Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Sisters on Stage: An elder millennial’s exploration of Shakespeare’s sisters"

Day: 6

Show: 21

Title: Sisters on Stage: An elder millennial’s exploration of Shakespeare’s sisters

Category: Comedy / Drama / Solo Show / Shakespearian elements

By: Deanne McDonald / The Traveling Players

Created by: Deanne McDonald

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A solo show exploring the sibling relationships in Shakespeare's plays.

Highlights: Deanne McDonald was inspired to create this show after seeing Patrick Paige's solo show All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain on tour at the Guthrie a couple years ago, shortly after playing middle daughter Regan in King Lear at Theatre in the Round. While Regan could be seen as a villain, she's definitely a sister, and as a middle child herself, Deanne has brought those sibling relationships into her many Shakespearean roles over the last couple decades. The show is part memoir, part Shakespearean study, part treatise on family dynamics. With direction by Sara Pillatzki-Warzeha, Deanne performs scenes from a half dozen or so plays, many of which she's performed in the past, each one preceded by a story about her family or life at the time (e.g., "I played this role in a pub in Chicago"). She plays weird sisters (Macbeth), scheming sisters (King Lear), really bad siblings (Richard III, who allegedly killed his brother's sons), friends close as sisters (Midsummer), tortured siblings (Hamlet), and loving siblings (Twelfth Night). With a great soundtrack of the last few decades, and an array of props and costumes specific to each character and also her story, Deanne embodies all of these characters, sometimes multiple in one scene, and makes them feel real and grounded. She makes these ancient and much-performed plays feel alive and modern and relatable, especially for anyone with a sibling.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Bury The Leads"

Day: 5

Show: 17

Title: Bury The Leads

Category: Comedy / Drama / Improv / Audience participation

By: Special When Lit

Created by: Sam Landman & Nissa Nordland

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: An improvised show about two character actors Faye and Clyde as they go through their life of auditions and rehearsals and other theatery things.

Highlights: Fringe vets Nissa and Sam have been performing this show about two character actors, perhaps inspired by real life, at Bryant Lake Bowl and other venues, but this is my first time seeing it. Their experience with these characters shows, as it feels like we're picking up with them in the middle of their lives. The show is improvised around a structure of various scenes - self-tapes, auditions, rehearsing an intimacy scene (based on audience suggestions), life outside of the theater at the office or the mall, and Fringe specific scenes of Fringe Central (the after-hours hangout) and attending a Fringe show, when they come out into the audience and take a seat. But Sam and Nissa don't just play Clyde and Faye, they also morph into other characters in the stories - actors, coworkers, casting directors - sometimes going back and forth within a scene. They're both great and natural improvisors, and work well together to create a picture of these two people and their theater lives, with a sweet friendship between them. Each scene is noted with words projected on a screen so we know where we are, and the interstitial music (recorded by Sam and Nissa) is delightfully silly. This is improv at its best, by two experienced performers.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

"A Trojan Woman" by Stop the Wind Theatricals at Mixed Blood Theatre

NYC-based company Stop the Wind Theatricals premiered their original one-act solo version of Euripides' The Trojan Women in 2023 in Athens, where the story originated a few millennia ago. The show is now embarking on a tour of US Sanctuary Cities, beginning right here in Minneapolis, where the opening scene which repeats the line "they don't kill civilians" is particularly affecting (because we know from recent experience that they do). Director Meghan Finn notes in the program that Euripides' play is "the first recorded ani-war play." Nearly two and a half centuries later, A Trojan Woman continues to be relevant and necessary. Wars, violence, and the killing of civilians hasn't stopped. I've recently been watching History Channel's excellent new WWII docuseries narrated by Tom Hanks, and during the deadliest war in history they most certainly did kill civilians. They killed civilians in Poland, Germany, London, China, the Soviet Union, not by accident, but as an intentional strategy to wear down the enemy, or to get rid of people they thought threatening. This play is about the survivors, particularly the women, of the Trojan War, but this version feels like it could be about any of the numerous wars playing out across the globe today. Despite the short 70-minute runtime, A Trojan Woman is a powerful and epic journey that feels devastating in its modernity. Mixed Blood Theatre is hosting the production in their firehouse theater through this Sunday only.

