Minnesota Fringe Festival 2023: "The Brothers Dangus Vol. 2: The People v. Dango (A Court-Mandated Parable)"

Day: 10

Show: 40

Title: The Brothers Dangus Vol. 2: The People v. Dango (A Court-Mandated Parable)

Category: COMEDY

By: The Brothers Dangus

Created by: The Brothers Dangus

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: The trial of a new drug with really unusual side effects that draws on classic crime movies.

Highlights: This was the stupidest show I saw at the Fringe this year, and maybe also one of the most clever. Definitely the most potty humor I've heard in an hour in a long time, including countless poo puns that are so dumb you can't help but laugh. I didn't see Volume 1 last year, but if I had I probably wouldn't have seen Volume 2. It's not really my kind of show, the humor goes a little too far for my taste, but I do admire their efforts and the extreme satire of white nationalists, conspiracy theories, misogyny, and a certain Fringe show that may have been all of the above. The four-person cast (Brian Hesser, Derek Meyer, Zach Morgan, A.J. Sass) is complete committed to the ridiculousness of this story, playing multiple characters both human and otherwise, and sometimes take turns playing the same characters. There are more movie references that I could catch (including the famous A Few Good Men courtroom scene), and wild props and costumes. Amidst all of the craziness going on, perhaps the strangest thing about this show is that veteran #TCTheater actor Charles Numrich is sitting at the back of the stage throughout the entire show, sitting in an easy chair eating, drinking, and reading the paper, and at the very end of the play he comes to the podium to recite a speech. What it all means, I'm not sure, but it's a very strange and funny and well done satire.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Book of Shadows"

Day: 10

Show: 33

Title: Book of Shadows

Category: Comedy / Dance / Drama

By: Erin Sheppard Presents

Directed by: Erin Sheppard

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A series of dances pieces about witches, more specifically about a 13-year-old girl's experience and thoughts about witchcraft.

Highlights: This show is both creepy cool in the choreography (by Erin Sheppard, Regan K. Saunders, and Jessica Chad) and endearlingly sweet in Taj Ruler's confessions of a 13-year-old. Her stories of middle school life are very relatable, even if you didn't practice witchcraft. But Taj did, and kept a spell book from which she recites along with tales of teenage torment and joy. After each story/spell, we see it come to life in dance, performed by an eight-person ensemble (the choreographers along with Caroline Sable, Coralee Kaivo, Derek Meyer, Paige Siegrist, and Rhett Romsaas). There's a spell for your enemies, a love spell, and even a brief reenactment of the Salem witch trials. It's an interesting concept to explore the idea of witches both in history and legend, and through the mind of a young girl who uses witchcraft as a way to feel like she has power in a powerless time. The dances are beautiful, powerful, affecting, and funny. Watch for a follow-up at this year's Twin Cities Horror Fest.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Fringe Festival 2017: "Rumpus"

Day: 1

Show: 3

Title: Rumpus

Category: Dance

By: Mike's Brass

Choreographed by: Lori Ledoux

Location: Southern Theater

Summary: A music/dance/poetry show inspired by one of my (and many people's) favorite children's book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Highlights: Let the wild rumpus start! This show is pure delight, combining a brass quintet performing everything from classics to pop tunes, Maurice Sendak's funny and poignant story, and charming and inventive dancing performed by the eight-person ensemble (including the adorable young David Pelletier Guire, who looks like he stepped right off the pages of the book). Ensemble members Derek Meyer and Noë Tallen take turns reading passages from the book, as well as other poetry related to the themes of the book, followed by music and dance which perfectly expresses those words. Fun for all ages and sure to put a smile on your face.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"Goodbye Cruel World" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Theatre Pro Rata's Goodbye Cruel World closes today so if you haven't seen it already, I'm afraid you're out of luck. (Sorry about that, blame NYC.) But for the record, it's a fun and wacky ride ably driven by six actors playing multiple characters, often in the same scene. A modern adaptation of Russian playwright Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide, which was banned by the government and not produced until after his death, it's a farcical look at a man down on his luck who offhandedly wonders if he would be better off dead, only to be taken seriously by his wife, neighbors, and eventually the whole town. Everyone from the church to the intelligentsia, a post man to an artist, wants Semyon to promote their cause in his suicide note. His neighbor decides to turn it into a lottery, but in the end Semyon realizes he doesn't want to die, much to everyone's disappointment. Read on for some highlights of the show.

