All right Quakers, time once again to realize you’re in a burgeoning metropolis. Huzzah, tis the Fringe Festival. If you feel like ennui’s clammy hand is grasping you ever tighter and you’re second guessing yourself why, for heaven’s sake, you ever left Theatretown, USA and came to the Twin Cities, well now you get your answer. The Fringe Festival is an annual showcase of theatre, dance, art, film, music, puppetry (hot damn!), and much, much more. The bulk of this Dionysian splendor takes place in the Loring/ Nicollet District a hop and a skip away from Downtown Minneapolis. Buy tickets, take gambles on what to see, and even enlighten yourself. We can’t cover all the events in this piddly amount of space allotted to us, but here are a couple shows that we think look promising…
-Sean McGrath
Pageant: The Musical. Pageant is a wild musical comedy that confirms beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Watch in amusement as six silly beauty queens compete for the “Miss Glamouresse” crown. This competition may sound innocent enough, but there is nothing ordinary about it. First of all, the beauty queens are all played by men. they wear “edible” lipstick (in tasty flavors like roast beef red), and the pageant judges are chosen from the audience (who knows, they may even pick you!).
-Kellie Fournier
Traveling to River’s Edge. Improvistational theater takes on a new twist next week when the Traveling Playback Theater joins the Twin Cities own River’s Edge Playback Theater to present “Traveling to Rivers Edge” at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Playback, a form of improv, is rooted in oral tradition and our own tendency to create community by telling stories of our lives. The cast takes audience stories and puts them on stage in an exciting deviation from the improv we’re all used to, conveying the essence of our stories, be it funny, tragic or just day-to-day life. The River’s Edge Playback Theather also performs every second Sunday of the month at Patrick’s Cabaret.
-Nick Dobbins
Other Fringe events to watch for:
Illusion Theater presents How Come Ain’t No White People in the Show? A sketch comedy about American culture.
Gremlin Theatre presents Ten Minute Four Play. 4 diverse 10-minute plays.
Best of the U of M mini documentaries Parts I & II. The best work from the U of M’s documentary filmmaking class.
Chaos/Theory Theatre Project presents The Skriker. A dark urban fairy tale.
Springfield Productions presents Dating Joe. An Australian solo performance about searching for love.
Chris Gennaula & Sons Productions presents It’s Just A Job. A comedy about layoffs at a high-tech company.
Check out the complete listing of Fringe Festival events for dates and times at www.fringefestival.org
