Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024

I just got home from 10 days in the UK, including a visit to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Started in 1947 as a response to the new Edinburgh International Festival, the OG Fringe has grown to a massive size and inspired Fringe Festivals around the world, including right here in Minnesota. While our little Fringe is very contained and manageable, with about a hundred shows at set venues all on the same schedule, Edinburgh Fringe features over 3000 shows at hundreds of venues spread out all over town, with various runtimes (although usually around an hour) and start times from morning until well past midnight. I didn't have any plans going in, other than to see some shows. Mission accomplished! I got a good feel for the festival in just a few days. Read on for my experience and a few tips.

"Honey, I'm Home" at Open Eye Theatre

If walls could talk... they might sound like Madeleine Rowe in their solo show Honey, I'm Home, now playing at Open Eye Theatre as part of their Guest Artist Series. Because when Madeleine says "Honey, I'm home," they literally mean "I am a home." Over about 70 minutes, they personify a house that's been on the market for way too long, and just wants to be bought and lived in and loved, like anyone (or anything). It's a very funny, silly, odd little show that's playful and fun and participatory (in a not too scary way).

"Every Christmas Story Ever Told" at Yellow Tree Theatre

Yellow Tree Theatre has a long tradition of doing silly holiday* comedies, beginning with their first season. When the rights to the show they were planning to do were pulled, co-founder Jessica Lind Peterson wrote a play about a theater whose rights to the show they were planning to do were pulled. Miracle on Christmas Lake was born, spawning a sequel and other holiday comedies in the silly but heart-warming vein. Now in their 16th season and under new leadership, the tradition continues with Every Christmas Story Ever Told, a madcap ride through, if not every, then most Christmas stories ever told. It's a clever conceit and a super fun mash-up for those of us who grew up with these stories. In the hands of three talented and very funny performers, it's an enjoyable evening for all. If you don't have time to see every Christmas show, head up to charming downtown Osseo before the end of the year to see all of them at once.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "A Cult Classic"

Day: 2

Show: 4

Title: A Cult Classic

Category: COMEDY / HISTORICAL CONTENT / POLITICAL CONTENT / RELIGIOUS CONTENT / SHAKESPEARIAN ELEMENTS

By: Sheep Theater

Created by: Sheep Theater

Location: Southern Theater

Summary: A doomsday cult of unknowing can't remember how to achieve the final goal because they forgot everything, including how to read.

Highlights: "The world is really really loud and complicated," says the cult propaganda flier passed out before the show. So true, and maybe that's why humans are so susceptible to religions that tell us how the world works and promise us that things will turn out OK, even the weird extremist religions that we call cults. Sheep Theater takes this idea and runs with it, with their typical "deranged sincerity," in a new work written by Joey Hamburger and directed by Michael Torsch. Four members of a cult (Erika Kuhn, Jacob Mobley, Joey Hamburger, and Madeleine Rowe) are convinced that their leader (Robb Goetzke at his creepiest) has died/disappeared/ascended to "the five stones in the sky," so they perform the final ritual. Which includes preparing an elixir (obviously poison, a la The Peoples Temple) that they don't realize they need to drink. When they don't ascend, they get desperate and look for help from a possible new leader (Kyle Munshower) and a crisis counselor (Iris Rose Page). Wacky things continue to happen (including a pretty brilliant power point presentation), but it's funny (and scary) because it's true. The story unfolds in one long scene that gets more and more desperate and almost a little sad as as these people's deluded dreams are shattered. A Cult Classic is a very Sheepy, very Fringey absurd comedy.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"George" by Sheep Theater at Phoenix Theater

Celebrate Independence Day with Sheep Theater, who is bringing back their delightfully wacky original comedy George for the July 4th weekend. This show was my first introduction to Sheep four years ago, with their motto of "Original plays. Deranged sincerity," and I've enjoyed many moments of deranged sincerity since. At the time I called George "funny, clever, and irreverent, with jokes about the many things America is best at (giving speeches, celebrating) and how it's OK to lie if it's for the good of the country." Revisiting it, it gave me all of the patriotic feels, watching a bunch of goofballs make fun of our founding fathers (and mothers!) in the most lovingly irreverent way, celebrating all of the freedoms we hold dear, and remembering the ideals this country was founded on (which is easy to forget these days). As my great-grandmother, daughter of Polish immigrants, used to say - hooray for the 4th of July!

"The Last Days of Commodus" by Four Humors Theatre at Strike Theater

Four Humors Theatre brings their thoughtfully ridiculous interpretation of history and/or literature to the Roman Emperor Commodus, a by all accounts horrible ruler who brought an end to the era known as "Pax Romana" - no more peace and stability for Rome under this egotistical tyrant. Playwright and company member Matt Spring sets the story as a play-within-a-play, which allows for commentary and exposition around the story that's being told, breaking down all the complicated history into a palatable 90-minute story. It's the type of zany fun I've come to expect from Four Humors, perhaps with a bit of social and political commentary if you look past the silliness. The Last Days of Commodus continues through next weekend only at Strike Theatre in Northeast Minneapolis.

"The Tempest" by Theatre Coup d'Etat at SpringHouse Ministry Center

Wikipedia tells me that The Tempest is "now considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest works," but I'd never seen it (everything I know about theater I learned from watching #TCTheater). Until this week. Theatre Coup d'Etat brings us a stripped down, one act, in-the-round, intimate production in the non-traditional theater space that is SpringHouse Ministry Center, where they've often performed. I found that I like the play, that ends neither with everyone dead nor everyone married, like most Shakespeare plays seem to (although one couple is betrothed). Furthermore, the moral of the story seems to be forgiveness and peace, which is quite a refreshing story to experience these days. In the hands of this wonderful cast 13-person cast, this clear adaptation with great use of space, physicality, and music is the perfect introduction to The Tempest.

"The Minotaur Or: Amelia Earhart is Alive and Traveling Through the Underworld" by Sheep Theater at In the Heart of the Beast Theatre

The history and legend of Amelia Earhart and Greek mythology seems like an odd mix. In other words, perfect for Sheep Theater, a company that promises "original plays with an emphasis on classically epic stories that highlight the deranged confidence of humanity with sincerity and honesty." Like much of their work, The Minotaur Or: Amelia Earhart is Alive and Traveling Through the Underworld is a fun mish-mash of history, legend, and myth with an awkwardly long title. With a lot of ingenuity, heart, and silliness, the troupe proposes one possible fate for the long missing pioneering aviator, and makes the Underworld look like a pretty fun place to hang out.

"Christmas Storiessz V: Silent Night" by Sheep Theater at the Southern Theater

There's no better way to spend Christmas Eve Eve Eve than at an irreverent, ridiculous, super fun show by Sheep Theater. This is their fifth year presenting a series of original plays called Christmas Storiessz, about a detective in pursuit of an evil Santa. Even though I'm a fan of Sheep Theater, I've never seen Christmas Storiessz before, but no worries, there's enough exposition to catch us up to the present. But the plot isn't really what matters with this show. It's more of an excuse for Sheep to do their thing, with a little bit of holiday flair.