Curly Hair Boy

A well woven puppetry play!

Thank you for bringing South Asian/Nepali theater to MN Fringe. I LOVED the expressions and humor of all actors! Loved the story telling and physicality. It was also super refreshing to hear Nepali as we don't get to see other language plays at MN Fringe. The bits of translation to English here and there was so funny! And most importantly, even though it was a very small audience, I appreciated the way you brought us in on your journey. Bring your children, bring your friends, support diverse arts at the Fringe!

Incredible visual storytelling!

I loved the almost interactive nature of this play, with the audience on all sides of the stage. The visual storytelling was beautiful and very important given that some audience members did not speak Nepali. I speak Nepali and went with a friend who does not, we both loved it and got a lot out of it. The actors all did a phenomenal job, they all embodied their characters throughout the play. It was so fun to hear Nepali and I hope Minnesota Fringe continues to prioritize non-English language plays. I would recommend this show to anyone and everyone!

The Epitome of What Fringe is About

You do not need to understand a word of Nepali to fall in love with this show. The performers brought a beautiful, delightful fairytale to life through body language and joyous puppeteering. I couldn't stop smiling from lights down to lights up. This is exactly the type of show I want to be seeing at Fringe, and you should too! It's a universal story told in a way that you never get to see anywhere else in the Twin Cities.

Amazing job!

Great story telling!

Can't believe! you're missing this show, tsk tsk

The night before, I had seen "Manasu", a complex modern South Asian American story that deserved the full house in attendance for a 10pm show. I think Curly Hair Boy, whose folktale origins of Nepal are from the northmost parts of South Asia, deserves just as much attention as its other subcontinental colleagues. From start to finish, this folktale retelling by its cast of four is a garden for the senses: the rich colors across costuming and set design, the evocative movement art of the graceful and rhythmic cast, the chest-clutching and wonder-filling river of emotions that I felt with each new challenge that the titular curly haired boy encountered and overcame. By the end, you'll find yourself lightly tangled in colored strings among other holders of string, connecting us all in a fleeting yet magical tapestry that will leave you feeling more whole and more hopeful about your quiet yet inherently colorful connectedness to other human beings than you did walking in. Fun fact: Jenish, who plays the sibling to CHB, talked to my group after the show and shared how their group based in Boston had only started producing this show during this past Spring, carried by their will and passion to bring this folktale retelling to greater audiences. So, Please Please Please go and be part of their greater audiences and see them either the Fri 7pm or Sun 4pm show. Experience for yourself the enchanted old-world for new-eyes journey of “Curly Hair Boy”.

delightful puppetry, universal storytelling

I don't speak or understand a word of Nepali, but I didn't need to to get so much out of this show. The actors were all delightful in their physicality, and as a fellow puppeteer, I can wholeheartedly say they had top-tier puppetry. I absolutely loved the uniqueness and charm attached to literally every puppet, the musicality of the hedgehogs being a particular favorite. I also didn't know anything about the story of Hetchhakuppa prior to this show, but I found it a good entry point and was excited to look into it more on my own afterward.

RUN, don't walk to this show.

I saw the Minnesota Nepali Facebook page posting about this play. So, I felt extremely curious all summer. But this show went further than my expectations, even after seeing many other amazing shows. This story was done mostly in Nepali, with a few English words thrown in to provide context clues. Yet, the physicality, creative use of space, costumes, & props were done so well that I grasped the message well. Their use of puppetry was done in funny, thoughtful, intriguing way, and I was impressed by their choreography. Even each drop of a prop felt intentional and crucial to the plot. The story itself has great charm and the characters the protagonist helps with his supernatural (curly) hair end up providing critical help to resolving the conflict. The show encourages kindness to nature and courage. At the end of the show, the cast made a very unique, wholesome choice: they passed out yarn to all audience members, which really helped me feel connected to the cast and the characters they played, as well as other members of the audience. Which made me wonder how it would look if the theater space had more audience. There's only one way to find out: you gotta pack the house!!! Nepali culture(s) remain outside my realm of knowledge right now, even though Minnesota has many Nepali people. However, this performance increased my intense curiosity even more. I want to hear more Nepali folktales. I want to discover the intricacies of Nepali art forms. I especially want to learn more about Nepali traditional weaving, which gets shown in the story–and the yarn passed out to the audience really felt like an implied expression of love about their traditional weaving as well. This is a seriously underrated show. They deserve far more people watching them. They traveled all the way from Boston! Watch with curiosity and write reviews!