Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "The Art of Opposition"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 50 minutes

Title: The Art of Opposition

By: The People Project

Summary: A series of dance pieces celebrating and exploring the idea of opposition.

Highlights: This show includes some pieces recorded previously on a stage in front of an audience, some recorded outside, and some recorded pieces of individual dancers. All are really lovely, but the one that stands out to me is a performance in a lobby at Gustavus Adolphus College's Nobel Conference last year. The performers used all areas of the space, with movement inspired by and in response to a speech by teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "i'm not playing"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 25 minutes

Title: i'm not playing

By: WHO'S LOUIS?

Summary: A break-up causes drama among roommates, scene from a variety of viewpoints.

Highlights: What a clever and unique concept, and really well executed! The play can be viewed from five different rooms in the apartment (living room, two bedrooms, the bathroom, and the perspective of a White Claw). The viewer can switch back and forth between rooms at any point. Now, I'm a linear person who needs to watch every episode of a TV show in order, but I was still able to have fun with this. You could sort of follow where the action is going, and if you feel like you've missed something you can rewind a bit in that room and catch up. The plot is fairly simple - Jess breaks up with Jeremy and tells him he needs to move out of the apartment. Meanwhile roommate Caitlyn is applying for lots of jobs from the bathroom, and roommate Dev is secretly in love with Jess. It all blows up in a game of Sorry. Without the multiple viewpoints this would be an amusing little play, but with the multiple viewpoints it's a really fun and interesting experiment in online theater.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Fruit Flies Like a Banana: Virtual Style"

Location: Nightly Fringe (Aug. 8)

Length: 60 minutes

Title: Fruit Flies Like a Banana: Virtual Style

By:  The Fourth Wall

Summary: A zoom version of the Fringe hit (and one of my all-time faves).

Highlights: Boston-based music/movement/theater trio The Fourth Wall has been a regular at the Minnesota Fringe Festival (and others) for the last several years. I see them any chance I can (see also the recording of their delightful new show Fallen from the Toy Box in the Digital Hub), because I've never seen anyone do what they do - play instruments beautifully while doing all sorts of crazy stuff. This live zoom show was a bit different, but still lots of fun. The zoom audience chose the order of the pieces (as live audiences often do), some recorded from past performances, some newly recorded, some solo live pieces (they're quarantining in different places). And as always, they featured other Fringe artists in some of the pieces. This is another example of artists making the best of the less than ideal situation we find ourselves in, and I can't wait to see them live in person again!

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "My Big Gay Debutante Ball"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 1 hour 15 minutes

Title: My Big Gay Debutante Ball

By: Kinetic Dust

Summary: A solo show about a woman's coming-out journey that's really a celebration of finding and being who you are.

Highlights: It looks like this was performed and recorded live for the Providence Fringe Festival, which was also virtual this year. Meg Anderson tells stories and sings songs about her coming-out journey, at times painful, at times sweet. She re-imagines her story with a "what if" - what if she had grown up in a world in which two women could walk down any street holding hands, in which one's coming out was celebrated like a Debutante Ball. She performs live on an empty stage, using recorded and looped music along with live singing and keyboard. The live performance is occasionally interrupted by recorded videos of Meg playing other characters in her story. There are some weird moments, as well as some poignant moments, all culminating in a celebration in a big poofy princess ball gown (well, sort of) and a dance party. It's not the Fringe without a very personal, real, heartfelt solo show, and this one fits the bill.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Nature Creature"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 50 minutes

Title: Nature Creature

By: Ruth MacKenzie / Jacqueline Ultan / Elizabeth Alexander

Summary: A gorgeous concert recorded at Open Eye Theatre in 2016.

Highlights: Composer Elizabeth Alexander has set some beautiful writing about nature to music, and accompanies vocalist Ruth MacKenzie, along with Jacqueline Ultan on cello. The result is something special. Ruth is such a passionate and expressive singer, and along with the haunting cello, everything about this is just gorgeous. At times humorous, at times deeply moving, it's just a really lovely 50 minutes of music. (And it was fun to see the charming little stage at Open Eye again.)

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Paul & Erika's HOUSE SHOW"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 35 minutes

Title: Paul & Erika's HOUSE SHOW

By: Theatre Mobile

Summary: Paul Strickland and Erika Kate MacDonald do a show from their house to your house.

Highlights: This one's a real charmer, and surprisingly poignant. There are several different segments, or start-overs, the first with an impossible director Sterling Spoon (an actual spoon) complaining about their lack of skills. They call it a "we don't know how to make a movie but I guess we have to now" production. I love that they fully acknowledge this is a weird and wrong way to do and watch theater, but it's all we've got, so let's make the best of it. And they do, in a great example of creative artists adapting their art to fit the times. They sing, tell stories, do fun edits, share outtakes, in a mostly silly and fun show. Until they brought tears to my eyes at the end when they talked about how much they miss performing in front of an audience, and that "we tried to make a show that shows what a show is in a time of no shows," but that the real "show" is what happens in the space between the performers and the audience. A space that seems cavernous right now. I really hope Paul and Erika come to a live in-person MN Fringe, because I'd love to watch them do what they do in person!

