The Minnesota Fringe Festival Kicks Off 2024 with Beautiful Grief, Sinister Sci-Fi, and Masterful Improv

Every August in Minneapolis, a wonderful thing happens as hundreds of artists and thousands of arts patrons converge to bring the Minnesota Fringe Festival to life. This performing arts festival, one of the largest in the upper Midwest, has been running for 30 years. Artists are selected at random from a lottery system, so you will always see an amazing selection of local, touring, first-time, and experienced creators.

I’ve had the privilege to be a participating artist in the Minnesota Fringe seven times, developing my skill and talent and making art I’m very proud of. The lottery selection is one of the big reasons it’s a special event—anyone can enter for the chance to have a show in the festival. Anyone with an idea could perform in amazing venues with passionate audiences and staffed theater professionals and volunteers provided by the Fringe Festival. It has been an incubator for many new artists to find their voices and tell their stories, and that makes it a magical place.

The lottery gods were not kind to me in 2024, but that won’t keep me from participating. I’ve been actively volunteering, and I hope you will enjoy my artist’s perspective on some of this year’s shows as an audience member.

Two quick disclaimers. First, being a volunteer and an active theater professional both in the Twin Cities and as a touring artist on the wider fringe festival circuit, there is a very good chance that any show I see will have one or several members in the cast and crew I’ve either worked with or have seen much of their work. As such, there is a good chance that I’ll some bias in my coverage of their shows. However, I assure you that bias is strictly my love of how incredibly talented these folks are.

Second, many reviewers and the Fringe website itself use a numbered system to rate shows. To me, every show is a five out of five because I feel a numerical rating for art, a subjective medium, is inherently wrong. That’s a whole other essay I may write someday. I just want you to judge each show by the words I write about them rather than some arbitrary number.

With that out of the way, on to the reviews! I managed to see nine shows in the first four days of the festival in between my volunteer shifts. I’ve listed them here in the order I viewed them.

Welcome to the Food Chain (courtesy Beta Fish Productions).

Welcome to the Food Chain (Beta Fish Productions)

A cabaret of apex predators and other wild animals all have one thing in common: an appetite for human flesh. Writer/performer Rob Ward assaults you with a high-energy, in-your-face presentation in which he literally throws himself into the story. This show delights with its pastiche of physical comedy, dance, and song parodies about the animals who have put man on the menu. Welcome to the Food Chain is a perfect example of a seasoned performer taking a bite out of material and making it a scrumptious feast.

A Horse Walks out onto the Stage and Dies (Theatre on the Rocks)

An incredibly polished show for a first-time producer, this is a sometimes-wacky, sometimes-morose dark comedy about, well, a horse that walks out onto the stage and dies. The concept is very much at home in the almost-anything-goes environment of the Fringe, and it works. The show benefits from a smart script and a snappy and sincere performance from Sam Sweere as the titular horse. The best part is knowing that the crew will likely bring more awesome to future Minnesota Fringe stages, and that future looks bright.

A Number (WAS Productions)

Minnesota Fringe is no stranger to both contemporary and traditional theater, and this show—a very solid presentation of the 2002 script by prolific and brilliant British playwright Caryl Churchill—fills the bill. In a tight and compelling story with hints of sci-fi and a dash of the sinister, the stage is commanded by a pair of skilled actors who bring the show to life simply and elegantly.

Last Pitch Effort (Sarah McCabe)

A cute little musical that feels like it was custom-made by church moms for their fellow church friends. Fun songs and over a dozen costume changes and transitions tell the story of four middle-aged women (Kris Causton, Heidi Housh, Sarah McCabe, and Heidi Tungseth) looking to relive the glory of 30 years past. This show has jokes that will absolutely kill over a hotdish in any Lutheran congregation.

Collidescope (the Improv Movement Project)

Collidescope deftly demonstrates that improv in the hands of skilled performers with a strong concept can bring an audience something different and very beautiful. A big shout-out to this group for having a cast with a fantastic diversity of body types onstage, which unlocks a bit of magic by showcasing how utterly compelling the movement of the human body in all its shapes and sizes can be. This is probably the most experimental show of the festival I’ve seen so far, and I loved it.

Juliet & Juliet: Improvised Shakespeare (Juliet & Juliet)

Where Collidescope is an improv show with zero words, Juliet & Juliet is one with all the words—but it just as perfectly showcases how truly diverse and versatile improv can be. After a few brief prompts and name suggestions, improvisers Meghan Wolff and Sami Haeli command Shakespeare-style dialogue with rapier wit and amazing comedic timing. You’ll get a dose of the wordplay and euphemisms you love in Shakespeare in a feminist and endearingly goofy way.

Juliet & Juliet: Improvised Shakespeare.

The Brothers Dangus Vol. 3: Wealth and Hellness (the Brothers Dangus)

This show is a theatrical version of a can of sardines. It’s likely not for most people, but those of us who like it, we really like it. I wouldn’t recommend this avant garde parade of fart jokes, poop, poop jokes, masturbating dance numbers, and a perpetually flatulent Rutherford B. Hayes to you unless I knew you well enough to be sure you were a total degenerate like me, but I’ve watched and loved all three volumes of this series.

The Life Robotic (Playabunga Productions)

I did not intend for my opening weekend to be so packed with improv, but fortunately for me, the festival is full of both high-quality and unique improv shows. The Life Robotic features one improviser as a robot who can only respond to their castmates via text messages sent to them live in the midst of the show. The rest of the cast flexes a story around the random lines of robo-dialogue. The end result is a darn good time of chaotic laughs from a very talented cast.

The Wind Phone (Broken Wing Productions)

This is an independently produced Fringe show and, as such, can do things like use a unique location—in this case, the Ribs of Humanity outdoor garden/amphitheater just outside of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. The creative team makes incredible use of this beautiful outdoor space to stage a touching and carefully crafted show about grief in which a series of interweaving characters each speak to someone they’ve lost though an unconnected phone in the woods. At least one of these stories will be sure to gut you while also helping you connect with some hope and empathy. This is my favorite show of the Fringe so far, but learn from my experience and be sure to pack some tissues.

The Wind Phone (art by Sarah Riley Portraits & Art).

If none of the shows above seem right for you, here are five more I think will be must-sees:

• The Light Bringer: I saw this show in 2023 while touring in Elgin, Illinois. It’s masterful storytelling from a compelling artist—a fantastic opportunity to catch a touring artist at the top of their game.
• Minnesota Tonight: A late-night talk show brought to you Minnesota style, with a carousel of amazing artists and performers from our state.
• Blackout Improv Does Something!!!: My favorite ongoing improv show in the Twin Cities, Blackout is an institution and always delivers.
• Daddy Issues: Allison Vincent is one of the most talented and versatile actors in the Twin Cities, and I’m a sucker for a great solo show.
• Heart Ripped out Twice and So Can You!: I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this show from other touring artists around the country.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival continues on the West Bank, Uptown, and satellite locations in Minneapolis through August 11, 2024. Theatergoers will need a $5 Fringe Button to attend the festival and then individual seat tokens to attend individual shows. Find more information and purchase tickets at MinnesotaFringe.org.