Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Empty Nest"

Day: 10

Show: 39

Title: Empty Nest

Category: Clowning / Comedy / Improv / Physical Theater / Spoken Word / Storytelling

By: Zabel Weinhagen

Created by: Laura Zabel and Levi Weinhagen

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: A comedy show with heart about the experience of sending your child off into the world.

Highlights: This show was on my must-see list, but because of the quirks of the Fringe schedule, it was the last one I saw in the festival. It turned out to be the perfect way to end what was a fantastic Fringe, just a fun, easy, pleasant kind of show that deals with big themes in an honest but light-hearted way. The show is framed with a parody of Waiting for Godot, in which two parents wait for their child to text or call them. Then Levi and Laura turn back into their charming, personable, relatable selves, and perform a half dozen or so sketches or vignetts. They tell us about their ten biggest mistakes in raising their daughter (all hilarious and relatively harmless), they talk about new activities they've discovered together, they wordlessly show us the challenges of getting a good night's sleep, and even renew their vows with the help of the audience. Each of them has a storytelling monologue, Laura's about peri-menopause, Levi's about his relationship with his father, expanding the subject matter beyond just parenthood and into life stuff. Funny, relatable, insightful, silly, with some physical humor, just what I expected from this duo.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Foshay! You Know The Tower - Now Hear The Story"

Day: 10

Show: 38

Title: Foshay! You Know The Tower - Now Hear The Story

Category: Drama / Musical Theater / Original Music / Historical content

By: TROMPE L'OEIL

Written by: Kevin Bowen & Lynn Bow

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: A musical about the man behind the Foshay Tower, the tallest building in Minneapolis for over 40 years.

Highlights: The Foshay Tower is a fixture in the Minneapolis skyline, but I've never thought about where the name came from, or even if there was a person behind it. As we learn in this new musical (which premiered as a full-length musical at Open Window Theatre in 2023), Wilbur Burton Foshay was a businessman with big dreams. If you're thinking maybe he's similar to another businessman who like to see his name in big letters on buildings, he's not. He took pride in paying his workers fairly, and insisted that his tower (modeled on the Washington Monument) be built with 100% union labor, despite the fact that Minneapolis was "not a union town." This condensed version of the original musical somehow fits 19 songs into an hour (although a half dozen of them are instrumentals or reprises), and tells the full arc of Foshay's rise to the top, and his fall when the stock market crashes shortly after his tower opens, landing him in jail for mail fraud (he's pardoned decades later). It understandably feels like things wrap up too quickly, and I hope to see the full-length version sometime (it feels like the kind of show that would work well at History Theatre and benefit from their process). The songs are catchy and clever, expressing the emotions of the story and characters well. The two lead actors, Landon Hudson and Elisheva Scheuer as Mr. and Mrs. Foshay, give fantastic performances, with great support from Michael Chapman, Jessica Peters, and Samm Nordstrom as multiple characters. With simple set and costumes that evoke the period, this feels like a nice sampler of a promising musical that I hope to see more of.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "I Will Become The Silver Surfer. I Will Protect You."

Day: 8

Show: 27

Title: I Will Become The Silver Surfer. I Will Protect You.

Category: Comedy / Solo Show / Audience participation

By: Jake Mierva

Written by: Jake Mierva

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: A solo show about a man who thinks he's been chosen to save the world from Galactus, in the absence of the Fantastic Four.

