"My Beautiful Infinity" by Chameleon Theatre Circle at Bloomington Center for the Arts

A play about a man sitting in a library writing a book about a man sitting in a library writing a book about a man sitting in a library writing a play - this one. If you like trippy meta theater, ruminations on time and love, and grammar wordplay, My Beautiful Infinity is for you. Chameleon Theatre Circle discovered this play by East Coast playwright David Vazdauskas in their new play festival, and are premiering it at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. Fortunately, I enjoy trippy meta theater, ruminations on time and love, and grammar wordplay, so I loved this play. Or maybe I will have loved it. The solid four-person cast, crisp direction, and smart design help make sense of the complex layered script that loops through time and realities. Although you're still left with a bit of "what just happened?" at the end, which is a good thing.

"Bull" by Hypnic Jerk Theatre at Element Boxing Gym

"Site-specific theater in a boxing ring, now that’s cool! Brand new #tctheater company Hypnic Jerk debuts with BULL. Note: the play is not about boxing it’s about office politics.
#itsametaphor"
-Cherry and Spoon Instagram

And a great metaphor it is. Director and Hypnic Jerk Theatre founder Kari Steinbach notes in the program that playwright Mike Bartlett was inspired to write Bull after watching a bullfight, but a boxing match works well too. They're staging the show in two locations on two weekends only, the first in Element Boxing Gym in St. Paul, the second at A Mill Artist Lofts in Minneapolis. I like the idea of a traveling show, making it more accessible to different communities (and people who are loathe to cross the river), but I'm glad I saw it in the first location, because it was really cool to watch a play in an actual boxing ring in an actual gym, something I've not done before. Just two more performances remain this Memorial Day Weekend, before the show moves across the river next weekend. Check it out for a short, intense, engaging, well directed and acted performance.

"Peter and Alice" by Candid Theatre Company at Fallout Arts Initiative

Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland are two of the most iconic characters in children's literature. Both were inspired by real people, Peter Llewelyn Davis and Alice Liddell, who were children befriended by the authors J.M. Barrie and Lewis Carroll. One would think they'd have a lot in common, and a lot to talk about, both living their lives under the shadow of this iconic image of childhood. History tells us they actually did meet, and playwright John Logan imagines what their conversation was like in the play Peter and Alice. Reality, memories, and imagination all mix together to tell a moving story of the joy and pain of growing up. Candid Theatre Company's wonderful and intimate production of Peter and Alice is playing at Fallout Arts Initiative in South Minneapolis through March 4.

"We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" by Candid Theater Company at the Black Forest Inn

Jacleen Olson and Shanna Eisenberg
(photo by Christopher Mogel)

I last saw Candid Theater Company in 2014 at the People's Center Theater on the U of M campus, a space that is no longer. I'm not sure why I haven't seen them in three years, but I was happy to catch their funny, relevant, and intimate production of the 1974 Italian play We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! last night. Performed in the charmingly kitschy banquet hall of the Black Forest Inn, just off their lovely outdoor patio, the play tells the story of two families who cannot pay their bills due to wage cuts and layoffs. Forty years later and in a different country than where it originated, it feels like a current problem, and a few modern references are added in the English translation (although the strictly defined gender roles remind us we're in the past). It's a funny farce of a play, one that almost makes you forget the issues behind the comedy, timely issues of fair wages, unemployment, and the rising cost of living.

Fringe Festival 2017: "The Buttslasher"

Day: 4

Show: 14

Title: The Buttslasher

Category: Comedy

By: New Endeavors

Written by: Andy Rakerd

Location: Ritz Theater Studio

Summary: A noir crime thriller set in modern day Stillwater in which the main mystery to solve is that of serial butt-slasher.

Highlights: With a feeling of Garrison Keillor's Guy Noir, The Buttslasher combines that noir film feeling with comedy and local flavor. It seems to be set in the current time but some of the characters are straight out of the '40s, particularly our reluctant hero Detective Heck Bills, perfectly portrayed by Glen L. Dawson as he delivers monologues filled with world-weariness and regrets, particularly those involving his former partner Heart (Varghese Alexander) and former love Jo (Dorothy Owen) proprietor of the local establishment. Heck is faced with his toughest case yet in the tough town of Stillwater when a masked man begins slashing people in the rear (leading to lots of funny and groan-worthy butt/ass/cheek puns). Chief Karen Bently (Joy Rakerd), who takes no crap from anyone, least of all Heck, assigns Heck a new partner - the young brash Eric Balls (David Wasserman). Heck's daughter (Stanzi Schalter) also gets involved with the investigation, and with Balls. With great performances by the entire cast and clever writing by Andy Rakerd, The Buttslasher is perfectly fringey and cheeky fun (sorry, I couldn't resist!).

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.