"The Jungle" at Mixed Blood Theatre

One of the best things that theater can do is put a human face on an abstract political issue. That's what The Jungle does for the refugee crisis. Commissioned by London's National Theatre from Good Chance Theatre and premiering at the Young Vic in 2017, it's an immersive experience that tells the story of a refugee camp in Calais, France in 2015 known as The Jungle. Mixed Blood Theatre's production is the first since that original production, which moved to the West End, then Off-Broadway, then a few other US locations. It's a nearly three-hour play that flies by in what feels like half that time, telling the stories of so many different characters that feel like real people. A cast of 18 actors and two musicians fill the historic firehouse that is Mixed Blood Theatre, with perhaps the best use of this space I've seen. It felt like I was inside the camp, and I didn't want it to end. This is a truly special one-of-a-kind piece of theater that we're so lucky Mixed Blood is bringing to us. It's playing Tuesday through Sunday for the next two weeks and I highly recommend you spend a little time in The Jungle. With Mixed Blood's "radical hospitality" program you can attend the show for free, but if you're able, please pay whatever amount you can for the ticket to support important work like this.

"Plano" by Third Space Theater at Mixed Blood Theatre

Third Space Theater made an impressive debut at least year's Minnesota Fringe Festival with the original play Breach, a gripping tale at sea that was part psychological thriller and part family drama. It makes sense, then, that for their post-Fringe debut they chose playwright and screenwriter Will Arbery's surreal family drama Plano. This regional premiere plays at Mixed Blood Theatre through January 18, and it's an engrossing, fast-paced, fantastical, funny, devastating play. Co-directors Alex Church and Em Adam Rosenberg have assembled a fantastic cast, including several of the Breach crew, and did a great job with this tricky script. The play deals with themes of domestic violence, so Third Space has partnered with the local organization Tubman, that offers support to people experiencing this and other traumas. They're donating 10% of ticket sales to the organization, and have information in the lobby. The night I attended, after a horrifying week of ICE terrorizing our community, they also had helpful packets of info about dealing with ICE (with whistles). This new theater company is already proving to be one that not only does great, interesting, entertaining work, but also engages with the community and world around them. Their name, which derives from the theory of a third space, in addition to home and work, for people to gather in community, seems entirely appropriate.

"For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday" by Prime Productions at Mixed Blood Theatre

Now in their 8th season of telling stories about women in their prime (at a time when we start to become invisible in society), Prime Productions is bringing us the regional premiere of Sarah Ruhl's For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday. Playwright Sarah Ruhl wrote this play for and about her mother, Chicago theater actor Kathleen Ruhl, who, like the character Ann in the play, played Peter Pan in an Iowa production and met Mary Martin (read more about that here). In this fictionalized version of her mother's life, Sarah explores ideas of family relationships, grief, loss, religion, faith, politics, and what it means to grow up (and do we have to?). It's an engaging and relatable 90 minutes. See it at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood now through October 26.

"Maybe You Could Love Me" by Theater Mu at Mixed Blood Theatre

The world premiere new play Maybe You Could Love Me by L.A.-based Muslim playwright Samah Meghjee is a gem of a two-hander. The story of two Muslim girls growing up in Florida, in love but unable to be together because of the expectations of their culture, is sweet, funny, sad, and lovely. And Theater Mu has cast the perfect two actors to bring these two endearing characters and their precious relationship to life. It's playing for two more weekends only at Mixed Blood Theatre, highly recommended if you're looking for adventurous, new, original theater.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "The Kendra Plant Variety Hour: Good Things Edition! -with special guests-"

Day: 7

Show: 23

Title: The Kendra Plant Variety Hour:  Good Things Edition! -with special guests-

Category: Comedy / Dance / Original Music / Storytelling

By: Kendra Plant

Created by: the artists

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A variety show including storytelling, Japanese lion dance, singer/songwriter performance, and burlesque ballet.