Highlights: I don't read comic books or watch comic book movies, so I didn't really get the comic references, but that didn't matter. What on the surface is a silly and ridiculous show about superheroes and villains, is really a serious exploration of childhood trauma and mental illness. This character (Norman? Norrin?) claims to have seen Galactus five times in his life, all associated with a moment of trauma. He repeatedly insists that he's not crazy, that Galactus threatening the planet and him being the only one who can save us is real. But really, this is his brain's way of dealing with childhood trauma and feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Jake gives a fearless performance, barreling through the script in a stream-of-consciousness kind of way while slathering himself with what I hope is non-toxic silver body paint, as he becomes the Silver Surfer (which apparently is an actual superhero). We've learned from TCHF that when there's a tarp on stage there will be blood, and now we know that a giant silver tarp covering the Rarig thrust stage means there will be silver paint splatter. Fans of Marvel Comics will appreciate all the superhero talk, millennials will enjoy the 90s/2000s references (Avatar: The Last Airbender and Saved by the Bell), and everyone can relate to family drama (and trauma), feeling like you're not enough, and wanting some control over the uncertainties of life. This is an impressive first solo show by Jake Mierva of Alleged Theatre, with direction by Alleged's J. McIntyre Godwin, and lighting and sound design by Eric Wigham (with some great sound effects, and the recorded voice of Galactus). Last show today at 1!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "A Woman's Place is in the House"

Day: 6

Show: 22

Title: A Woman's Place is in the House

Category: Comedy / Spoken Word / Storytelling / Audience participation / Historical content / Political content

By: David Alan Berger

Written by: David Alan Berger

Location: Rarig Kilburn Arena

Summary: The first four women elected to Minnesota's House of Representatives time travel to the present to give us hope in these uncertain times.

Highlights: This was an appropriate show to see the day after Minnesota's primary election, which resulted in two female candidates for Senate and the two female candidates for Governor, meaning that Minnesota will soon have its first female Governor, and it's about time! It all started in 1922, just two years after women finally got the right to vote, when four women were elected to Minnesota's House. This play starts in 1923 when they're arriving to start their jobs - the young and slightly boy crazy union organizer Myrtle Agnes Caine (Olivia Dubiel), realtor Sue Metzger Dickey Hough (Amber Payne), farmer and teacher Hannah Jensen Kempfer (Rachel Ratkowski), and businesswoman Mabeth Hurd Paige (Megan Rowe). They're visited by a time traveler from our times (Ann Frances Gregg), who explains the dire situation we're currently living in, and invites them to travel with her back to the future, to inspire people in a rally just when we need it most. And they do just that, finding humor and camaraderie along the way. But the most inspiring part of the rally-within-the-play are the speeches by the guest stars - real female members of today's Minnesota House of Representatives, the enduring legacy of these four pioneers. The play is a little pedantic and on-the-nose, the effect of the women's visit a little too rosy, but I'm OK with that. In the end it's inspiring and educational, and like Aaron Sorkin's West Wing or The Newsroom, sometimes we need stories that are aspirational in a time when reality is stark. This play provides hope that a better future is in store if we work for it, a future in which women are in the House, and the Senate, and the Governor's office, and the White House.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "the statue of liberty is nora in a doll's house by henrik ibsen"

Day: 5

Show: 16

Title: the statue of liberty is nora in a doll's house by henrik ibsen

Category: Comedy / Drama / Musical Theater / Physical Theater

By: Supermoon

Created by: Supermoon

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: Henrik Ibsen's ground-breaking 1879 play A Doll's House, in which a housewife leaves her family to find herself, with Nora played by the Statue of Liberty.

Highlights: On one level, this is a great and fun and very Fringey version of a classic play, using live film projected onto a screen, and actual dolls acting out some of the scenes. On another level it's a startling and disturbing commentary on the state of our country, as we watch Lady Liberty literally dismantled before our eyes. I'm not entirely certain how those two things fit together, but I will be ruminating on it for a while. Mads Plonski plays Liberty/Nora, beginning the show standing on a platform clutching a copy of A Doll's House, her raised arm holding a corded light. Then she descends from her pedestal (much as Nora metaphorically does in the play), and the story begins, with all of the major plot points of the story playing out in abbreviated form (Nora forged her father's signature to take out a loan to save her husband's life, and is now facing scandal because a woman is not allowed to take out a loan), with Michael Torsch as her husband Torvald and Caleb Byers as the banker about to explode the scandal. A camera is trained on the stage, with the live feed projected on a screen, including close-ups of dolls that enact some of the scenes, the actors speaking in exaggerated doll voices. We also occasionally see images of the Statue of Liberty in pieces and behind scaffolding during installation, which curiously was less than ten years after A Doll's House premiered. In addition to the use of lighting and live film, there's also an interesting use of music and sound, with Josh Leininger providing a live score on electric guitar, and Mads singing the Lana Del Ray song "Arcadia." As usual from this team, this is a thoughtful, thorny, weird, funny, absurd, engrossing piece of theater.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Vintage Tunes, Modern Gal"

