Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Slapdash Panic: Comedy Suitcase ended up in the Fringe Festival with 3 weeks notice and no show!"

Day: 4

Show: 13

Title: Slapdash Panic: Comedy Suitcase ended up in the Fringe Festival with 3 weeks notice and no show!

Category: Clowning / Comedy / Improv

By: Comedy Suitcase

Created by: Scrimshaw and Weinhagen

Location: Strike Theater

Summary: There's no show, just a couple of guys being goofy.

Highlights: "What's a concise way to say welcome to something happening live in front of your face that may or may not be worth the price of admission?" "Welcome to the Fringe!" Fringe favorites Comedy Suitcase, aka dynamic duo Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen, said yes when their wait list spot turned into a Fringe show just three weeks before the festival start. The schtick is that they haven't come up with a show and are just winging it, but of course they do have a show planned, although very loosely structured. There's lots of running around panicking at the beginning, and then they settle into doing things to make the audience laugh (a lot). There's a very short improv scene, physical humor, audience participation, drawing stories, a comedy workshop on writing jokes, a brief scene reading (with audience help) from Joshua's other show about old-timey radio, and a dance party. I'd rather watch Scrimshaw and Weinhagen do nothing than many people do something. If you want to laugh, have a good time, and enjoy the silliness for an hour, regardless of age (this show could and should be at Family Fringe, except then we couldn't use our Fringe passes), go see this show that's not a show but really it is a show. And a super fun one.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "My 4 Bodies"

Day: 4

Show: 12

Title: My 4 Bodies

Category: Comedy / Drama / Storytelling

By: Nightfox Stage Productions

Created by: Patricia Fox

Location: Ritz Theater Studio

Summary: A woman with juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and many dysfunctional family issues tells her story of finding balance in her four bodies.

Highlights: The four bodies, as proposed by da Vinci, are physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Writer/director Patricia Fox goes through each of the four in a moving and relatable yet very specific story, performed convincingly by Erin Roberts. She talks about her diagnoses, her complicated family history, and a good relationship she ran away from because she felt that she didn't deserve to be loved. She has a funny name for each of her bodies, each given a funny voice so that we recognize them when they chime in on what's happening. The story isn't told linearly, but more stream of consciousness, and even though Erin has the script in hand you believe her. Patricia's story is funny and moving as she journies towards self love with the help of Buddhism, and Erin's performance makes you feel every bit of it. The Fringe was made for solo stories like this, artists with something to share that audiences need to hear.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Hephzibeth, Woman of Iron"

Day: 4

Show: 11

Title: Hephzibeth, Woman of Iron

Category: Drama / Storytelling

By: Camelot Productions

Written by: Lauren L Nickisch

Location: Ritz Theater Studio

Summary: Hephzibeth Merritt, a Minneosta pioneer woman whose family founded the largest iron mine in the world, in the Iron Range, tells us her story. 

Highlights: In this solo show, Lauren Nickisch personifies her ancestor Hephzibeth Merritt as she has an afternoon chat with one of her many granddaughters, on the day that her sons and grandsons lose their mining and railroad business to John D. Rockefeller in 1893. But Hephzibeth is a survivor, so she doesn't see it as a defeat, just a change and an opportunity for something new. Anyone who gives birth to and raises ten children and moves with them to a new uncharted land (aka Duluth) has to be tough. It's wonderful to hear the stories from Hephzibeth's mouth, for by the end of the play you believe that Lauren is this sweet old grandma who's lived a long, difficult, accomplished, and rewarding life. Stories of Minnesota's history (including unpleasant parts like what she calls the "New Ulm Massacre" that we now refer to as the US-Dakota War) are mixed with family stories of loss and joy; one gets the impression that Hephzibeth's stories could go on for days. The Wikipedia page about the Merritt brothers of course does not mention their mother, as much of the history books omit women's contributions to the growth of the country and Minnesota. Thankfully we have this engrossing hour of Minnesota history told from the perspective of one of our pioneering women ancestors.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "BollyProv: NOT a Dance Drama!"

Day: 3

Show: 10

Title: BollyProv: NOT a Dance Drama!