Highlights: If the Minnesota Fringe Festival is a sampler platter of different kinds of performance, this show is a microcosm of that concept. Kendra Plant (who, full disclosure, is a friend and fellow member of The Twin Cities Theater Bloggers at her blog Artfully Engaging) has constructed a show around the idea of the artistic process itself. A longtime supporter of the arts, Kendra is trying something new as a first-time Fringe producer, stepping on stage for the first time in decades. She's a charming and disarming host as she walks us through her process of creating a show. The three guest artists (the same at every performance) include a little bit of everything, including some art you won't see anywhere else at the Fringe. TAM Edo Bayashi Ensemble performs a lion dance accompanied by drum and flute, really making the lion come to life in a way that may remind you of your favorite pet. Singer/songwriter Emily Boyajian (whose gorgeous and inspiring original opera Transition was a hit at last year's Fringe) sings two beautiful and poignant original songs about transition and being yourself. Last but not least, Jolie Meshbesher performs two dances, the first a more traditional ballet with aerial elements as she hangs off of a free-standing ballet bar, the second more modern and edgy as it turns into a burlesque ballet. If you're looking for a variety of art you won't see anywhere else at the Fringe, this is a great one to see. And it may just inspire you to try something new, get out of your comfort zone, learn a new skill, or collaborate with others to make some good things. We certainly need more of them in this world!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Our Zombie Town"

Day: 6

Show: 21

Title: Our Zombie Town

Category: Comedy / Horror / Literary adaptation / Political content / Shakespearian elements

By: Pat O'Brien

Created by: Richard Chin, Pat O'Brien, Larry Ripp and cast

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: One of the most classic works of the American stage, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, but with zombies (also an American classic).

Highlights: The show is very cleverly written (by Richard Chin) in the familiar conversational fourth-wall breaking style of Our Town, with Kurt Schulz as our narrator in a Fringe artist lanyard. The story begins with the surviving citizens of Grover's Corners (including the Webb and Gibbs families) living in an abandoned Walmart, fending off zombies (a familiar situation to fans of The Walking Dead). The daily sweet mundane daily life continues, including the Emily/George romance, as more and more people become (still semi conscious) zombies (an unfamiliar situation to TWD fans). When a cure becomes available, Emily has to make a decision to go back to the old busy life where everyone is preoccupied on their phones, or spend one last day with her love in a world that's all about eating brains together. Our Zombie Town is a mashup of a theater classic and a horror B-movie, complete with some fun cheesy effects and an impressive wood chipper, a clever idea well-executed by the team.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

"The Ally" at Mixed Blood Theatre

For the second mainstage production as Artistic Director of Mixed Blood Theatre, and the first he's directing, Mark Valdez choose a new play by Itamar Moses (whom I know primarily for writing the books of the musicals The Band's Visit and The Children's Theatre's stage adaptation of An American Tail). The Ally debuted at The Public Theater in NYC earlier this year, and now it's here in Minneapolis - a smart choice of a brilliantly written play, artfully executed by Mark, the creative team, and this terrific cast. The Ally is a must-see, and the kind of theater we need right now. It delves into one of the most contentious issues of our time, the Israeli/Palestine conflict, and brings the kind of nuance and humanity to it that seems to be missing in a lot of the debates, arguments, and accusations surrounding it right now. I don't know the solution to this decades, even centuries long problem, and the play doesn't offer one either. But what it does do is provide a place for thoughtful, informed, respectful discourse about it. Not that the characters are always respectful; the play is tough to watch at times as some real pain and righteous anger are on display. But through these characters we're able to explore, process, and maybe come to some new understandings about the conflicts in our lives.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "That Woman - The Monologue Show"

Day: 9

Show: 31

Title: That Woman - The Monologue Show

Category: Drama / Historical content / Political content

By: Tennessee Playwrights Studio

Created by: Molly Breen & Angela Gimlin

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: Monologues by six women involved with President John F. Kennedy, including his wife Jackie.