"Big Money" by Sandbox Theatre at Park Square Theatre

In 1984, a man named Michael Larson won over $100,000 on the game show Press Your Luck. A career con man, he accomplished this by studying every episode of the show and figuring out the pattern in the game of chance at the center of the show. Sandbox Theatre has chosen this stranger-than-fiction true story as the subject of their latest new work. In addition to recreating the infamous episode of Press Your Luck (available on youtube) in all its cheesy '80s game show glory, they explore Michael's personal life and the things he sacrificed in his endless pursuit of the perfect get-rich-quick scheme. The result is a funny, sad, inventive, and fascinating look at genius wasted.

Fringe Festival 2016: "Circus McGurkus"

Day: 7

Show: 32

Title: Circus McGurkus

Category: Dance

By: Mike's Brass

Choreographed by: Erinn Liebhard

Location: U of M Barker Center for Dance

Summary: Dr. Seuss' If I Ran the Circus, told through music, clowning, acrobatics, and dance.

Highlights: Circus McGurkus is a delight for children of all ages, even us grown-up children. Andrew Chambers reads excepts from the book about a fantastical circus, while the dancers and musicians interpret the words through movement and music. The brass quintet Mike's Brass plays a variety of circus-sounding songs (with a little Lady Gaga thrown in as an encore). Dancers Lori Ledoux, Derek Meyer, Rachael Schlee, and Sydney Swanson perform playful and charming dances with wonder and joy (choreographed by Erinn Liebhard), and acrobats Michelle de Joya and Brandon Wharton perform some thrilling Circque du Soleil-style acrobatics. It's great fun to watch Dr. Seuss' silly words and creations come to life before your eyes in such imaginative and joyful ways.

Fringe Festival 2016: "Mead Hall"

Day: 6

Show: 29

Title: Mead Hall

Category: Comedy

By: Tedious Brief Productions

Created by: Greer, Tallen, and Watson-Jones

Location: U of M Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: A meta-Fringe mash-up of the oldest story in Western literature, Beowulf, and the 1989 Patrick Swayze movie Roadhouse.

Highlights: This isn't your ordinary mash-up, in which two seemingly different stories are combined into one. This one is told in a very meta-Fringe way, with actors playing versions of themselves doing a Fringe show. Or rather shows, as due to a mix-up, two different productions show up in the same place at the same time - a very literary and nerdy one-man show/lecture about Beowulf, and a musical adaptation of Roadhouse (on roller skates!). At first the two groups argue and take turns telling their story, but eventually they come to realize that their stories have several parallels (thanks, Joseph Campbell and the hero cycle) and work together to conclude the two stories that have now become one. The cast is great as both heightened versions of themselves, and the overblown characters (Clarence Wethern as the Beowulf guy, the Roadhouse cast consisting of Kayla Dvorak, Brandon Ewald, Delta Rae Giordano, David Schlosser, Noë Tallen, and a late and shirtless Derek Meyer as the Patrick Swayze character). The structure of the show allows the creators (director Carin Bratlie Wethern, writers Aaron Greer, Ben Tallen, and Brian Watson-Jones) to poke fun at the Fringe itself (including a list of ridiculous Fringe titles that are no more ridiculous than real Fringe titles), while still producing a very fringey show. To be enjoyed by lovers of classical literature, bad '80s movies, and the Fringe. I can't wait for the sequel next year!

Fringe Festival 2015: "High Flight"

Day: 4

Show: 18

Title: High Flight

Category: Dance

By: Mike's Brass

Choreographed by: Windy Bowlsby

Location: Illusion Theater

Summary: A moving exploration of loss through music and dance.