Category: Comedy / Improv / Storytelling

By: Bollywood Dance Scene

Crated by: Bollywood Dance Scene

Location: Ritz Theater Mainstage

Summary: Fringe Fest Faves Bollywood Dance Scene returns with something different - storytelling and improv, and only a little dancing.

Highlights: I'll admit it, I was expecting the big joyous Bollywood dance numbers, and this show isn't that, although there are a few smaller dance numbers. Instead it combines a new story every night with an improvised Bollywood movie based on that story. The show I attended featured a story called "Crushed" told by Darshan Maiya, about his love of watching TV and teenage crushes. The story is charmingly (and silently) acted out by a small cast, and there are a couple of mini dance breaks. When the story ends, Madhu Bangalore and Kya Fischer take the stage to improvise a few scenes based on the story they just heard (for the first time, they tell us) and a suggestion from the audience. They do a surprisingly good job for people who are not experienced improvers (I'm assuming), and manage to construct a little story that's funny and sweet and sort of even makes sense! Everyone loves their big Bollywood shows, but it's also fun to see them stretch themselves and try something different, and the result is just as entertaining, if in a different way. And if you're still craving those big Bollywood dance numbers, you can see their new Bollywood dance drama The Land of Maaya at the upcoming MinneUtsav festival, the second annual South Asian Performing Arts Festival in Minnesota (click here for more info).

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Deep in The 100 Acre Woods: A "Pooh"-dunnit?"

Day: 3

Show: 9

Title: Deep in The 100 Acre Woods: A "Pooh"-dunnit?

Category: Comedy / Drama / Mystery

By: Fearless Comedy Productions

Directed by: Becci Schmidt

Location: Minnsky Theatre

Summary: A noir murder mystery featuring the characters from Winnie the Pooh as people, and Pooh as the victim.

Highlights: In this version of the story, the silly old bear is a gangster, womanizer, and club owner who doesn't treat his employees very well (played by James Fairbairn). When he's found dead on the stairs of his club The Honey Pot, Detective Christopher Robin (Joseph Facente) comes in to interrogate all Pooh's employees and figure out Pooh-dunnit. It's a very clever promise and so fun to see these beloved characters as people, retaining their characteristics, and the cast does a great job of bringing out character specificities. We have club singer and Pooh's girlfriend Eeyore (Lana Rosario), her piano accompanist Owl (Ian Welch), Tigger (Mike Hanson) - the bounce-er, bartender Rabbit (Gregory Parks), nervous stuttering Piglet (Mickaylee Shaughnessy), and mama Kanga (Lauren Haven) and her young adult son Roo (Nathan Kelly) who wants to know who his father is. Det. Robin questions each one in turn, with flashback scenes filling in the story. It seems everyone had a reason to hate Pooh (hate Winnie the Pooh, can you imagine?!), so when we eventually find out the culprit it really doesn't matter. The fun comes in watching these familiar childhood characters juxtaposed against this familiar noir mystery storytelling style where they really don't belong. Very fringey indeed.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "The Womyn's Mysteries"

Day: 3

Show: 8

Title: The Womyn's Mysteries

Category: Drama / Physical Theater / Storytelling

By: See-Saw Theater Lab

Directed by: Chava Curland

Location: Minnsky Theatre

Summary: An ensemble created piece telling the stories of the women in the Bible.

Highlights: Using music, movement, scarves, and stories, this diverse and talented 8-womyn ensemble (Erika Kunk, Gina Sauer, Jex Arzayus, Jody Bee, Kate Kennedy, Katherine Engel, Samantha Joy Singh, and Vinecia Coleman) tells stories from the Bible you may have heard before, but not quite like this. The piece is arranged in four parts (the beginning, matriarchs, warriors, and lovers or harlots), and the ensemble members take turns narrating and acting out scenes. They make these ancient women seem modern and relatable. There's also a bit of fourth-wall breaking, when someone will call cut in a questionable scene and the cast will proceed to discuss the story they're telling. There are also scenes in which they truthfully speak their own personal fears and wants. It's a beautiful thing to see a group of womyn on stage supporting each other in telling their stories and the stories of womyn in history and mythology, and how that history and mythology has shaped where we are today. A timely and timeless piece.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Eddie Poe"

Day: 2

Show: 7

Title: Eddie Poe

Category: Comedy / Drama / Horror

By: The Coldharts

Created by: Katie Hartman & Nick Ryan

Location: Ritz Theater Mainstage

Summary: An innovative retelling of young Edgar Allen Poe as he falls in love, goes off to University, and begins a life of drinking, gambling, and swindling (aka diddling).

