“The Tucking of My Shrew” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Homohotdish’s The Tucking of My Shrew was a beautifully choreographed train wreck. I have to say, this was the first time that I’ve ever been tied up by a drag queen and asked to read lines. The cast did a really good job of making it seem like the events that were happening in the play were happening in real life. The penis suit was incredibly funny, but it seemed to be having a bit of a problem staying erect. The costumes worn by the drag queens themselves were glittery and bedazzled and completely perfect for their characters. Their makeup combined elements from Shakespearean makeup and traditional drag queen makeup. The show was brilliant and I loved it. Continue Reading

“Kitty Kitty Kitty” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Loudmouth Collective’s Kitty Kitty Kitty was an amusing story about a cat named Kitty falling in love with his clone, named Kitty Kitty, before being rudely separated. It’s a story of love and loss. Death and cloning. Of what it is to be lonely. It was a beautiful story, full of laughter and tears. Katie Willer, who played Morris/Mrs. Person, was very good. The way that she showed the differences between her two characters was brilliant, you could hardly even tell she was the same person. The set was very simple and it worked to tell the audience where the scene took place. The show was fantastic but it dealt with some very mature subject matters. These aren’t your normal cute little house cats. Continue Reading

“Twelfth Night” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Renegade Play-Reading Company’s What You Will is Twelfth Night from the perspectives of Sir Toby, Maria, Feste, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. RPRC took the scenes with those characters out of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and put together a coherent play. The idea of taking a well known Shakespearean play and dividing it in two so it fits in the Fringe Festivals tiny time slots is brilliant. The shows even make sense if you don’t see both of them, which is a feat unto itself. The actors were hysterical and they knew the language well, which is always good in a Shakespearean play. I especially enjoyed the performance of Sam Bardwell, who played Sir Andrew Aguecheek was very good at playing an idiot. The blue lights around the stage still make me feel like my eyes are being gorged out by the ghost of Christmas past, but otherwise this was a brilliant production. Continue Reading

“Hi! Hello! Namaste?” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Bollywood Dance Scene – Twin Cities’ Hi! Hello! Namaste? was a gaudy Bollywood romp with beautiful costumes and energetic dances. Instead of just having a show made up of only dancing, like most of the dance shows you see, they added a storyline. At times the plot was a bit hard to follow and the show understandably focused on the dance numbers. There were some strong actors in the cast. Jayanthi Kumar, who played Grandma / Daadi Ma, was very realistic in her acting. For a cast that didn’t have any professional actors, they did incredibly well. Many of the actors were amazing Bollywood dancers. After seeing this show, I have a strong urge to watch some Bollywood movies. This was a great show with gorgeous costumes and beautiful dances. Continue Reading

“Fig” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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I am a playwright. I write shows about the relationships between people, surprise twists and shows that get into peoples heads. Theatre Corrobora’s production Fig is the kind of show I dream of writing. Sweet, creepy, weird and psychological all at the same time. The interactions between the characters felt so real. All of the actors were perfectly cast. Aidan Gallivan, who played Fig, the imaginary girl, rounded out by doing creepy spider-like gestures with her hands. She was horrifyingly fascinating to watch. It was very interesting to watch the downward spiral that Leo was tumbling down. I loved this production and I hope you will too. Continue Reading

“Bottoms Up” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Young Artists Council of Youth Performance Company’s Bottoms Up was a fun pop culture filled parody of Titanic, and although I have never seen the movie, I still really enjoyed the show. The cast didn’t seem to take themselves seriously, which was part of the charm. The pop culture references were cleverly sprinkled throughout the show. I loved the many dance sequences that accompanied some of the longer songs. The cast knew what they were doing and they were all incredibly talented. At times, the constant barrage of references got a bit old, but those times were few and far between. This was an amazing and hilarious production with a cast that wasn’t afraid to make fun of themselves. Continue Reading

“Austen-tatious” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Mendota Theater Company’s Austen-tatious was an incredibly funny show where characters randomly burst into song all the time. The relationships were believable and Emma and George had great chemistry together. Camille Isadora Smith, who played Emma Woodhouse, had a lovely singing voice. Phillip Schramm, who played multiple characters, was wonderful at bringing each character to life. The show was very funny and although I’ve never read the book, I left with a very good idea of the plot. My only complaint is that the musical transitions in between scenes lasted a little too long. This is a very good show and definitely worth your time. Continue Reading

“Twelfth Night” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Rough Magic Performance Company’s production of Twelfth Night was an interesting version of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy about love, mistaken identity, and dressing like a man. It’s never easy to rewrite a classic Shakespeare play and still have it make sense. You have to figure out what scenes and subplots to cut so that the finished product won’t confound your audience. Rough Magic Performance Company managed to rewrite Twelfth Night in a way that made sense and still told the main story in an interesting way. The cast was composed of talented actors who seemed to understand the language, which is extremely important in a Shakespearean show. I enjoyed the use of the ukulele and the bead drum in between the scenes. The music tied the performance together. I also liked the actors use of the area behind the set to tell some of the subplots that would have otherwise been forgotten. The set went well with the costumes and matched the tone of the play. The one part of the set that I did not care for was the blue led lights that were strung along the edges of the stage. They were distracting and they drew my eyes away from the action. Other than that it was a very interesting and well performed production.  Continue Reading

“Comic-Con Clue” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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I Love You, Bickwitus Productions’ Comic-Con Clue was a goofy show with an interesting concept. There were many parts in the show where the dialogue was well thought out, but there were other times when the writing seemed to be a bit lacking. The acting was pretty good and the actors played believable Comic-Con goers. Overall, Comic-Con Clue was a fun and interesting show with lots of nerd jokes and murder. Continue Reading

“Pecan Brown and the Seven ….’s” at the 2014 Fringe Festival

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Under The Skin Theater Company’s Pecan Brown and the Seven ….’s was an interesting idea, but it was poorly executed. Two of the actors seemed very passionate about what they were saying, but the rest of the cast looked like they were about to fall asleep. The show could use a lot of work. It’s still got a ways to go till it’s not preachy anymore, but still sends a message. And I’m still confused as to why Thor was the narrator. Continue Reading