Day: 4

Show: 12

Title: Vintage Tunes, Modern Gal

Category: Comedy / Original Music / Physical Theater / Solo Show / Audience participation

By: Plucky Rosenthal

Created by: Plucky Rosenthal

Location: Rarig Kilburn Arena

Summary: A solo "musical comedy variety act" about a plucky ukulele player looking for a band.

Highlights: Chicago-based touring artist Plucky Rosenthal (a last-minute add to the festival) is obviously a pro at this; she had the relatively small Sunday 4pm audience in the palm of her hand, and singing at the top of our lungs by the end. Plucky is just that, both in the "spirited and brave" definition, and in the fact that she plucks and strums the ukulele, which she tells us is the best instrument (not the first time I've heard that in this festival). And if you think that's a corny joke, wait until you see the show! She enlists us in her silly rhymes, and frequently breaks the fourth wall to comment on or react to the show and the audience, in the most charming and disarming way. The loose plot, between clever and quirky original songs, is that Plucky is a bit of a loner, who wants to find people to be in a band with her. She calls her favorite radio DJ on her vintage phone, whom she listens to on the vintage radio sitting on the vintage side table, only to be told to "not quit her day job." So she finds a book with "six easy steps to start a band," which she does, to unexpected effect. The lesson she learns in the end, culminating in the finale singalong, inspired me to buy my first button of the festival. Because it's true, nobody really knows what they're doing in life, but it's better with music and laughter and friends. This is a clever show by an artist who doesn't take herself too seriously, but is seriously talented, with some gentle audience participation and fun prop work.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Chum!"

Day: 1

Show: 2

Title: Chum!

Category: Comedy / Musical Theater / Audience participation

By: Theatre Engine

Created by: Alexis Bacon & Alison Dobbins

Location: Rarig Kilburn Arena

Summary: A musical parody of the 1975 movie Jaws.

Highlights: I'm not sure I've ever seen Jaws, but now I kind of want to, although it's probably not as much fun as this musical parody is. The four-person cast, accompanied by a two-piece band (keyboard and percussion), tell the full story of the murderous shark who terrorizes a beachside resort town with humor and clever songs. MSU Mankato alums Justine Carroll Melchior as the police chief who's afraid of water, Kaitlin McInerney as the marine biologist (and the first victim), Jake McInerney as the town mayor who's more concerned with business than safety, and Jordon Oxborough as the grizzled sea captain, all have strong voices and strike just the right campy faux sincere tone. A couple of audience members are recruited before the show to play additional victims, which is fun and charming. The adorably DIY props and set pieces include the titular chum represented by an array of stuffed animals tied with a red ribbon, a boat made of two pieces of cardboard lined with blue painters tape (and a Chewy label for a nice detail), a silver shark fin hat worn by several cast members, bloody red ribbons, pool noodle spears, and a couple of beautiful sails that represent the water. It's not the Fringe without a musical parody of a familiar pop culture icon, and Chum! fits the bill quite nicely.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "The Precious Scars"

Day: 1

Show: 1

Title: The Precious Scars

Category: Drama / Storytelling / LGBTQIA+ Content

By: Applause Community Theatre

Written by: Brian Farrey-Latz

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: An imagined conversation between Harvey Milk and Billy Billy Sipple, a gay man who thwarted a presidential assassination attempt.

