Fringe 2010: Cheekiest Star Wars reference (so far)

Actual press release...

EWOCs DO IT IN 10 MINUTES OR LESS WITH THEIR UNIT

Minnesota's Collective Of Urban Playwrights Taking A Blender To Conventional American Theater With 9 Short Plays At The 2010 MN Fringe Festival

(Minneapolis, MN) What happens when you give nine EWOCs (Emerging Writers Of Color) and their Unit a theme, three weeks to write short plays, one day to find directors and cast the scripts, and thirty minutes to rehearse before the curtain opens? Madness.

Urban George Lucas muppets they are not, the EWOCs can be seen writing their butts off in an off-kilter improv theater that's setting new standards in MN. For the past eight months, The Unit collective of Emerging Writers of Color and their roster of some of the Twin Cities best actors and directors have staged over 72 short plays as part of a monthly series called Madness at the Minneapolis Playwrights Center.

From pop culture and sci-fi, to zombies and dramatic interludes informed by the great stage classics of the 20th century, the themes and scripts come from the minds of playwrights who were finalists for the Pulitzer, have nationally toured their work, and are winners of numerous competitions.

The same EWOCs will have five nights at the University of MN's Rarig Center to showcase nine of their best works as part of the 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Directors Ki Seung Rhee and Harry Waters Jr. will control the helm with two separate bills working with a cast of 12 who will be acting in scripts written by:

Indira Addington
Joe Louis Cedillo
Reginald Edmund
Jessica Huang
Eric 'Pogi' Sumangil
Saymoukda Voungsay
May Lee Yang
and 2010 Pullitzer Prize Finalist, Kristoffer Diaz.

Catch the EWOCs and their Unit during the MN Fringe Festival at the Rarig Center. Tickets are $12 in addition to a $4 MN Fringe Festival Button.
Aug. 6th 10pm
Aug. 8th 7pm
Aug. 11th 8:30pm
Aug. 12th 10pm
Aug. 13th 7pm

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Blogger note - While I don't really know the work of any of the writers (well, except Kristoffer Diaz, but after "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety" everyone knows Diaz). However, I've enjoyed Ki Seung Rhee's work as an actor in things as varied as Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Measure for Measure, and I just think Harry Waters Jr. is a really cool and talented human being, so if they're in the directors' chairs, I'm curious to give this show a look. I'd recommend it to you all as well.

Matthew A. Everett

Matthew A. Everett is a playwright and three-time recipient of support from the Minnesota State Arts Board.