2026 Audience Reviews

Company: Lethan Candlish
Show: Who Am I, Again?
Venue: Mixed Blood

Piercing reality, sleepy delivery

Having now seen plenty of solo shows this fringe, I'm ready to name this the best among them. The story told is compelling at its heart and the performer's openness did a lot to prop the door for all attendees, inviting us into a raw and revealing space where we could huddle close and share in private storytelling both tragic and frequently humorous. I felt connected to his story, admiring his confidence and naturalism as a storyteller. This execution did temper the tone though, resulting in a tempo that resembles a plateau and can create some difficulty maintaining focus. I got lost a couple of times, but felt by the end that his story was still the most lasting I have heard from a solo act this year.

Company: CuerpoxCuerpo
Show: LATIN PAPI
Venue: Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre

This is why I come to fringe

Immeasurably deeper than what is advertised, worth every moment of full devoted attention. My hands went numb. I think I disassociated a bit. Says more with zero words than most theatre manages with thousands.

Company: Lady Z Productions
Show: Underserved: Recipes for Resilience
Venue: Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre

Warm + direct

The framing device could have used some more work, and there isn't a "payoff" per se, but that doesn't seem like the purpose of this show. As a solo act, the performer offers up some vulnerable and confronting material, spoken earnestly and without pretension. Not every show needs to be mind blowing, and by the end I was grateful to share in these snapshots of a person's life. Being human is difficult, which this managed to say without making me feel like garbage or lapsing into a desperate cheerleading routine. Simple, light, honest, direct.

Company: Melancholics Anonymous
Show: Watership Down
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre

Guess I'll be the first party pooper.

I'm sorry! There's nothing brave in saying unflattering things about a work of art, yet I can't be the only person feeling unmoved by this adaptation. The source material is vicious, bleak, poetic, demanding, buried under a pall of doom that veritably threatens the lives of every character from the starting gun. This show was fun, and directed tightly, and no doubt the great labor of many talented performers, but it was defanged to such an extent I had to wonder why they bothered pursuing this story in particular. The final product is crisp, clear, poppy, funny, functionally harmless, and plenty of other things you would never ever ever ever use to describe Watership Down. The audience laughed at many parts that should not have been funny! Maybe because brevity and humor tend to go hand in hand, since this company fit a staggering amount of the original story into their production, impressively I should say, but doing so led to more narration than acting, vacuuming up all the suspense from an epic yarn known for its suspense over much else. "Show don't tell" is blatantly disregarded, steamrolling the plot between bursts of beautiful and catchy music. And it is so beautiful! I found my gaze drifting to the musicians over and over through the production, they're very talented! The live scoring was by miles my favorite part of the show, aside from the first few minutes which promised a mythical dread at a height that unfortunately was never reached again. The sheer amount of effort here begs respect, it does, and I'm disappointed to say it didn't move me. I would love to see these artists create something with their claws out.

Company: John Ervin
Show: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre

Uncomfortable and UNIQUE

Before getting into the meat of it, there are a few things I think this play could have used more of: staging, blocking, rehearsal, a thesis, and confidence. The last of these, I have a hunch, fell victim to some early negative reception that compelled the performers to withdraw a touch into their shells. This is a shame, as more commitment to line delivery and its nastier bits would've helped this land as an unapologetically edgy production. And edgy it is. I am endeared to a relatively older cast that's going for the jugular this shamelessly, even if the fervor caused them to overlook that aforementioned thesis to their detriment. Just like a commitment to strong delivery could make this show pop a good deal more, the "why" is important for a lot of people, especially when a play's subject is this grim. BUT art is dynamic and shouldn't be abruptly punished for venturing into unfortunate territory. There is insensitive language used, but it's true to the characters. There is disregard for victims of heinous violence, but that disregard comes from proudly unapologetic serial killers. These things shocked me, but that seems to be the "point." So does this mean I think the play was good? No, not really. But it wasn't irredeemable either. In many ways, it was more memorable than plenty of the safer material I've watched this year. At a festival this diverse, experimental, homegrown, and unrestricted, watching controversial shows should be an inevitability of our curiosity. The smaller audience this night was disappointing, because it was clearly an avoidant response on part of the festival attendees. This show is crass and disgusting and could use some more pizazz, but it offers something unique. No other show at fringe feels like this one. My hands were cupped over my mouth for most of the time. Whatever the reason, that's special.

Company: Mermaid Productions
Show: The Importance of Living
Venue: Open Eye Theatre

Purposeful, focused, restrained

This is the type of fringe show I hope for, maybe even pray for, while weaving between the bulk of eager crowd pleasers. Art is boundless, and I only need to be reminded so many times that "fun is fun," "singing feels good," and with zero exceptions "we've got this." Well zero until now. The Importance of Living was not concerned about reminding me we've "got" anything because it was too busy being a quality play. It has two great performances by uppercase T Thespians, dialogue that burns slow even when firing nonstop, and a plot that doesn't spell everything out in the first five minutes. An actual pinch of subtlety! You have to pay attention if you want to get "the point"! These are appreciated, as is the fearless approach to being heady and philosophical and gradual and resistant to almost any "action" on stage. Far from the most exhilarating thing I've seen this year, and that's a compliment. If you are most attracted to fringe because you like theatre, plain and simple, this is bound to please you.

