August 3rd marked the opening of the 30th Minnesota Fringe Festival. Last year was my first in person experience with the festival and while I was overwhelmed at first, by the end of the festival I felt like a seasoned veteran. I attended and reviewed 42 performances, this year I’m looking at 48 to 51, as there are some canine care responsibilities to consider. Still, there are shows on my must see list that are not being seen. Fringe is always about choices, because you can’t seem em all. The highest possible number of shows one person can attend is 56 (this includes a digital walking tour you can do anytime) out of over 100 shows. So if you are heading there this year hopefully these reviews will give you some sort of guide. Plus, every day I award The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award, to the best show I saw on any given day.
5-Step Guide to Being German is Paco Erhard’s one man show that normally runs about 80 minutes but to conform to the MN Fringe format it’s been crammed into the 60 minute time allocation. Erhard talks fast, I’m not sure if it’s to cram everything into the shortened time frame or if it’s his natural rhythm, either way he delivers a fast paced and hilarious show. It’s basically an hour of stand up comedy which examines our cultural differences. He pokes fun at Americans and Germans in equal measure. Underneath the humor there is definitely layers of well thought out social commentary. There is adult language to be sure, but beyond that it’s all good clean nationalistic fun.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/5-step-guide-to-being-german
Reception from Downton Productions is a comedy written by Dennis Johnston set at the reception after a Star Wars themed wedding. It plays on it’s Star Wars themed humor in just the right proportion without hammering it in, leaving room for other types of humor and some drama. It’s well written and performed with fun costumes and the perfect amount of set design. It delves into themes of maturity, fatherhood, and parental expectations. I could see this fleshed out into a 90 minute play where the resolution can land a little more emotionally. I really enjoyed the performance of Kayleen Barlow as Mirabelle, the best man’s wedding date, who’s flakiness and cluelessness steals every moment she’s in. This is one of those thoroughly entertaining Fringe shows that give character actors a chance to shine. You don’t need to have seen any Star Wars films to enjoy the show, but for those familiar, it’ll be an even more rewarding experience.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/reception
Climbing My Family Tree is Les Kurkendaal-Barrett’s one man show in which he tells two stories simultaneously. The first is about meeting his 99 year old Grandfather for the first time who tells him the story of the time he killed a man. The second is about tracking down and meeting up with unknown relatives through the Ancestory.com DNA test and website. Kurkendaal-Barrett builds suspense in his grandfather’s story by telling that story until he reaches a new revelation and then like an old cliffhanger serial, stopping that thread and telling about the next relative he met through Ancestry.com. Sprinkled throughout are stories of his familial history that he learns from his new found cousins. Kurkendaal-Barrett is an engaging storyteller whose charm and humor instantly connect with the audience. I enjoyed his show last year The Real Black Swann and this one was even better as he’s so open about sharing the details of his personal journey of discovering who his family is.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/climbing-my-family-tree-
THE STAGES OF MN FRINGE OF THE DAY AWARD winner!!!!
A Girl Scout’s Guide to Exorcism by Melancholics Anonymous is the best show I saw on Day 1 of the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Thus, it wins the uncoveted and reasonably unknown, Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award! This fantastically realized comedic play has something for everyone. It begins with the cast enthusiastically performing the Girl Scout song and from the first lyric until the final cry of a hawk, everyone commits 100% to their performance. It begins as a story of a girl scout troops last summer camp trip before junior high, with all the changes and insecurities that time of life brings with it. Friendships shifting, romantic awakenings, and concerns about one’s social status and infatuations with pop culture figures. By the end, a camper will have been possessed by the spirit of dead environmentalist Rosalie Barrow Edge, several hawk attacks, and the girls will learn some important lessons about friendship, ouija boards, and sexial orientation. The play co-written by Rachel Ropella and Timothy Kelly, and Directed by Ropella has a tone all it’s own that is an astonishingly successful blending of comedy, horror, and adolescent authenticity. The entire cast is committed but a special mention goes to Claire Chenoweth who at every turn shows us something new from the panic and pain of fearing you’ve lost your BFF to a BFFL, to the physicality of being possessed. Also because he’s one to watch in everything he does. Jeffrey Nolan appears as The Hawk in what is the first dramatic role I’ve seen him in. If playing a puppet hawk can be called a dramatic role, and honestly, I think it can.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/a-girl-scout-s-guide-to-exorcism-
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