Highlights: The well-known gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk and the ex-Marine who wrestled a gun out of a potential assassin's hands and sued the publications that outed him as gay really did know each other. Did they have a conversation like this? Who knows, but it's an interesting idea and explores the conflict between being an out public figure, and maintaining a private life. This imagined conversation takes place in the back room of a gay bar, or maybe in heaven, as Billy shares his premonitions about both men's deaths. Much of the play is a great two-hander between these two fictional versions of historical characters (played by James Knight-Zappa and Derik Iverson), with the drag queen Cookie (Nora Persephone) providing a few moments of humor, and a powerful monologue about a pivotal moment from her past (from which the title is inspired). It's well staged, with some fun '70s music and fashions, and themes that still resonate 50 years late. 

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "The Big Secret"

Day: 10

Show: 38

Title: The Big Secret

Category: Storytelling / Political content / Religious content

By: Brad Lawrence

Created by: Brad Lawrence

Location: Rarig Arena

Summary: A solo storytelling piece about a big secret that Brad Lawrence has been keeping since he was 14, and why he's now sharing it with the world.

Highlights: This is a beautiful and moving story, masterfully told by NYC-based master storyteller Brad Lawrence. He weaves a mesmerizing tale about his traumatic childhood (including both familial and religious trauma), and finding connection with an older girl named Jessica in his church youth group. One night, over frozen custard, she tells him her shameful secret, that she's never shared with anyone. She makes him promise not to tell, and he doesn't, putting it in a box in the back of his mind that he never opens, even after her tragic murder five years later. But he has recently opened that box and looked at the secret with adult eyes, only to find that it wasn't shameful at all. Jessica was a child, taken advantage of by an adult, undeserved shame forced upon her by her religious upbringing. I won't share the secret in case you ever get the chance to see this show, because it's expertly revealed at the right time for the maximum impact. The important thing to know is that Brad is finally sharing Jessica's story in the hopes that those who hear it can let go of some of the shame in their own lives, and/or help create a world without shame for people who did nothing wrong.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Duluth: An Improvised Midwest Murder"

Day: 10

Show: 37

Title: Duluth: An Improvised Midwest Murder

Category: Comedy / Drama / Horror / Improv / Mystery / Audience participation

By: Duluth Improv

Created by: Avery Kiefer and Walter Mueller

Location: Rarig Xperimental

Summary: A story of murder in a Midwest town.

Highlights: Curiously, Duluth Improv is a troupe based in Chicago. And they finally brought the show home to Minnesota "where it belongs." They ask one audience member to volunteer info about their hometown; at the show I attended it was Madison Wisconsin, home of the Oscar Mayer Wiener plant (and Wienermobile). What started out as one murder in the plant, with a body shoved into the machinery, turned into a Mayer family crime drama, a workplace murder at The Archives, and a shootout in the parking lot. The cast (many of whom were subs when I saw the show so I don't have all their names) is great at improvising crazy crime scenarios and bizarre deaths, all while speaking in Midwest accents, and sometimes Russian-ish. Most of their shows were sold out or nearly sold out, because Minnesota Fringe loves Minnesota humor, improv, and murder, even when it's from Chicago.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Against My Will"

Day: 9

Show: 29

Title: Against My Will

Category: Comedy / Drama / Solo Show / Spoken Word / Storytelling / Historical content / Political content / Shakespearian elements

By: Michael Quadrozzi

Created by: Michael Quadrozzi

Location: Rarig Xperimental

Summary: A solo storytelling show about overcoming childhood trauma.

