Fringe Day 3: Journeys Below, Around, and Across

To continue my weirdly thematic Fringe experience, today I saw three plays about the things you can learn when on a journey. From the underworld to ancient Greece to contemporary immigrants, the who and the where seems less important than the what: a lot of truths get revealed when you put yourself in a different…

Fringe Day 2: One-Woman Shows

Like Sophie wrote about her Fringe experiences yesterday, I did not intend to have a “theme day”, but I did: I wound up seeing two one-woman shows. However, I can’t really compare them, because the similarities kind of end there. Lord of the Files, written and performed at the Theatre Garage by Lesley Tsina, is a…

Fringe Day 1: “The God Squad”

I love seeing new shows on the first day of Fringe. No reviews, no rumours, no spoilers; just me and my program. Unfortunately, Day 1 was not just me and my program, it was me and my program and my job that prevented me from seeing any shows before 10 PM, but I’ll take one…

Fringe Day 1: Love Stories

Welcome to Day 1 of Fringe, where every show looks great and you haven’t yet memorized the pre-show announcements! This is the first in a long series of posts between now and August 11, so keep checking back as we see more and more shows. I don’t like to intentionally theme my Fringe viewing experience,…

International Falls

by SOPHIE KERMAN The sad comedian might be a cliche, but playwright Thomas Ward  has turned the stereotype into some very three-dimensional characters in his insightful short play International Falls. Directed by the Jungle Theatre’s Artistic Director Bain Boehlke, International Falls is being performed at the Bryant Lake Bowl, a much more fitting venue for a peek into a night…

Ballad of the Pale Fisherman

by SOPHIE KERMAN After wowing Minnesota Fringe Festival audiences for the past two years running, Isabel Nelson has brought 2010 Fringe Festival Favorite Ballad of the Pale Fisherman to the Illusion Theater mainstage. After being blown away by Red Resurrected at the 2011 Fringe, I was excited to see the expansion of Pale Fisherman, the show that…

Minnesota Fringe 2011

by SOPHIE KERMAN As I scanned the crowds while waiting in line for tickets at this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival, listening in on conversations and taking mental notes on which of the 168 productions I really should not miss, it occurred to me that aside from its obvious entertainment value, going to Fringe is a…