Highlights: I finished my 2024 Fringe-going on a high note. We've all heard about JFK's infidelity, but have we heard the women's stories? In this show, five (alleged) mistresses get the chance to tell their story in monologue form, each one introduced by Jackie (Emma Bucknam), who gets the last word, and asks us not to define her by the short time in her life when she was Mrs. Kennedy. We also get to hear from German spy Ellen Rometch (Emma Kessler), who vows to take her secret to her grave; Mimi Alford (Molly Breen), a White House intern who had an 18-month affair with the President and kept it secret for 40 years; burlesque performer Blaze Starr (Haley McCormick-Jenkins) who had a brief encounter with the President, and other powerful men; Mary Pinchot Meyer (Alison Anderson), the ex-wife of a CIA agent who enjoyed having the President's ear (and paid the price for it); and Judith Exner (Simone Reno), the first woman to come out as a mistress of JFK. All of the monologues are well written and well delivered by the cast, sitting in the single chair on stage or walking around the stage. A great concept for a show, well executed, with a final performance today at 4.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "Transition: A Story of Two Trans People Becoming Themselves"

Day: 9

Show: 28

Title: Transition: A Story of Two Trans People Becoming Themselves

Category: Drama / Musical Theater / Opera / LGBTQIA+ Content / Political content

By: Emily Boyajian

Created by: Emily Boyajian

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: An orchestral and choral concert interspersed with dramatic scenes around the theme of transgender people becoming themselves.

Highlights: I wouldn't call this show a musical, rather a concert with dramatic scenes. It begins with two transgender people sitting at their computers, getting ready to post on Facebook coming out as transgender. They discuss their fears and hopes, and we follow them through the aftermath, with both the good and bad things that result. In between scenes the two performers step up to microphones holding a book of music, and sing along to the 11-piece orchestra. Emily Boyajian created the show and wrote all the music, and it's really beautifully written and performed. Songs are hopeful, or angry, or brave, uplifting. As Emily said at the end of the show, it's not just an inspiring story of trans journeys, but also an encouragement for all of us to be our authentic selves and not try to fit into any kind of binary. It can't help but remind me of the recent idiotic comments about the Olympic boxer who doesn't look or act or sound like some people think a woman should look or act or sound, and therefore she must be a man. People are complicated and don't fit into neat either/ors, and this show introduces us to two people who have taken a much more difficult journey than most of us can imagine just to be who they are. And they sing about it beautifully and expressively, accompanied by what is by far the largest orchestra (really the only orchestra) I've seen at Fringe. Musically gorgeous, and with an inspiring, uplifting, and necessary message.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "A Murder on the Great Grimpen Mire Express"

Day: 9

Show: 26

Title: A Murder on the Great Grimpen Mire Express

Category: Comedy / Mystery / Literary adaptation

By: Fearless Comedy Productions

Created by: Tim Wick & Jami Newstrom

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A mashup of two of the most beloved mystery stories: Murder on the Orient Express and The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Highlights: This is a very funny, clever, well-written show. Putting two of English literature's favorite detectives (Poirot and Holmes) together* is a fun idea, and the show plays on the idiosyncrasies of both characters. Like in Orient Express, Belgian (not French!) detective Hercule Poirot is traveling by train when he happens upon a woman - a Baskerville heir - who's afraid someone is trying to murder her. She has enlisted the services of famous detective Sherlock Holmes, setting up a bit of a rivalry between the two detectives. But Holmes isn't actually on the train, he's sent his trusty assistant Watson. Ms. Baskerville tells the two men her story (with some fun feminist commentary on the damsel in distress trope). Poirot interviews everyone on the train, and of course solves the mystery. The set quickly and cleverly transforms from the sleeping cabins to the dining car and back again. Everyone in the cast is great, particularly Edwin Strout as the mustachioed detective, Angela Fox as the slightly amnesiac Ms. Baskerville, and Dawn Krosnowski stealing scenes as multiple characters (who all come together in the end). Their final performance is today, the final day of Fringe, so you still have time to see this fun, clever, well executed mashup.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

*For more Holmes/Poirot fan fiction, go see Park Square Theatre's return this after a couple dark years with the original play Holmes Poirot by Jeffrey Hatcher and Steve Hendrickson.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "The Camp Out"

Day: 3/9

Show: 9/27

Title: The Camp Out

Category: Comedy / Drama / Improv / Physical Theater

By: Mike Fotis Productions

Created by: Mike Fotis, Rita Boersma, Tim Hellendrung, Nels Lennes, Heather Meyer, Danna Sheridan

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: An improvised story of six friends who go on a campout to remember a deceased friend.

