Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "Stoopidity"

Day: 5

Show: 18

Title: Stoopidity

Category: 

By: Domino D'Lorion, Ian McCarthy, and Michael McKitt

Created by: Domino D'Lorion, Ian McCarthy, and Michael McKitt

Location: Rarig Center Xperimental

Summary: Three young black men use rap, rhyme, spoken word, dialogue, and song to explore their hopes, fears, and dreams.

Highlights: These three recent grads from the Guthrie/U of M BFA program overflow with talent and charisma. They represent the next generation of black artists (mentored by Talvin Wilks, no less), and the future looks good. They've created a show that feels sort of stream-of-consciousness as it flows from one scene to the next, almost all of it in rhyme. Each of the artists gets a chance to show their skills solo, and they also have great chemistry as a trio. The various scenes are funny or sobering or poignant or powerful as they express what it means to be young and black (and queer) in America today. They make great use of the space at the X, with the stairs on either side representing the titular stoop, and walking around the audience and across the balcony. There is great young talent on display here, and I hope they stay in town!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.