Fringe Binge

Fringe Binge is Morgan Halaska's Daily Planet blog about the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "The Gay Banditos" at the U of M Rarig Center Thurst

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

One of the things that makes The Gay Banditos so great is that even though it's categorized as a drama (as it should be), what we're laughing at—and being able to laugh at—is the appauling ignorance of people when it comes to homosexuality. The Gay Banditos (told as a mockumentary) is based on the true events of a Pittsboro, NC family who recounts the trauma of being invaded by the gay gang known as The Gay Banditos. The interviews and journal entries retold on stage are real and honest, but in the context of this play the thoughts and concerns expressed by the ones assaulted are outrageously funny because they are so outrageously close minded.

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Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "Nightmare Without Pants" at the U of M Rarig Center Thurst

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

All day I was waffling between seeing Class of 98 or Happy Hour in the 5:30 slot. Finally, I decided to see neither and go with Joking Envelope's Nightmare Without Pants (after realizing I chose one Scrimshaw over another—Joseph Scrimshaw wrote/acted Nightmare Without Pants while his wife Sarah Stevenson Scrimshaw created the boozy dance number Happy Hour). That's the aspect of the Fringe that causes me anxiety: having to make decisions like this (I'm so afraid of making a regrettable one). 

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Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "Rip" at Minneapolis Theatre Garage

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

I've seen some pretty good stuff so far during the first half of the Fringe. But Rip is one of those gems that makes me so dang excited about the 11-day festival (which at times has given me a little bit of stress ... there's just so much to see and fit in!) The acting is solid. The storytelling is unique. The soundtrack is amazing. A mix of rock 'n roll and blue grass? Yes, please. I recognized band and cast member David Darrow from Theater Latte Da's Spring Awakening, who impressed me then too. 

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Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "Ivory Tower Burning" at Bryant-Lake Bowl

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

Jay Gabler's Ivory Tower Burning revolves around one imagined conversation between sociologists C. Wright Mills (played by Joe Gabler, who looked sharp in his suit and bow tie from Blacklist Vintage) and Talcott Parsons (Jay Gabler). Taking place in Parson's Harvard office in 1960 (during the Cold War), the two debate fiercely, trying to get the other to see that, well, they're right and the other is wrong.

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Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "A Comedy of Edits" at the U of M Rarig Arena

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

Allegra Lingo gives fair warning in the program of A Comedy of Edits that her show is about writing, which isn't everyone's "bag of beans." Having graduated with a Bachelor's degree in writing-intensive English, I was looking forward to the show (I love reading about writing!). But while it's clear from the script that Lingo is a damn good and educated writer, the show never grabbed or inspired me like I was hoping it would. The content is extremely dense—quickly jumping from a Virginia Woolf quote to a James Joyce reference. In my post-work sleepy state of mind, I wasn't exactly in tip-top state to absorb the content either. And writing this review-blurb just hours after seeing the show, I can't even remember a quote or produce a concise thought of the show; A Comedy of Edits just didn't take with me.

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Fringe envy

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

This is my second year blogging for the Fringe Festival (last year it was for the about-to-be-defunct METRO magazine). I remember feeling anxious about what to see and how to fit it in with my schedule last year. Even though I saw a good chunk of shows last year, I missed a lot. Even if I was able to see a show in every single time slot (55 shows), it's just one slice of the fat Fringe pie (165 shows). 

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Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "The Habits of Seven Highly Offensive People" at HUGE

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

When I was making my tentative schedule of shows for this year's Fringe, I came across The Habits of Seven Highly Offensive People. The blurb reads: Examine the foibles and hypocrisies of the human condition. This edgy, satirical look at American life goes after American stereotypes with a vengeance. Yup, sounded like something that should be on my must-see list.

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Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "Candide" at the U of M Rarig Center Thrust

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

Overhead after the show: "Now I don't have to read the book. Good."

Candide, Four Humors Fringe show this year, is a satire of the 1759 French satire by Voltaire. And while I don't think it's absolutely necessary to have read the novella beforehand (I didn't), I have to disagree with the woman who said this. Not having read the book creates a slight disadvantage, as you're not quite as privy to all the jokes.

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Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: "Waste Not" at the Rarig Arena

By Morgan Halaska, Fringe Binge

Show one of the Fringe 2012 was a decision made based on logistics. I work close to the West Bank and had a softball game on the fields there at 9 p.m. With limited resources (my bike is temporarily out of commission), so were my options. And, going with the theme of the show I chose (Waste Not), I didn't have a minute of time to waste. Written by Sarah Steadland, Waste Not revolves around a dumpster-diving idealist who doesn't believe in, well, wasteful consumerism (but doesn't mind mooching off his roommate for room and board ... and food). The story idea isn't entirely original; I've seen "True Life: I'm Living off the Grid," read The Last American Man, and saw and read Into the Wild. The show essentially highlighted what I already knew: everything in moderation.

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Fringe Binge