Highlights: In 2012, Mike Bratlie flew his plane to Duluth and disappeared. This piece, produced by Mike's daughter Carin Bratlie Wethern, written by Ben Tallen, and choreographed by Windy Bowlsby, explores the different stages one goes through upon receiving such news - shock, confusion, accepting help, dealing with the media, wondering what might have happened, and acceptance. The brass quintet Mike's Brass plays music from Bach to the Beatles to "Into the West" from Lord of the Rings. Windy's choreography is so evocative of the varying feelings, beautifully realized by dancers Danielle Ricci, Joshua Engebretson, Rachael Schlee, Derek Meyer, and Noë Tallen, with the latter two also providing thoughts and observations between dances. A particularly moving piece is danced to no music, just the recitation of Mike's favorite poem - "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee Jr. What this family went through, literally losing a loved one, is unimaginable. This piece is a beautiful expression of the experience which much be cathartic for the family, and is definitely moving, emotional, and poignant for the viewer.

"In the Age of Paint and Bone" at nimbus theatre

nimbus theatre's newest original theatrical creation, In the Age of Paint and Bone, deals with the very oldest of recorded history. Tens of thousands of years ago, the earliest humans painted on the walls of caves, many of which have been rediscovered in the last century or two. Co-Artistic Director Liz Neerland directs and wrote this piece, along with the ensemble in their unique workshop process. It's a fascinating subject, and one of those plays that makes me want to know more (fortunately the playbill includes a reading list, gotta love that!). I've long been fascinated by the pre-historical era, and used to be a bit obsessed with the Earth's Children series (aka The Clan of the Cave Bear books), which are part cheesy romance novel and part historically accurate description of a time long past. In the Age of Paint and Bone brings this era to life, but subtly and not in sharp focus, as we don't really know what these pre-historic people were like. The play also looks at the people who first rediscovered the paintings, and what they mean to us today.

In the Age of Paint and Bone takes place in three time periods, the present, the ancient past, and the recent past when the caves were rediscovered. The nimbus stage has been transformed into a cave, with paintings either drawn on the wall or projected. Before the show the audience is invited to explore the area, while actors, in the form of museum tour guides, answer questions. The play begins as a presentation in a museum, and we flash back to the discovery of the cave paintings in Altamira, Spain in 1879. An amateur explorer and his daughter find the paintings, but his belief that the paintings are ancient are disbelieved, until he's finally proven right after his death. We also witness the accidental discovery of the cave paintings in Lascaux, France in 1940 by a couple of teenage boys. But the most fascinating scenes of the play are the flash-way-backs to the people who created this art. The light is dim, music is playing, and we never hear them speak (perhaps they didn't speak in the way we currently do). But we see them painting (including a cool trick of projection that shows the lines of one of the drawings appearing as the artist moves his brush), performing rituals, and communicating with each other.

a painting of a bison in Altamira

The seven members of the ensemble (Timothy Daly, Erin Denman, Jeffery Goodson, Shira Levenson, Derek Meyer, Brian O'Neal, and Alyssa Perau) play multiple characters in all time periods, and change in and out of the varied costumes so quickly it feels like there are more than just seven actors. Brian Hesser's multi-level cave-like set, Mary C. Woll's ancient, period, and modern costumes, and Caitlin Hammel's inventive video design all combine to define these specific worlds.

This piece doesn't answer any questions about why the paintings were created (probably for the same reason anyone creates art, which are many and varied), but rather it plants a seed of interest in the audience, or at least it did in me. What a different life our long ago ancestors lived, but maybe they're not that different from us than we think. Minnesota has its own version of cave paintings in the Jeffers Petroglyphs, which are carvings rather than paintings, that I hope to visit someday. What fun this piece must have been to explore and create. I wish I could take a leave of absence from my day job to re-read the Clan of the Cave Bear books and some of those suggested in the playbill. But if you don't have time for that either, you can spend 70 minutes in nimbus theatre's exploration of the Age of Paint and Bone (playing now through March 1).

a progression of light in the three time periods
(photo by Mathieu Lindquist)