Highlights: #TCTheater artists Michael Quadrozzi knocks it out of the park with his first solo storytelling show. It's so vulnerable, so beautiful, so moving. When he walks on stage and declares he has baggage to unpack, he's not talking about the backpack, duffel bag, and large roller suitcase he's lugging. Although he does literally unpack those bags, revealing family photos, childhood mementos, and other visual aids to his storytelling. But the real unpacking is of his childhood growing up on the East Coast with a narcissistic mother (and possibly other undiagnosed mental illnesses), a divorced dad he only saw on the weekends and who died suddenly when he was in college, and various stepparents and step/half siblings. With the help of words and drawings he writes on a large sketchpad, peeling of the pages one by one and laying them on the floor, he tells his well-written story in a way that's polished yet casual, as if he's sharing his deepest secrets with us, his new friends. And while the specifics of his story are unique to him, the themes of challenging families, grief, anxiety, and finding one's own way in the world, are universal. The best part of Fringe is when artists take their pain and turn it into art for all of us to cathartically share in, and this is a beautiful example of that.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "A Sad Carousel 2: The Timely Death of Herschel Douscheburg"

Day: 8

Show: 25

Title: A Sad Carousel 2: The Timely Death of Herschel Douscheburg

Category: Comedy / Drama / Physical Theater

By: LandmanLand

Written by: Sam L. Landman

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: An insult comic wakes up after 15 years in a coma and finds that everything has changed.

Highlights: I did not see Sam Landman's 2010 Fringe show A Sad Carousel (my first year at Fringe was 2011), but that did not affect my enjoyment of this sequel at all. The premise of the story is very clear, and the 15-year time lapse sets up lots of jokes of things that are no longer (Joann Fabrics, HUGE Theater, The Iveys). To begin the show, Herschel Douscheburg (played by Sam) wakes up in the Tyler Michaels King Memorial Hospital, the first in a string of TMK jokes. In fact the self-referential #TCTheater jokes abound (including about theater bloggers!), with many pokes at Fringe itself (and even a recorded appearance by Fringe artist and employee Amber Bjork). Because Herschel decides to use Fringe as his comeback, with the help of his longtime agent (Peter Ooley) and despite the protest of the Gen Z "comedy kids" troupe (Mae Ryan, Riley Eckman, and Elle Hinds) that practices gentle and bland comedy. Eric Webster and Jane Froiland play many characters, the former in a bored lackadaisical manner and the latter in over-the-top old-timey voices, often referred to by Sam as Webster and Jane (she's equity!). There are tons of clever and funny props, some of which are only on stage for a minute (how do I get a subscription to Fringe Hunks Monthly?). Directed by Shanan Custer, the show is ridiculous and ridiculously funny, with a playful tone that allows for ad libbing, fourth-wall breaking, and playing with the audience. It's just a whole lot of fringey fun, that also reminds us of the importance of comedy in society, because people who can't laugh at themselves cannot be trusted. 

Final show today (Saturday) at 1!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "All Your Shimmering Gold"

Day: 5

Show: 18

Title: All Your Shimmering Gold

Category: Comedy / Drama / Horror / Musical Theater / Opera / Physical Theater / Literary adaptation / Political content

By: SUPERMOON

Created by: Michael Torsch

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: The defense contractor Northrop Grumman accidentally ends up in the middle of the Minnesota Fringe Festival with their presentation about their massive nuclear defense plans, so they perform Wagner's Das Rheingold to make it more theatrical for this audience.

Highlights: Friends, this one is weird, in the best and fringiest sense of the word. Michael Torsch makes the most unique entrance to a fringe show you will see this year, and then speaks to the audience as an executive from Northrup Grumman. He explains to us what our tax dollars are buying, a huge and extensive and terrifying plan for nuclear defense, describing what happens when one of these nuclear missiles go off, aided by a video playing on small screens above an arch. But since he knows we're a theater audience, he and his fellow employees put on a performance of Das Rheingold, about a greedy man who steals gold from the Rhine River, guarded by some river nymphs, and makes a ring to gain all of the power. Which leaves us to draw the parallels for ourselves. Michael and the cast (Mads Granlund, Caleb Byers, Simone Bernadette, and Genevieve Waterbury, one of whom actually sings) lip synch to the recorded opera, dressed in beautiful costumes, while the video of the opera plays on the screens. It's all just so bizarre and fascinating and not a little disturbing, and I'll be thinking about it for a while.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Hamluke"

Day: 5

Show: 16

Title: Hamluke

Category: Comedy / Drama / Puppetry / Kid friendly / Literary adaptation / Shakespearian elements

By: Nightfall Productions

Written by: Brad Erickson

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: The story of Shakespeare's Hamlet as told with the characters from Star Wars.

