Shattering the doldrums of late summer theater, the Minnesota Fringe Festival has arrived, once again providing an astonishing assortment of performance options. Hosted by 18 stages throughout the Twin Cities, the 2011 Fringe offers 168 different productions, allowing for a rare opportunity to sample from an eclectic array of disciplines and styles, both nationally known and locally grown.
Throughout the eleven day festival, August 4th – 14th, seasoned pros will exchange stages with aspiring amateurs, art forms will merge in weird and wonderful ways, and Shakespeare will be reimagined through endlessly bizarre mutations. A lottery system continues to be used to select participating shows, ensuring an uncompromisingly varied assortment of productions, including those where ambition and eagerness exceed skill or talent. (And woe to those unfortunate souls whose work does fall short of Fringe expectations, as word-of-mouth is well renowned for making or breaking a production.)
Taking chances, of course, is part of what makes the Minnesota Fringe so much fun. Here’s what I encountered on my first foray into the 2011 Fringe…
Brain Fighters – presented by Joking Envelope
If there’s one Fringe show that comes burdened with great expectations, it’s Brain Fighters. Not only is the work produced by Joking Envelope (one of the most consistently incisive comedy purveyors in the Twin Cities), it’s also written by Joseph Scrimshaw (the inspired humorist behind the company), directed by David Mann (one of the most compelling directors/actors/playwrights in local theater) and stars – along with Scrimshaw – acting talents Mo Perry and Randy Reyes. Thankfully Brain Fighters exceeds even its loftiest promise, exhibiting family friendly entertainment that is sure to provoke giggles from the underage set and helpless laughter from the grown-ups. Depicting self-actualization of the most implausible kind, Brain Fighters involves a hapless clerk at a photocopy store (Srimshaw) who discovers an ability to transform into a dinosaur…and anything else he can imagine. Dubbing his newfound powers “Brain Magic,” this Tool (his name, mind you) sets out to rid the world of all cruel people by transporting them to Jerk Island. Along the way Tool is challenged by Baggage (Perry) and befriended by Cupcake (Reyes), a young man fumbling through his own heroic quest.
Brain Fighters features all the qualities fans of Joking Envelope have come to expect, including eccentric but sympathetic characters, sharp verbal wordplay, and patently ridiculous predicaments. Scrimshaw, Perry, and Reyes demonstrate an immediate chemistry and impeccable timing, bringing their characters to life with a vibrancy that swiftly charmed the all-ages crowd. (At least one young child was rolling in the aisles – literally.) Perry, one of the finest dramatic performers around, continues to hone her comic chops, while Reyes retains his nimble levity and fleet-footed animation. Scrimshaw, for his part, remains reliably charismatic, delivering quips like a natural born joker. Brain Fighters could perhaps be criticized for a dramatic reconciliation that feels a bit underdeveloped, but the work’s comic momentum renders the issue more academic than actual. Besides which, such quibbles would surely only earn the complainer a trip to Jerk Island.
Comedy = Tragedy + Someone Else – presented by Mike Fotis and The Danger Committee
Someone should really get Mike Fotis his own sitcom. A ubiquitous presence in the Twin Cities comedy scene (including time spent as a member of Brave New Workshop and Rockstar Storytellers), Fotis has refined an amiable everyman persona capable of eliciting laughs from the simplest story of youthful humiliation. Storytelling will only get you so far at the Fringe, however, and perhaps in acknowledgement of this fact Fotis has teamed with The Danger Committee, the comedy/juggling/knife throwing trio of Jason LeMay, Mick Lunzer, and Caleb McEwen (artistic director of the Brave New Workshop). The result is a singularly unique production in which extremely sharp repartee duels with extremely sharp flying objects.
Humbly recasting himself as a novice storyteller too insecure to perform with his manuscript, Fotis spends the opening moments in an ironic flail, recounting childhood trauma at a local swimming pool with such memorably detailed impressions as “diving boards as puberty machines.” Such a faux nervousness, however, soon earns the annoyance of The Danger Committee who insists that a performance “is not art if you can do it accidentally in a bar.” Offering to assist Fotis with his performance skills, The Danger Committee puts forth an exhibition of juggling virtuosity that elicits genuine thrills. Postulating that the greatest comedy relies upon pain and suffering, the combined talents of Mike Fotis and The Danger Committee offer no shortage of uproarious examples in this refreshingly odd, unquestionably entertaining combination.
