn't even enough room for six degrees of separation at Fringe time - only room for one or two.

For instance, lets work our way down the Rockstar Storytellers daisy chain of connections, shall we?

Starting with, of course...

The Rockstar Storytellers

Who might they be? Well, I just wrote a profile on them for MNArtists.org. You can check out that article. And the Rockstars' website.

Last year, they served up School of Rockstars.

In this year's Fringe, they're presenting...

Axed! (The Rockstars' Remix)

Heads will roll when Rockstar Storytellers Rik Reppe, Dave Mondy and Courtney McLean interlace three tales of "getting the axe" from the boardroom to the bedroom-mixed live by an onstage DJ.

This is sort of a combo platter of past Top 10ers...

I wrote up Rik Reppe (from my original top 10 list in 2003) in last year's sporadic blog entries. So I'll link you over to that here, rather than repeat myself. If there's a short list of performers Mom must see at every Fringe, Rik is at the top of the list. She is one of his charter groupies. (Sorry, Mom, he went off and got married again.)

Dave Mondy's been a favorite since I first caught his solo act in 2004 with This Love Train Is Unstoppable and I Am The Conductor. He hit the 2006 list with his showcase Sin Cities 7, highlighting in story and song with various guests, those seven deadly sins (which became a monthly showcase throughout the year that followed between Fringes). That's his scruffy but charming mug getting a pickaxe planted in his skull on the Rockstar show page on the Fringe site.

I'm only just now acquainting myself with Courtney McLean's performing via the Rockstars - like last year's Undressed monthly showcases, and also as a guest star with the Maximum Verbosity troupe (more on them shortly).

Not sure what the whole DJ mixing thing is about, but I'm intrigued. I could guess, but I'd probably be wrong. Best just to let myself be surprised.

Returning Favorites - An Incomplete Project

Every year, I clear out my pre-Fringe Top 10/Top 20 list and make room for 20 more sets of artists to spotlight. Every year, artists from past lists reappear with new work. So I try (emphasis on the "try" last year) to run down on the returning favorites, because like the new Top 10/Top 20 crowd, these old friends are a safe bet for good fringing, ever reliable for something interesting and worth checking out. Last year, these are the returnees I actually got full write-ups done on. I hope to be better in 2009. We shall see if I achieve my goal...

Returning Favorites from the 2003 Top 10 List...

6/16/2008 - Rhino Productions
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/19/2008 - Rik Reppe
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

and an honorable mention from 2003

6/19/2008 - Spring Awakening
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Returning Favorites from the 2004 Top 10 List...

6/19/2008 - Claire Simonson
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Returning Favorites from the 2005 Top 10 List...

6/23/2008 - Walking Shadow
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/24/2008 - Joseph Scrimshaw
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/25/2008 - Theatre Unbound
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/29/2008-7/5/2008 - Live Action Set
matthewaeverett.com version, all 4 in one
Twin Cities Daily Planet version, part 1
Twin Cities Daily Planet version, part 2
Twin Cities Daily Planet version, part 3
Twin Cities Daily Planet version, part 4

Returning Favorites from the 2005 Top 20 List...

7/6/2008 - 3 Sticks
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/14/2008 - Allegra Lingo
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Returning Favorites from the 2006 Top 10 List...

7/24/2008 - Ben Sandell (aka Leaky Pen Inc.)
matthewaeverett.com version
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Fringe Archive - 2004 - My pre-Fringe Top 10

If You Held A Gun To My Head...

...or, if I could only see ten Fringe shows, what would they be and why?

A complete rundown on all ten, which are...

1. Chamleon Theatre Circle - Death Penalty Puppetry

2. Claire Simonson - The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

3. The Mayasphere Project - Metamorphoses

4. Brown Bee Productions - Philosophy: The Music of Ben Folds

5. Aspect I Studios - The Judas Cradle

6. Theatre Latte Da - Knock!

7. Ammala Dance & Music - On The Beaded Fringe 2: Traveling In Hip Circles

8. Five Man Job - Improv A Go-Go: Deathmatch

9. Tim Uren - 10,000 Comic Books

10. The Artsy Guy - Patrick and James: A Love Story


Plus a list of the shows that would be next in line, including...

1. Ari Hoptman - Delware and Other Lies

2. Ferrari McSpeedy - Punk Rock Awesome

3. Outward Spiral Theatre - The Valets

4. Tom Cassidy - Osama Kincaid, Painter of Terror

5. Skewed Visions - Pipes

6. Maximum Verbosity - Lokasena

7. Gaydar Productions - EAT! A Generous Buffet of the Karen Carpenter Songbook

8. Teatro del Pueblo - Tequila

9. Infinity Star Productions - VISION'S TALE: Curse of the Machine / Cycles of Social Haunting / Birth of Vision

10. Big Empty Barn Productions - Whiskey Bars

11. Heidi Arneson - The Queen of Block E

12. The Scrimshaw Brothers - Look Ma, No Pants, The Last One

13. Joseph Scrimshaw - Jack and Ben's 10th Annual Bar Crawl and Moveable Feast

14. Anne Dimmock - The Swimmer

15. Illusion Theatre/Brent Doyle - Six Steps Part Deux

16. Unitard - KBYE Now News Hour

17. Two Time Theatre Company - A Superhero Story

Plus some Hidden Gems, shows that might not be on your radar but should be, including...

1. Topsy-Turvy Theatre - Mary Kelley Sunshine Box

2. Terra Icognita - Dix

3. Inept Productions - This Love Train Is Unstoppable and I Am the Conductor

4. Illusion Theatre - Funeral Director's Wife

5. Alan Berks - Goats

6. Walking Shadow - Lives of the Most Notorious Highwaymen

7. Lost In The Cove Productions - Sonata Blue

8. Rough Magic Performance Company - Spoonface Steinberg

And a Guilty Pleasure I probably shouldn't be attracted to, but can't help myself...