Highlights: Like The Book of Morder, this is a mashup that really makes sense and is cleverly done (written and directed by Brad Erickson, who also plays a few minor roles). But unlike The Book of Mordor, I'm really only familiar with half of this mashup. I've definitely seen Hamlet on stage more often than I've seen Star Wars movies or shows. I may have missed some of the references (there were several times when everyone laughed and I didn't know why), but I still enjoyed it and could appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into the character pairings (Darthius = Darth Vader + Claudius, Opheleia = Ophelia + Leia, Landocrantz = Lando + Rosencrantz, etc.) and coalescing of plot points. The lines feel like Shakespeare, including all the Hamlet greatest hits, but with Star Wars words and references thrown in. The cast is fantastic, with lots of familiar faces including but not limited to: Dylan Rugh, so beautifully earnest as Hamluke that I'd love to see him play Hamlet, except I'm afraid some of the Star Wars words would slip in, so similar, yet different, are the lines; Duck Washington as Darthius with the iconic breathing; Jay Melchior as the cocky Laersolo (casting Han Solo as Leia's brother making the flirting a bit weird); and Clarence Wethern as multiple characters include Polyodius with the cutest Yoda puppet in an Elizabethan costume. A soundscape of live music played by two musicians on various stringed and other instruments really adds to the storytelling and make it feel more special. The whole thing is so thoughtfully and cleverly created, including props and set pieces, much of which I probably didn't even catch. But even if you're not a Star Wars (or Shakespeare) person, it's a really fun and well done show.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "The Book of Mordor"

Day: 4

Show: 14

Title: The Book of Mordor

Category: Comedy / Musical Theater / Literary adaptation

By: Haute Dish Productions

Created by: Haute Dish Productions,

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy told through the music of The Book of Mormon.

Highlights: This was perhaps the most anticipated show of this year's Fringe for me, and it did not disappoint! The Book of Mormon is one of my favorite musicals ("if theater is my religion, The Book of Mormon is my most sacred text"), and I've loved the world of Middle Earth since I was 12, having read the books dozens of times and seen the movies almost as many (I've even been to New Zealand twice and visited several filming locations). I was actually a little worried that my expectations were too high and the show would fall short of them, but I'm happy to report that it did not. If you're not familiar with The Book of Mormon or LOTR, well, you can probably stop reading this and go enjoy whatever subpar entertainment you like. But for the rest of us, this show is a thrill. In fact the two stories mash up so well (starting with the title) that I'm surprised no one has done it yet. The entire three-book 12-hour movie story is condensed into about an hour, of course skipping lots of character and events, but hitting all the high points we would expect. The score includes pretty much every song from The Book of Mormon, with very clever new lyrics written to fit the LOTR story. "Two by Two" becomes "Nine by Nine," "You and Me (but mostly me)" perfectly describes the roles of Frodo and the Fellowship, Merry and Pippin are "Messing Things Up Again," and in perhaps my favorite song adaptation, Eowyn and the hobbits "Man Up" (a clever play on Eowyn's famous line "I am no man"). Mankato-based writer/directors Kendra Braunger and Carissa Christenson (who play Pippin and Merry, respectively) have done a wonderful job with a brilliant concept, and the cast gamely throws themselves into what is an epic and impressive feat. I won't even dock them for singing to a recorded track rather than having a live band, because there's just so much going on (including really fun DIY costumes). The Book of Mordor is my favoritest mash-up in the entire history of Fringe mash-ups! Shows like this are one of the reasons fringe festivals exist, and thanks to Haute Dish for giving me the mash-up I didn't know I needed but seems so obvious now!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "The Temporary Tattoo Trio"

Day: 3

Show: 11

Title: The Temporary Tattoo Trio

Category: Comedy / Drama / Audience participation

By: an alleged Theatre Company

Written by: Jake Mierva & Danylo Loutchko

Location: Rarig Arena

Summary: Three best friends named Tyler have a temporary tattoo business, and things start to go awry when secrets are revealed.

