Fringe Top 10—#10.5: Magicword Theater Company

by Matthew A. Everett • July 31, 2008 • “...and then, the porn music starts…”

“The Bronze Bitch Flies At Noon” and “Dog Tag”

Now what kind of crappy producer would I be if I didn’t also tell you that the show I’m helping mount is also a damn fine piece of theater?

Really crappy, that’s what.

Single White Fringe Geek (and Mom) is the blog of Matthew A. Everett, one of five bloggers covering the Minnesota Fringe Festival for the Daily Planet.

So I’m wedging in the list here between the first set of ten and the second.

Two short plays, looking at the often peculiar beginnings and endings (and rebirths?) of relationships.

But the guys in the cast do the best job of selling the show, so I’ll let you look at a little video clip from Dog Tag which they presented at the second edition of Fringe-For-All (part of he Fringe’s YouTube page of video previews)

“‘Six condoms?! You’re an optimist.’ – If a $100 bill can bring a nerd and a frat boy together, can it last longer than the sex?

If a dog can talk, can he reunite two estranged lovers?”

One of the actors in the cast is fond of referring to “Bronze Bitch“ as the scenario to a porn film (frat boy and nerd negotiate money in exchange for sex). And given that my last Fringe show had a horny gay pizza boy in it, and the script I’m currently rewriting has a couple of gay Marines in it, the assessment might hold more water than I care to admit.

No nudity warning. We only have to warn you if they take off their pants – not their shirts.

Arriving at the end of a rehearsal to drop off the newly printed show postcards a couple of weeks back, I was told, “Oh, you just missed sexy time.”

I really should have said, “Guys, whenever the three of you are in a room together, it’s always sexy time.”

Because it’s true.

Not only are these three guys – Sasha Andreev, Joe Bombard, and Buddy Haardt – all talented as hell, they’re extremely easy on the eyes. The fact that they’re so emotionally open as their characters in both plays is what makes the scripts come to life in a way that’s so funny, and sweet, and a little sad.

It’s great stuff.

And I say that not just because I helped write the things (because I frequently forget and feel more like a producer than a writer), not just because these guys are all doing wonderful work and deserve the biggest audience I can get them,

But because this is exactly the kind of theater I go to the Fringe to see.

The rest of the year, I’m hard-pressed to find new plays by local writers on many of the stages around town.

The rest of the year, I’m hard-pressed to find good stories reflecting the lives of gay men on many of the stages around town.

I write (and apparently now also produce) the kind of things I feel like we need to see more of.

The Fringe allows us to do these kinds of things.

That’s why, right now, at the start of an eleven day stretch of new exciting theater by the widest possible range of artists, at all levels of their careers and abilities, is the happiest time of year for me.

Whether I’ve got a show in the mix or not.

This year, I’m really proud to be part of the crowd on both sides of the footlights.

Come see me put my theater where my mouth is.

(Hmmm, that sounds like it should come with a warning. Sorry…)

Video clip here

More information on this and what’s next at www.matthewaeverett.com

Location, dates and show times, and ticket info are all available here.

Entering his sixth year of blogging about the Minnesota Fringe Festival (and bringing Mom along for the ride as a guest reviewer), Matthew A. Everett is also a local playwright and three-time recipient of grant support from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Information on Matthew and his plays can be found at matthewaeverett.com.