"Killer Inside" by Sandbox Theatre at Red Eye Theater

The "murder ballad" is a genre of music in which a deliciously tragic tale of murder is told through a sad and lovely song, often associated with Appalachian or traditional Scottish or Irish music. Sandbox Theatre, a company that performs new works created by the ensemble, has taken the idea of the murder ballad and turned it into a 90-minute musical called Killer Inside. Basically it's a series of new murder ballads acted out and sung by the ensemble, tied together in a prison setting. It's dark and disturbing, but really creative and inventive, and well-performed by the seven-person ensemble (Derek Lee Miller, Derek Meyer, Evie Digirolama, Kristina Fjellman, Megan Campbell Lagas, Sam Landman, and Theo Langason) and two-person band (Charlie Henrikson and Derek Trost).

The ensemble members, who collaborated to write all of the music and the story, play various characters on both sides of the law - prisoners and officers at Pittsville Penitentiary. There's not so much a throughline plot, but rather a series of vignettes in which we hear the various stories of these characters in the prison. The officers tell and sing about what it means to them to work with murderers. The prisoners also share their stories of murder. Some of the murderers are sympathetic - wronged people standing up for themselves or protecting their family, others are after revenge, still others are cold-blooded psychopaths. They all have a different reason for killing, but they all ended up in the same place.

Songs range in style from the Appalachian/bluegrass sound (my favorite) to a wild rock song, with a crazy tap dance thrown in. Some of the songs are funny, some poignant, some frightening, all pretty great. (You can hear some of the creators talk about the process of writing in an episode of Twin City Song Cycle.) The band accompanies the ensemble, some of whom also join in with the band, on fiddle, guitar, drums, and piano. All are dressed in matching gray and yellow color-blocked prison uniforms, on a starkly bare stage.

Killer Inside continues for one more weekend at Red Eye Theater. Check it out for some original, inventive, creative music-theater.

"Crazyface" by Shadow Horse Theater at nimbus theatre

Wow, I don't know where to start with this one. Clive Barker, who is mostly known for writing and directing horror films (of which I am not generally a fan), has also written plays, including the epic mess Crazyface. Shadow Horse Theatre's ambitious production is not without redeeming qualities, including a darkly beautiful aesthetic and some fine performances, but this is a play that could use some editing. At three hours long with dozens of characters, including some who show up and then leave, never to be heard from again, it mostly just left me perplexed at what I just saw.

Set in medieval Europe, Crazyface tells the story of a fool who goes by that name. He is on the run with his mother, who loves him dearly, and the three wives of his brother, also a fool, but a much darker one. Crazyface is visited by an angel, who is really more of a devil, and because of this is not accepted by society. This was a time when people who were different than the norm weren't just bullied, they were hung. But Crazyface is actually the most sane and sympathetic character, it's everyone around him who's scary in the way that they treat him. Crazyface leaves his family to wander around the countryside, encountering many strange characters, and eventually finds himself in possession of a secret box that everyone wants (you won't believe what it contains!). The evil Mengo sends Crazyface's brother Lenny, whom he is keeping captive and torturing for some unknown reason (think Ramsey Bolton and Reek), to find and kill Crazyface. But Crazyface, who is not as foolish as he appears, survives to return to his mother. Lots of other weird stuff happens, but that's the gist of it.

Andy Schnabel as Crazyface

Andy Schnabel as Crazyface is a wonderful centering force through this strange maze, and makes this fool someone to root for and believe in. Derek Meyer is charismatic as the angel/devil on his shoulder, Matt Saxe is chilling as Mengo, and Matthew Kelly is the scariest as Lenny. Lots of other actors play lots of other characters that I had a hard time keeping track of, but they managed to, with the help of the period costumes by Barb Portinga. The simple set (by Theresa Akers) is dominated by a huge twisted tree trunk, upon which the angel perches, and a church that's shaped like a coffin.

If you're a fan of horror films and weird macabre storytelling, you might want to check this one out. Playing at nimbus theatre in Northeast Minneapolis through July 26 (discount tickets available on Goldstar).