Highlights: This is a simple premise that is brilliantly executed. We're just watching three friends put temporary tattoos on people for an hour while they talk about their friendship. If this sounds boring, it's not, it's very funny and engaging. The three Tylers (Danylo Loutchko, Jake Mierva, and J. McIntyre Godwin) are so committed to the bit that it feels like we're eavesdropping on one long conversation between actual friends. And all the while, they are actually applying temporary tattoos to audience members' arms, while continuing their conversation. Or even better, we sit in awkward silence while they fume and apply tattoos. And the Rarig Arena is the perfect (perhaps only) venue for this; the performance space becomes the entire theater into the rows of audience on either side of the stage, the Tylers sometimes taking a seat while they hold a wet washcloth on someone's arm for several minutes. Things get even more complicated with the arrival of the Tylers' friend Taylor (Sarah Halverson), their favorite lifeguard from their favorite place on earth - Wisconsin Dells. Will these secrets break up this bromance trio? We never really find out, but maybe friendships have to grow and evolve as we age, maybe we can't be applying temporary tattoos and going to Wisconsin Dells together forever. But it sure was fun while it lasted.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "503"

Day: 3

Show: 10

Title: 503

Category: Drama / Original Music / Physical Theater / Sci-fi / Audience participation / Literary adaptation / Political content

By: Jackdonkey Productions

Created by: Jeffrey Nolan and Zach Christensen

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: An adaptation of the 1921 dystopian novel We by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin about a totalitarian state based on numbers.

Highlights: As much as a society based on order, numbers, equations, and schedules kind of appeals to me, the world described in We, and 503, is not good. The multi-talented Jeffrey Nolan adapted and performs in this (mostly) solo show (with direction by Zach Christensen), playing all of the characters, er, numbers, in the story. In this strictly regimented world, everyone is referred to as a number; our protagonist is D-503, who is happy with his life until he meets a woman known as I-130, who shows him a different way that the world can be and convinces them to join the revolution. They need him because he designed the new spaceship Integral, which is part of their plans. D-503 is torn between his loyalty to the "One State" and his new love, especially when he hears of an operation that results in "perfect happiness" (if you're getting Severance vibes, you're not wrong). The story is clearly and succinctly told, Jeremy embodying every character and making them all distinct. The sparse set includes just a metal folding chair and a white screen for some scenes in silhouette. The daily schedule and directions for audience participation are displayed on the back wall of the theater (we become fellow numbers, stamping our feet, singing the patriotic song, and participating in the election), the visible tech person adding to the utilitarian feel. Hawken Paul provides a soundscape on violin and percussion, a short refrain announcing the beginning of each scene. He also plays a character or two towards the end of the play, which is why this isn't quite a solo piece. Like all of Jackdonkey's work, 503 is thoughtfully constructed with great attention to detail, and well executed by the cast and creative team. It's an engaging story that's not a little terrifying, showing a society with blind loyalty to the state and one ruler. (you can catch Jackdonkey's production of Shakespeare's Henry V at Theatre in the Round just after Fringe).

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Joan of Arc for Miss Teen Queen USA"

Day: 2

Show: 6

Title: Joan of Arc for Miss Teen Queen USA

Category: Comedy / Drama / Original Music / Puppetry / Historical content / LGBTQIA+ Content / Political content / Religious content

By: Melancholics Anonymous

Created by: Rachel Ropella and Timothy Kelly

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: The teenage warrior saint Joan of Arc comes back to life to enter a beauty pageant in South Dakota.