Highlights: Long-form is my favorite kind of improv, and this show is an example of why. Over the course of about an hour we watch these relationships develop in front of our eyes (although I'm not sure if characters and plots points are improvised and different every time, or just the conversation around them). And these six improvisors (Mike Fotis, Rita Boersma, Tim Hellendrung, Nels Lennes, Heather Meyer, and Danna Sheridan) are some of the best. The show starts with a couple actually setting up a tent on stage, which is a drama in and of itself! Friends start arriving, and we start to gather what everyone's relationships are. In the show I saw, the friends are there to honor their friend who died a year or so ago, and secrets (relationships, pregnancies) are revealed. It's so much fun to watch this group just be these people, talking and joking and snacking. It feels so real, like eavesdropping. When real life thunder was heard from outside the theater, they incorporated it into the show, starting to prepare for the rain. It's a well-done, smooth, and very funny improvised dramedy.

Update: I had an open slot in my schedule so I saw this one again, and it was completely different! Same performers, same concept of saying goodbye to a deceased friend (reading a letter from a family member and spreading their ashes in the park), but the characters and relationships were completely different. No surprise revelations, just being together and grieving. I cried from laughter, and a little bit at the real emotions.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington" at Mixed Blood Theatre

It's been almost two years since Mixed Blood Theatre produced a mainstage play; The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington is the first play since the departure of founding Artistic Director Jack Reuler, the first under new Artistic Director Mark Valdez. To which I say: welcome back Mixed Blood! This kind of risk-taking envelope-pushing social commentary, with a focus on accessibility and diversity of voices and stories, is much needed in our community. While their last play, an original called imagine a u.s. without racism, was an inspirational fairy tale that encouraged audiences to do just that, The Trial (as I'll refer to it) is a brutal look at the racism upon which this country was built. Specifically through "the mother of America," Martha Washington. Written by James Ijames, recent Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony nominee for his play Fat Ham, The Trial is an ingenious mix of storytelling styles, using fantasy, music, and pop culture in this wild exploration of history and present. The cast and creative team do an incredible job of navigating this tricky script and challenging themes, for a wholly successful, entertaining, and thought-provoking work. See it in the old brick firehouse that is Mixed Blood Theatre in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis now through the end of the month.

"Cabaret" by Theatre 55 at Mixed Blood Theatre

Cabaret is one of my favorite musicals. I've seen it on stage many times, but it's been almost ten years since I saw a production of it, so it's beyond time to see it again. As usual, Theatre 55 brings a whole new perspective to the beloved and familiar piece by populating the world with people age 55 and better. These performers have lived through, if not the rise of Nazism in 1930s Berlin (that would be Theater 95), then many difficult, tumultuous, divisive times in this country and around the world. Facing another contentious and vitally important election cycle, 2024 is the perfect time to bring back Kander and Ebb's brilliant musical, that lures you in with a funny, sexy, gorgeous show, and then punches you in the gut with the ugly reality of what hate, fear, and bigotry can do. I interviewed Director Richard Hitchler and star Prudence Johnson on an episode of Twin Cities Theater Chat, and it was a pleasure to talk about the meaning of this piece, as well as Theater 55's important work of fighting agism and "enriching the lives of elders as artists, audiences, and lifelong learners." This especially poignant but still super fun Cabaret has only six performances left, several of which are sold out, so don't snooze on getting tickets, or you may be left sitting alone in your room instead of going to the cabaret, where everything is beautiful.

"Mariology" by Critical Mass Performance Group at Mixed Blood Theatre

For their first full production since the retirement of founding Artistic Director Jack Reuler a year and a half ago, Mixed Blood Theatre, now under the leadership of Mark Valdez, is bringing us the work of the L.A.-based theater company Critical Mass Performance Group. Mariology is a surreal, absurdist, high concept exploration of the idea of the Virgin Mary in religion and culture. To be honest, it's a little too weird for me; I need at least a little bit of realism to connect to a play (which I didn't get until the final scene). But it is an interesting concept, with thoughtful design and consistent performances in this surreal style. You can see it for yourself at Mixed Blood now through November 12 (all tickets pay-what-you-can, beginning at $0).

