Sub-Total
2025 Audience Reviews
Member Reviews
The following reviews were submitted by Fringe Member: Timothy Kelly
Company: an alleged Theatre Company
Show: The Temporary Tattoo Trio
Venue: Rarig Kilburn Theatre
I learned so much about the Dells.
This is arguably my favorite alleged offering to date. It is deeply original, perfectly executed, and shockingly informative. Come for the ink, stay for the inevitable crumbling of friendships founded on codependency and tainted by distrust. And tattoo trivia! :D
Company: Jackdonkey Productions
Show: 503
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre
Undeniably impressive
This is an absolute tour de force for its performers — both extremely ambitious and cleanly conveyed. A sizable (and likely unfamiliar) narrative told masterfully and boldly. I spent every moment either having a wonderful time or feeling precisely as implicated and uncomfortable as I was intended to. Genuinely excellently executed.
Company: SUPERMOON
Show: All Your Shimmering Gold
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre
A nuclear warhead of a show
There are moments in this piece that are not going to let me sleep for at least the next year. It is perplexing, hilarious, informative, disturbing, distressing, disgusting, beautiful, timely, inventive, and entirely original. A deliciously uncomfortable and unnervingly gorgeous experience throughout.
Company: Theatre on the Rocks
Show: A Good Cancer to Have
Venue: Mixed Blood
Human from start to finish
Sam Sweere fearlessly invites the audience to join him on his deeply personal, intensely complex, and occasionally absurd journey through cancer. It is not sensationalized; it is not downplayed; it is not fictionalized; it is not sterilized. It simply is, in all of its grossness and hilarity and fear and absurdity and (somehow) beauty. This is a bold, important, and special piece that will make you laugh about 300% more than you expect to.
Company: The Winding Sheet Outfit
Show: The Spirit Moves You To Color The Unseen
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre
Utterly beautiful
It is an unparalleled pleasure to be able to rest in the care of a company of such talented storytellers. From house open until the moment I left the theater doors, I felt wrapped in a multi-sensory hug. The Spirit moves through every performer in this piece — and as with Hilma, the performers do not waste their energy worrying whether the audience is tracking along, because they know that the work will ultimately speak for itself. An absolutely awe-inspiring piece of art.
Company: Michael Rogers
Show: That Which Is Green
Venue: The Southern Theatre
I cried about a tree. Multiple times.
If you’ve been around the Minnesota Fringe for more than a second, you know Michael Rogers is a sensational storyteller and vibrant performer. So you likely won’t be surprised to hear that this piece has heart to spare, lovely moments of levity, and layers of beautiful meaning branching throughout the piece. Both performers understood the assignment 100% — their real-life friendship was beautifully palpable — and welcomed the audience into what I *have* to assume is a deeply personal story (with, of course, just a dash of fantasy). This is not a piece to be missed.
Company: Steven Nicholas
Show: Mind Reader
Venue: Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre
Utterly and Unapologetically Entertaining
Steven is a first-rate storyteller and, of course, mind reader. He establishes trust with his audience (even those who seem somewhat reluctant) and creates a safe (if mind-boggling) environment for the full 60 minutes. I haven’t the slightest INKLING how he does a single bit of his show, and I am content to go to bed tonight feeling like my reality might have just been a little bit broken. An unbelievably good time.
Company: Raffish Ripoff Productions
Show: Trust ̶E̶x̶e̶r̶c̶i̶s̶e̶s̶ Exorcises
Venue: Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre
Inventive, Poignant, Real Storytelling
Phil Gonzales became one of my favorite storytellers two years ago with Lost in Bear Country (which led me to his spectacularly entertaining and shockingly enlightening podcast), so I had high expectations for this piece. These expectations were thoroughly smashed. There is unmatched heart in this truly troubling (and yet occasionally deeply hilarious) tale of abuse of power and vulnerable teenagers searching for belonging. It’s incredible what depths can be plumbed when the capable performer establishes such trust with their audience (a two-way street). I laughed, I cried, I found myself saying “uuuuuh Phil, we played a DIFFERENT version of Human Knot”. Stellar, truly.
Company: Jennifer Vosters
Show: Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play)
Venue: Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre
Sensational
This piece is a masterclass in storytelling. Exceptionally researched but never bogged down by its scholarship, the narrative is gripping and always compelling. Stupendously performed with tight physical shifts, Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn are brought to you vividly, sympathetically, and beautifully by a genuinely marvelous performer. An absolute (and I don’t use this lightly) must-see of this year’s festival.