U Betcha! eX-posed! - Hamel Road Theatre Project

Also, there were some welcome returnees from the 2003 pre-Fringe Top 10 list, including Mom, and the early buzz on these sure things...

Plants and Animals - Scot Augustson of Seattle, WA

In Defense of Sin (My Friends' Best Stories) - Ministry of Cultural Warfare

Whoppers - Kevin Kling

Fringe Archive - 2005 - My Pre-Fringe Top 10

If You Held A Gun To My Head...

...or if I could only see 10 Fringe shows, what would they be and why?

Here's the full rundown on all this year's intriguing acts I'm most excited about...

#10 - Dead Wait - Emigrant Theater

#9 - Magic Exists - Derek Hughes, aka Insomnia Inc.

#8 - My Version of Normal - Fringe Spoken Word Productions

#7 - 10-Speed Revolution - Walking Shadow Theater Company

#6 - (part deux) Adventures In Mating - Joseph Scrimshaw

#6 - The Scrimshaw Show - The Scrimshaw Brothers

#5 - Why We Have A Body - Tenth Muse Productions

#4 - Desolation In America - Players of Notorious Temerity

#3 - Three Ring Circus: Israel, The Palestinians and My Jewish Identity - Moving Target Theatre Company

#2 - Chicks In Space - Theatre Unbound

#1 - Please Don't Blow Up Mr. Boban - Live Action Set

plus a little extra early write-up on Boban here - Bring Your Own Venue - Live Action Set hits The Soap Factory

Plus some rundowns on returning artists who were on pre-Fringe Top 10 lists of the past

pre-Fringe Top 10 2004 Returnees - Rhino Productions, Ballet of the Dolls, Kevin Kling & Rik Reppe...

and an extra note about Rik Reppe's new solo work Glorious Noise

pre-Fringe Top 10 2004 Returnees - Ammala Dance and Music, Aspect I Studios, Theater Latte Da, Tim Uren, Jen Scott & Claire Simonson...

And some afterthoughts about how those shows I was intrigued in beforehand turned out, and some surprises that slipped in under my radar as very pleasant surprises and new favorites...

Post-Mortem on pre-Fringe Top 10

Post-Morten on pre-Fringe Top 11-20

Many Happy Returns - 2004 Edition - Boob Tube, Michigan Disasters, Jaws! The Musical

If I'd Only Known - Part 1 - three very different (and differently received) shows that should have been in my pre-Fringe Top 10 - I'm Sorry and I'm Sorry, Bourbon and Butter, Camelot Is Crumbling

If I'd Only Known - Part 2 - Five shows that should have been in my pre-Fringe Top 20 - Speechless, Sea Peach, Never Surrender's Greatest Adventures, I Voted For Gummi Bears, No Name Jugglers Live

Gifts From My Friends - Here are three shows by friends of mine that turned out to be pleasant surprises I should have been excited about all along - At Least One Show, The Candy Ass Club, Cliff Notes For Dummies

Fringe Archive - 2006 - My Pre-Fringe Top 10

If You Held A Gun To My Head...

...or, if I could only see ten Fringe shows, what would they be and why?

First, Clearing The Decks

Then here's the full run-down, with write-ups on

#1 - Perpetual Motion Theater Company - The Depth of the Ocean

#2 - Dan Bernitt - Thanks for the Scabies, Jerkface

#3 - Jeffrey Barnes - Remember Who Made You

#4 - Noontime Theatre & Otsie Kerplotsie - I Want to be Musashi: A Clown Samurai Fantasy

#5 - Universal Dance Destiny - African Roads American Streets

#6 - The Donovan Ensemble - Don't Drop the Soap or Lutherans Gone Wild!

#7 - Shantz Theater - A Year in the Life of 25 Strangers Living in a City by the Lake

#8 - Four Humours Theatre - Deviled Eggs

#9 - Leaky Pen Inc. - Mittens for Fat Kids

#10 - Fresh Meat NYC - Fresh Meat

And here's a quick-and-dirty write-up for the time-challenged

And here's the low-down on returning favorites from pre-Fringe Top 10/Top 20 lists past...

Returning Top 10/20ers 2005 - the final version, with Tom Cassidy, Tenth Muse, Unbound, Live Action Set, Scrimshaw, Walking Shadow, Allegra, Three Sticks, and the Players of Notorious Temerity - plus an earlier version when the list was still fresh and the schedule not finalized

Returning Top 10ers 2004 - Chameleon Theater Circle, and Tim Uren - and an earlier post about that cadre of artists coming back

Returning Top 10ers 2003 - Kevin Kling, the Ministry of Cultural Warfare, and Kurt Hunter Marionettes - plus an earlier post on these folks

Fringe Archive - 2007 - My Pre-Fringe Top 10

If you held a gun to my head...

...or if I could only see 10 Fringe shows, what would they be, and why?

My 2007 edition for the Minnesota Fringe Festival...

The general idea

The first part of the list

The second part of the list

Plus, a notes on returning favorites in 2007 from past Top 10/Top 20 lists...

Returnees from my 2003 List

Returnees from my 2004 List

Returnees from my 2005 List

Returnees from my 2006 List

Fringe 2007 - Top 10 - Top 20 - Past and Present...

Catching up on this week's postings - reviewing the returning artists from my pre-Fringe Top 10 and Top 20 lists of 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003, and starting up the Top 10 and Top 20 lists for this year's Fringe...

The one returnee from my original pre-Fringe Top 10 List back in 2003, the Ministry of Cultural Warfare with The Tyranny of God's Love...