Highlights: Everyone raved about The Coldharts Edgar Allen at past Fringe and TC Horror fests, so I decided to check them out. This is the second in an as yet unfinished trilogy and covers young Eddie's teen years (a quick look at Wikipedia confirms much of the facts). Nick Ryan plays Eddie as a somber emo teen, while Katie Hartman exhibits a frenetic energy as a number of other characters, a nice balance. They use music (banjo, ukulele, and voice) to help tell the story, with quirky and catchy songs. The rest of the audience found it funnier than I did; not to say I didn't enjoy it, but I found it to be more of a sweet, sad, and sometimes amusing play rather than a laugh out loud comedy. Perhaps it's the audience laughter that caused them to go over their allotted time, cutting them off before the ending (Fringe doesn't mess around with the schedule). Or maybe it was the playful banter with the audience, or moments that are held to great effect. The period costumes (by Marge Ryan) are great and help to establish character(s), and they do some cool things with lighting including a stunning shadow card-playing scene. They also make great use of the space at the Ritz, going out into the audience (I recommend sitting in the back section if you don't want to crane your head around to watch them). Eddie Poe casts a haunting spell, one that I was rudely awakened from. If you see it, please tell me how it ends.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "A Part of Me"

Day: 2

Show: 6

Title: A Part of Me

Category: Drama / Musical Theater / Original Music

By: Imagined Theatre

Created by: Julie Ana Rayne and Phil Darg

Location: Southern Theater

Summary: Two patients waiting for an organ donation meet in a transitional care facility.

Highlights: This sweet and lovely story of friendship in difficult times caused me to shed my first #fringetears of the festival. The patients, musician Sean and teenager Jimmy, connect over their shared situation (waiting for a liver and kidney transplant, respectively) and their love of music. Sean teaches Jimmy to play the guitar, begrudgingly allowed by understandably overprotective mother Rita. Caregivers nurse Cate and administrator Liz try to make their lives as comfortable as possible, but the situation is dire for both of them if they don't get a transplant soon. I don't want to tell you too much of what happens, but suffice it to say connections are made and lives are changed. The songs are on the whole lovely and melodic, with poignant or funny lyrics. Dan Piering's Sean accompanies many of the songs on guitar (an instrument he's as adept at as his usual cello), with additional accompaniment on keyboard played by, I'm going to assume, composer and lyricist Julie Ana Rayne. Dan, Abilene Olson as Rita, and Rachel Schmidt do most of the singing, and beautifully so. Katie Consumas is natural and believable as one of those angels on earth, a nurse, and young Logan Schuneman is adorable as Jimmy. Amidst the zaniness that is most of Minnesota Fringe, it's a rare treat to experience a moving drama such as this.

If you're interested in becoming an organ donor, visit www.organdonor.gov.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Our Best Life"

Day: 2

Show: 5

Title: Our Best Life

Category: Comedy

By: Custer and Schmidt

Created by: Shanan Custer and Emily Schmidt

Location: Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: #TCTheater's favorite funny woman Shanan Custer's accidental first solo show.