Highlights: After selling out shows in smaller venues for the last few years, the Melancholics have graduated to the big stage of the Rarig Thrust, and they fill the space well with this really fun (and a little bit sweet) story of female friendship. What starts out as a stereotypically vicious and competitive beauty pageant, with a hilarious Timothy Kelly as the host, goes a little deeper as we find out each young woman's motivations (played to perfection by Anneliese Garner, Kate Cosgrove, Bee Davis, Meredith Enersen, and Claire Chenoweth in gorgeous gowns, a full face of makeup, and impressive hairdos). The entry of Joan (played by Samantha Miller) throws a wrench into the whole thing, as Saint Michael (Carson Uthe, who also plays the evil pageant "mom") tells her she has to win the crown. But of course, that's not why she's really there, and it turns into a sweet story of female friendship and community (with some minor violence, because this is Melancholics Anonymous, but no blood). I think this may be my favorite Melancholics entry in the fringe (with the possible exception of 2023's A Girl Scout's Guide to Exorcism). It's well written, directed, designed, and acted, and is a lot of fun to watch.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play)"

Day: 2

Show: 5

Title: Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play)

Category: Drama / Solo Show / Historical content

By: Jennifer Vosters

Written by: Jennifer Vosters

Location: Rarig Xperimental

Summary: A solo piece about the famous 19th Century composer Felix Mendelssohn and his less famous but no less talented sister Fanny.

Highlights: This is another case of history not telling us about the women artists (see also The Spirit Moves You To Color The Unseen). Like the stories told in the podcast Significant Others, Fanny was her brother's biggest supporter, confidante, partner, and soulmate, in addition to her own independent creations, but history doesn't remember her. Because she was a woman, her father, and Felix himself, didn't think it was appropriate for her to be a published musician. Eventually she found a way, but her, and her brother's, life and career were cut short but a stroke.* Chicago-based artist Jennifer Vosters has beautifully constructed this piece, like a composition by one of the Mendelssohns, and also performs it beautifully. She tells the story of the siblings' lives from childhood, in a modern and conversational way, making it feel very present and relatable. Dressed in a black suit with tails and an embroidered vest, she plays both siblings and smoothly transitions from one to the other. The intimate space at the X contains only a piano bench and two music stands, representing Fanny and Felix, but the space soon becomes littered with sheet music. In under an hour, we're taken on an epic journey of creation, family, ambition, disappointment, and triumph. Jennifer gives a masterful, impassioned, engaging performance (accompanied by snippets of the music referred to) for which she's deservedly been racking up prizes at Fringe Festivals around the country. I attended the second performance and it sold out, so I recommend making a reservation or getting in line at the box office early to score a ticket to this show.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

*For another story of a musical prodigy whose life and career were cut short due to illness, see the final reading of the new musical about cellist Jacqueline du Pré, How to Play the Cello (Until You Don't), as part of Theater Latte Da's NEXT new works festival.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "The Abortion Chronicles"

Day: 2

Show: 4

Title: The Abortion Chronicles

Category: Drama / Spoken Word / Storytelling / Historical content / Political content

By: Mermaid Productions

Created by: Ariel Pinkerton

Location: Rarig Arena

Summary: A collection of true abortion stories.

Highlights: I've seen this show twice before, once in the late Obama years, once shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned, but unfortunately it's never been more necessary, as women's rights are continually chipped away at, especially in the area of reproductive health care. The show is well constructed, centered around a clinic, with women coming in for consultations or abortions, escorted by a volunteer through the protestors outside. We hear stories from the clinic nurse (played by Christy Johnson) and the volunteer (Patti Gage), as well as the women (and a few men) who come through. Some of the stories are performed by the people who lived them, some by actors, and I honestly cannot tell which are which. All of them feel truthful, real, and raw. Every abortion story is different and specific, but also all the same. As they say in the show, "I'm pregnant and I can't be, the rest is window dressing." But that window dressing is complex and intricate and very human. Whether or not you've seen this show before, it's worth seeing to hear these stories. It may be one of the most important shows in the festival this year.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.