Company: The Other Productions
Show: Bangs!
Venue: Rarig Kilburn Theatre

Gorgeous final moments overshadow the rest

To write a play that unfolds during the massacre of a gay bar, one will inevitably be stretched to their limits by risk, daring, ferociousness, and heartache. That's probably why they decided NOT to, despite the show synopsis. And don't get me wrong, the banter and thematic exploration was highly appreciated, it's always a joy watching rapid-fire queer comedy, and the setting was perfectly suited for that. But the showstopper comes when the theme of the synopsis is finally touched, a deep red musical number that drags and warps and chills and sparkles and it's simply amazing. I craved more of that bravery, more of that artistry. It almost moved me to tears, and I forgot nearly every moment that came before it. The moments that came after were few. If ever there's a longer version of this show that explores more deeply the horror it addresses, I'll be there no question.

Company: Tiger Love Studios LLC
Show: The Choose Your Own Adventures of Turtle Boy
Venue: Mixed Blood

You cannot fathom the things I'd do for turtle boy

Company: Black and Foxy Co
Show: Ember
Venue: Rarig Kilburn Theatre

Personal cabaret

A collection of reflective, usually painful experiences regarding the stage and our dreams of connecting with it inside and out. The execution is bare, direct, sincere, immediate, private. Each story is shared by a single performer who commands the theater with song and/or mini memoir, letting you peak into their thoughts and lived experiences. This is a brave thing to witness live, in a space as close to the audience as the kilburn. The cast should be very proud of themselves.

Company: True Men Productions
Show: Castrati: A Tale of Two
Venue: Barbara Barker Center for Dance

Lowbrow Broadway (not derogatory)

This is the only fringe show that's made me audibly laugh so far. If the crass humor was reigned in just one millimeter or two, I could easily see it conquering the international circuit and that's not a joke. Needs more time cooking for a few aspects here and there, audible dialogue/lyrics and more dynamic blocking mostly, but it's something special no matter. All performers rocked, some of the word play destroyed me in the best way, most narrative beats came as a pleasant surprise, and the live musicians were just incredible. Way better writing and singing than I expected to get. Loved my time with this one.

Company: Narate Keys
Show: An Earth Goddess (Preah Mae Thorani)
Venue: The Southern Theater

It's actually pretty sweet

Ugly stuff first: the music is all canned, lots of the singing is also canned, half of the dialogue is inaudible, the dialogue itself is sometimes nonsense, and if you put a gun to my face I still wouldn't be able to tell you what this play is about. Now the good stuff: this is probably the most psychedelic play I'm going to see all fringe. It's impossible to tell if that's intended or not, my money's on not, but the intention doesn't matter. The saturated lights, absurd gags, weaving choreography, offensively long game of duck duck goose that interrupts the narrative out of nowhere, and the confusing state of the narrative itself are all perks. The performers are amazing in their commitment, they feel very sincere and believable, and they ground a world that would otherwise fly off the hinges. You can tell a director really sank their hooks into this one, gave it lots of CPR, despairing the whole time if I had to guess. The result is a play that radiates beautiful energy and beautiful colors and a beautiful sense of calm. You just have to treat it like someone has secretly drugged you, and let it wash over you, don't fight it, curl up into a ball and let your lizard brain ride the wave. That's what I did, and instead of getting a headache, I felt like I was levitating by the end of this show. Even when an ancient Cambodian elephant person in a saffron robe explicitly mentions Minnesota and bemoans the death of social media, or a very sudden evil rap song blasts through the middle of a villain's monologue and drowns out every imaginable sound with bass and incomprehensible lyrics that I'm pretty sure were about literally surfing. The child performers were all awesome.

Company: The World Crime League
Show: M
Venue: Barbara Barker Center for Dance

See the play maybe, see the movie for sure

First off, shadow work was exquisite. It stood out as a method of conveying the source material, with its visual power and atmosphere. The performers were also clearly devoted and VERY compelling on stage. Condensing/reducing this film to a short stage production is irresponsible in its weirdness, which I commend. What I'm not fond of is the way it was condensed, mostly through extremely modernized language and oversimplification. The themes of paranoia and the intimacy of violence were completely absent and there was never a point where I felt uncomfortable or unnerved. The production was a load of fun, but fun isn't the word I'd use to describe the legendary 1931 German crime drama. Most people might not care about this, but I'd expect that mostly comes from a lack of familiarity with the movie it's based on. Unlike the movie, this play is worth checking out if you're looking for a good time. Also unlike the movie, there's no way you'll be thinking about it weeks later.