Highlights: Funny friends Emily Schmidt and Shanan Custer make a great comedy team; I've seen them several times at Bryant-Lake Bowl and elsewhere. But when Emily, who lives in LA, gets The Job at Netflix, what's a friend to do but go on herself? That's exactly what Shanan did, and she's a natural at entertaining the crowd. She's so smart and funny, and her disarming style makes the audience feel like you're trading stories with a girlfriend who's way funnier than you. Whether covering topics as weighty as Minnesota's complicated history, or as light as what her neighbors are actually posting on NextDoor, she's relatable and insightful and hilarious. Other topics include dissatisfaction with a Starucks menu change (written by Emily), a terrifyingly funny flight, a frustrated Christmas letter, a Carol Burnett-esque "ask me a question" segment, and a final number that is Everything: silly and joyful and fun. Even though some of the sketches may be familiar if you've seen Shanan and/or Emily before, they're still fresh and funny; Shanan delivers them as if for the first time. Shanan Custer is a Minnesota Fringe treasure (she's involved in five shows this year) and you would be silly not to see her as often as you can. Warning: this show will make your face hurt from smiling and laughing for an hour.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"The Korean Drama Addict's Guide to Losing Your Virginity" by Theater Mu at Park Square Theatre

I interrupt this all-Fringe-all-the-time coverage to bring you news of Theater Mu's world premiere play The Korean Drama Addict's Guide to Losing Your Virginity, which opened last night. During Fringe. But the good news is they kindly let me attend a preview, and the run extends past Fringe you you still have time to check it out.

A romantic comedy about a rich Asian man and a hard-working Asian American woman featuring an all Asian cast. No, I'm not talking about the soon-to-be smash hit movie Crazy Rich Asians, I'm talking about a world premiere new play written by a local Hmong playwright and featuring a charming 10-person local cast. Theater Mu's The Korean Drama Addict's Guide to Losing Your Virginity, written by May Lee-Yang, is a sweet, funny, fantastical story about love, friendship, and the melodrama of life.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "What To Do In Case Of Dinosaur Attack"

Day: 1

Show: 4

Title: What To Do In Case Of Dinosaur Attack

Category: Comedy / Sci-Fi / Storytelling

By: Monster Science Productions

Created by: Reverend Matt's Monster Science

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: Reverend Matt (aka Matt Kessen) brings his popular sci-fi/comedy/science series to the Fringe.

Highlights: For 50 minutes, a guy stands on a stage and talks about dinosaurs. And it's awesome. Reverend Matt's obvious passion for the subject, his vast knowledge of both the scientific and fictional sides of the topic, and his droll delivery make this an entertaining show for dinosaur lovers and newbies alike. The entire show is set up as Dos and Don'ts for if you ever find yourself being attacked by a dinosaur (It could happen. No it couldn't.), some hilarious, some sensible, some goofy. He also delves into specific types of dinosaurs and each one's strengths and weaknesses. The accompanying slide show includes scientific facts and drawings, as well as dinosaur representation in movies, cartoons, books, and TV shows. Dressed in a suit, reading from a book, and wielding a remote for the slide show (which really should be a pipe or a pair of glasses), Reverend Matt is a wonderful guide through the weird (and true, but not always true) world of dinosaurs.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Gunfighting: An American Story"

Day: 1

Show: 3

Title: Gunfighting: An American Story

Category: Storytelling

By: Hero Props

Created by: Seán McArdle

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A well-researched presentation on the history of gun rights and regulations in America from a props designer and stage gun safety instructor.

Highlights: This is a conversation we need to have, that we've needed to have for years, decades even, that we need to have even more every day. Seán approaches the problem of gun violence from the perspective of someone who grew up with guns and has made a career working with prop guns and teaching proper safety. His belief that people handling real guns should have as much safety training as those handling prop guns, the suicide of an uncle, and the courage of the Parkland students inspired him to do this show, even though he's usually backstage. With the help of a slide show (historic photographs, film clips, quotes, and pop culture references) he leads us through his personal history with guns both real and fake, the proper procedure for handling guns onstage, and a very brief history of gun legislation, and provides some very reasonable suggestions for how all sides of this debate can come together, find common ground, and enact sensible legislation that will save lives while not infringing on anyone's constitutional rights (step one: don't buy what the NRA is selling). If you're looking for fun escapist Fringe, this is not it, but if you're looking for an interesting perspective on one of the biggest public safety issues of our time, you've found it. Recommended reading: Gunfight by Adam Winkler. Recommended organization: Everytown.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.