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Love and Other Lures"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 44 minutes

Title: Love and Other Lures

By: Dr. Dour & Peach

Summary: A funny and quirky musical show featuring the dour Dr. Dour (pronounced do-er) and the naive Peach.

Highlights: The show begins when Peach (Rachel Spicknall Mulford) takes the audience out of a box and she and Dr. Doer (Toby Mulford) greets us and show us around their living room. From there it's songs, stories, and silly diversions. With bright costumes, clever edits, puppets, a little man in the wall, and multiple stringed instruments, they entertain the audience as they sing songs about love monsters. Songs about people being lured into danger by love or sirens or some such thing, which eventually even the two of them fall prey to. There's a fun dynamic between the two and the original songs are great. You can also watch their web series.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "The Bathtub Play"

Location: Digital Hub (available on certain days)

Length: 33 minutes

Title: The Bathtub Play

By: The Feral Theatre Company

Summary: A woman with a broken foot is stuck in a bathtub.

Highlights: This is a sweet, funny, endearing, and very human little play. Written by Becky McLaughlin and starring Erin Gassner, it's one long monologue (it appears to be one long take but there might be a subtle cut or two). Our heroine recently got out of the hospital with a broken foot, and decided to take a bath. Except that now she can't get out. Worse, her "Elena" (generic "Alexa") is having trouble connecting to the internet so she can't call anyone for help. She starts talking to Elena, confessing things from her childhood, and the real reason she was up in that tree that she fell from. She talks about her new boyfriend, her insecurities, her hopes, in a way that makes her likable and relatable. It left me with a smile on my face.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "The Champagne Drops: The In-Between Years"

Location: Nightly Fringe (Aug. 6)

Length: 40 minutes

Title: The Champagne Drops: The In-Between Years

By:  The Champagne Drops

Summary: A cabaret celebrating this duo's "in-between years," aka middle school.

Highlights: The Champagne Drops are Leslie Vincent (whom you might have seen Monday night in TV Tunes) and Emily Dussault. They used to perform around town, and now they perform around the internet. This show was inspired by their journals, letters, and other memorabilia from the horror known as middle school. But the show is anything but horrible. They each performed a live cover of a song they loved in middle school, and played a few recordings of original duets they wrote based on the theme (because singing harmony live over the internet is inadvisable). It's lovely and funny and charming and a little bit cringey, and their friendship and enjoyment in singing together are evident and only make the show better.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Edith vs. Quarantine: 89 & One Tough Cookie"

Location: Nightly Fringe (Aug. 5)

Length: 35 minutes

Title: Edith vs. Quarantine: 89 & One Tough Cookie

By: Amanda Erin Miller

Summary: A live zoom call with a bored octogenarian.

Highlights: Amanda Erin Miller plays Edith, staying in character throughout the call. The character being one of those fabulous women of a certain age. She shares with us how she's been keeping busy in quarantine (with a montage of recorded scenes) - from the usual things like baking, reading, and eating, to the less usual things, like acting out her favorite shows Julius Caesar and Into the Woods, and starting a dating app for seniors. It's fun and silly and relatable, with a positive message of  "we can handle more than we think" and "stay connected to the things we love." Wise words from a wise woman.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Climbing My Family Tree"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 59 minutes

Title: Climbing My Family Tree

By: The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal Barrett

Summary: A storytelling show about a Black man's search for his family, and the surprising things he found.

Highlights: This is a fascinating story, and Les tells it well with a building of suspense. I'm kind of obsessed with those genealogical shows (e.g., Finding Your Roots and Who Do You Think You Are), and that's really what this is. After taking an Ancestry DNA test, Les meets his long-lost grandfather, as well as some distant cousins, and discovers he's descended from some pretty amazing and surprising people, of both African and European descent. It makes me want to research my own family tree to see what I might find. But the best part of Les's story is that in the end, what he discovers is that "racism is stupid, because we're all related anyway." Amen.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "The Cut-Out Bar"

Location: Nightly Fringe (Aug. 4)

Length: 60 minutes

Title: The Cut-Out Bar

By: LandmanLand

Summary: A very special episode of Sam Landman's nightly quarantine show, in which he listens to an album and discusses it.

Highlights: #TCTheater artist and Fringe favorite Sam Landman has been keeping himself busy during this extended intermission by listening to an album every night that he's never listened to before, typically an obscure album from the past. And he streams it live every night from his basement. He asks for votes between two albums on Facebook and Instagram (with the show live streaming on both). The boozy pre-show party starts at 7:45, and at 8pm he plays the album and gives the audience his honest reaction, which can range from disgust to delight. I've caught the show several times over the past few months, but what I realized last night is that a big part of it is people connecting in the Facebook comments chat. That sort of connection, really any sort of connection, is something we've all (even introverts) been missing the last few months, and The Cut-Out Bar gives people a place to gather, connect, and talk about something silly. You can watch the Fringe episode on the Facebook page, or any number of past episodes, or better yet - tune in tonight and take part in the conversation.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.