Robot Lincoln: The Revengeance (The Musical) - OT Pro-Ductions
Picture, if you will, two rival gangs of ex-presidents and other assorted figures from U.S. history, re-imagined as steampunk styled cyborgs, squaring off in a rumble to decide the fate of the world…but first they break into song. If such a scenario makes you chuckle, you’re just the audience for Robot Lincoln: The Revengeance (The Musical) from the upstarts in Mankato’s OT Pro-Ductions. Helping to sway audiences is a winking sense of humor that rolls with the ridiculous premise and pokes fun at its own grandiose silliness. On the other hand, the relentlessly wacky script provides little of deeper substance, resulting in a fun diversion that is likely to be soon forgotten.
The curious narrative follows the adventures of Abraham Lincoln who has been resurrected as a battle ready robot to thwart the nefarious schemes of John Wilkes Booth. Choosing sides are such historically skewed portrayals as a John F. Kennedy who defeats his enemies with deadly good looks and a Thomas Jefferson stylized as a shamelessly stereotypical pimp. Unabashedly over-the-top, Robot Lincoln boasts of raucous absurdity but frequently falters in the execution. At issue is a scattershot script from Dustin Jackson and Travis Berg that indiscriminately fires off joke after joke without editorial constraint. The amateur cast gives their best, but even the most charismatic efforts cannot keep certain lines from landing with a thud. Still, Robot Lincoln’s most memorable moments (including an intimate ballad between Lincoln and Booth) offer justification enough to eagerly anticipate the lunacies yet to come.
The Smothers Brothers Grimm – presented by Comedy Suitcase
Classic comedy duo Laurel and Hardy are assigned decidedly unlikely roles in The Smother Brothers Grimm, the latest piece of madcap clowning from Comedy Suitcase. Recast as starkly non-traditional versions of Hansel and Gretel, the pair represents just two of the iconic comedy figures imaginatively transformed into storybook oddities. Comedy Suitcase founders, Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen, collaborated on each twisted tale with co-stars Shanan Custer and Eric Webster. Such ensemble authorship pays off through well-timed punchlines, eye-rolling zingers, and choreographed bit of slapsticks. Aided by an assured lead performance from young Andrew Moy and live music from Scott Keever, the Jim Robinson directed piece zips by on propulsive laughter.
Perhaps even more impressive than the cleverly conceived humor is the work’s unsuspected emotional depth. Rather than a simple mash-up of vintage comedy styles and familiar fairytales, the work places both elements within the unifying narrative context of a boy paying tribute to a recently deceased grandfather. Subtly built and markedly free of schmaltz, the production deftly balances irreverently layered humor with a genuine affection for comedy as a coping mechanism. Such skillfully evoked emotional resonance elevates The Smothers Brother Grimm into a triumph of heartfelt humor.
William Shakespeare’s Rape of Lucrece – presented by the American Shakespeare Repertory
Fringe audiences seeking comedy have no shortage of productions aiming to provoke their laughter. More dramatic fare, unfortunately, sometimes gets overlooked. Leave it to the Bard then to restore some dramatic ballast to the proceedings. Shakespeare, of course, can match wits with anyone, but the emotional authority of his dramatic verse wields an unsurpassable emotional charge. Few of his works demonstrate this evocative power as bracingly as his epic poem, The Rape of Lucrece. Based on the legend of Lucretia, famed wife of a Roman soldier whose rape and suicide led to an uprising, Shakespeare’s verse carries a haunting in-the-moment verisimilitude that remains harrowing on page. Witnessing a reenactment proves even more gut-wrenching.
Rather than offering a dry recital of the text, the American Shakespeare Company’s Justin Alexander and Cara Kluver fiercely possess their roles, voicing Shakespeare’s rhythmic text with a sublime knack not only for the cadence, but for the underlying emotions. A minimalist production, Alexander and Kluver are afforded no option but to depict the appalling events through performance alone. Such audacity could have proven dire in less skilled hands, but these two remarkable performers transform the stage into an inescapable crime scene, depicting the horrific deed and subsequent anguish with unflinching commitment. As Lucrece, Kluver is especially moving, projecting horror, rage, and shame with a heartrending realism. Courageously committed, this is acting at its most primal and profound, recalling ancient storytelling techniques that have lost none of their emotional potency.
Brain Fighters – presented by Joking Envelope
Comedy = Tragedy + Someone Else – presented by Mike Fotis and The Danger Committee
Robot Lincoln: The Revengeance (The Musical) - OT Pro-Ductions
The Smothers Brothers Grimm – presented by Comedy Suitcase
William Shakespeare’s Rape of Lucrece – presented by the American Shakespeare Repertory
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