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2023: "Pearl and Eugene: One Last Shtick"

Day: 8

Show: 30

Title: Pearl and Eugene: One Last Shtick

Category: COMEDY / DRAMA / MUSICAL THEATER / ORIGINAL MUSIC

By: Clucklesworth Productions

Written by: Avi Aharoni and Donald C. Hart

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A formerly successful comedy/music duo does one last show to try to save the Jewish retirement home in which they live.

Highlights: It doesn't get much better than Robert Dorfman and Nancy Marvy doing shtick, in fact I could've used more of it! They play lifelong friends Eugene and Pearl, who successfully performed together until Pearl quit to get married and raise her daughter. They both ended up at the same retirement home, performing at the annual talent show, and when a developer threatens to buy the property and kick everyone out, they decide to perform at a fundraiser concert. They're interviewed by a local journalist (Robb Krueger, who also wrote the original music), whom the home's proprietor (Avi Aharoni) warns them not to trust. So when the reporter publishes an article revealing some dirt from their past, it threatens their relationship and the performance. There's a lot of drama and some betrayal, but the true joy of this show is when Nancy and Robert perform as Pearl and Eugene. They feel like good old friends, and they're highly entertaining and hilarious when performing all of the shtick, puns, and double entendres. It's corny but in the best way. The final performance is on Sunday, so you have one more chance to catch this delightfully shticky show.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2023: "The Duet"

Day: 8

Show: 29

Title: The Duet

Category: COMEDY / DRAMA / MUSICAL THEATER / ORIGINAL MUSIC

By: ThickWater

Created by: Ryan Blix & Nicole Weber

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A country duo married couple has seen their success fade, and the offer of a solo contract causes conflict between them.

Highlights: This is a sweet and funny show, with co-writers and performers Ryan Blix and Nicole Weber creating a believable relationship and lovely harmonies (the two original songs they sing sound like country hits). They're dressed in stage ready Western wear, then change into casual Western in their dressing room, where the entire play takes place in real time. The show begins with Stella and Leo performing their big hit "Lucky Coin," based on Leo's habit of letting fate decide big decisions by flipping a coin (and explaining the inclusion of the '90s country hit "Heads Carolina, Tails California" in the fab pre-show soundtrack). But soon the Grand Ole Opry makes way for Slimey's Bar as their star fades. When Stella is offered a solo contract by the label and is told that if she doesn't take it they'll be dropped, the two begin to realize that they want different things. Stella wants the success and stability they once had; Leo is just happy to be with her, even while performing in dive bars. They reminisce about when they first met, and when they got married (with flashbacks), and think about what their life could be life. It's a believable portrait of a musical and personal relationship. Will love win out, or will it succumb to the demands of success in the music industry? You have one more chance to see it and find out.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2023: "The Definition of Loss"

Day: 8

Show: 28

Title: The Definition of Loss

Category: DRAMA / PHYSICAL THEATER / STORYTELLING / AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

By: Ashen Armor Productions

Written by: Ash Kaun

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre,

Summary: An exploration of grief using dance, movement, and theater.

Highlights: This is a beautifully artistic show, one that's not linear and doesn't spell everything out for you. Which is to say I wasn't always sure what was going on, when we were, or who was who, but that's not a bad thing. Playwright/director Ash Kaun's mother died when she was just 14, and this is her very personal and raw story. She also performs in the show, as both her 14-year-old self, and her adult self, getting through those early days without her mother, and later, after living half of her life without her. The ghost of her mother is there with her (played by Mallory Lewis with real emotion), encouraging her, and trying to help her through it. A shadow of herself at the age her mother died, or maybe even younger (Kyra Scanlan in a non-verbal but physically expressive performance), is also there, mostly hiding, eventually interacting in a beautiful mirrored dance (choreographed by Kyra). This is a lyrical and lovely portrait of one person's journey through and with grief.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.