Sub-Total
2025 Audience Reviews
Member Reviews
The following reviews were submitted by Fringe Member: Daniel Pinkerton
Company: Jennifer Vosters
Show: Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play)
Venue: Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre
Magnificent and moving
This show features a beautifully written script about the sibling composers Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, with one woman playing both characters. It is a tour de force, but not in a flashy way — simple, subtle choices make us aware which Mendelssohn she is playing at any moment. It’s a meditation on creativity, gender, and sibling rivalry that is constantly engrossing and ultimately moving.
Company: Nichole Carey & Company
Show: Withering Lows: A Love Story Better Off Dead
Venue: Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre
Much more than a sendup
Yes, much of this show is very funny, and it is a send-up of Gothic/Romantic tropes. But it's also a serious critique of them wrapped in a highly entertaining show, and has more depth than its blurb would have you believe. Even after death, the glamorous Heathcliff and Cathy are a pair of very sick puppies, in a humorous but highly charismatic way. And that so-called "unnecessary song & dance number"? It's not only necessary, it's the highlight of the show. Note: I've never read Withering Heights, either, but luckily, there's a quick 1-minute plot summary during the show. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Company: Richie Whitehead
Show: The Wickie
Venue: Barbara Barker Center for Dance
Less is a LOT more!
As others have noted, the plot of this show is very simple. But physical comedy flourishes when it is given room to breathe. And Richie is brilliant: physically expressive, and aware of his effect on the audience in a good way -- he played us like a violin. The audience (myself included) laughed a lot, and though there was some mild audience participation, it was only for the front row (so now you know where to sit or not sit!). This is brilliant in its precise, controlled goofiness. Did I say you'll laugh a lot? SEE IT.
Company: Mermaid Productions
Show: The Abortion Chronicles
Venue: Rarig Kilburn Theatre
Still timely after all these years
The real stories of women who had abortions and worked at clinics (and men who were in relationships with the protagonists) have been shaped into compelling stories that are masterfully enacted. Director Scott Gilbert has kept the stories flowing, and all of the performers accomplish their goal: to let you know how it *feels* to navigate the emotional, political, and social minefields that surrounds this decision. It's not a comedy (though it does have a little comic relief in it), but it is entertaining--it grabs you and never lets you go.
Company: Snikt! Bamf! Thwip!
Show: Invasive Species or: In Space No-One Can Hear Your Steam
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre
A Steampunk hoot!
Great comic writing that sends up the ALIEN series and the whole Steampunk movement. Everyone's comic timing is great, and I laughed a lot. You will, too! Costumes and props and special effects appropriately Fringey -- some are totally cool, and some so deliberately cheesy, you'll laugh out loud. I had a great time. Well worth seeing!
Company: Scarlett d. Jones
Show: The Year of Sluttery
Venue: Open Eye Theatre
Truth, raunch, and laughs
Scarlett, who hails from Missouri, leads us through the minefield of over-40 dating with a clear eye and a refreshing, dryly comic voice. She told us at the start that all the stories were true, yet her narrative skill and droll delivery turned them into highly entertaining tales. I laughed a lot at this show, but the truths Scarlett told also elicited murmurs of agreement and occasional appreciative gasps from the audience, me included. This is well worth your while, but it is definitely NC-17 rated, which a show about this subject ought to be.
Company: MDV Productions
Show: Final Dress
Venue: Open Eye Theatre
Haven't laughed this hard in a LONG time
Improv done by skilled and experienced performers may just be the funniest form of theatre (and right now, do we ever need laughs). This completely improvised final dress rehearsal of a fictitious play features Dillon and Dallavalle as the actors, and a different Twin Cities director/improv artist for every show. Friday's was Shannan Custer, and these three reached heights of inspired lunacy. You should consider seeing all five (although if you do that, you will have laughed so hard and so often that you may need medical attention).