Too much Fringe, not enough monies: 4 suggestions to Fringe on a tight budget
Too much Fringe, not enough monies: 4 suggestions to Fringe on a tight budget
by Kristoffer Tigue
The 2012 Minnesota Fringe Festival kicked off this weekend, and with 165 performances being shown in 15 separate venues, it’s impossible to catch every one. Even if you wanted to, at $12 a pop, your wallet will empty pretty quickly.
There are discounted passes offered. For instance, for $100 you can get a 10 show pass. For $50, a five show. The best deal is for students, who with student I.D. can get a five show pass for only $30. But if you’re not a student, let’s be honest, you can probably see two, three shows tops. Well, here are some suggestions for you performing arts lovers surviving on that cocktail waitress salary.
This year won’t have a shortage in the comedy department, and why should it? Laughing is one of the main reasons to attend Fringe, but the real question is which one do you choose? How about an abridged version of the complete works of William Shatner?
The Complete Work of William Shatner (abridged), performed by Snikt! Bamf! Thwip! and written by Bill Stiteler and Tim Wick, is the type of title you’d typically see applied to playwright William Shakespeare, and they’re plenty aware of that. A Shakespearean understudy named William Shatner, is confronted by the famous Star Trek character, Captain Kirk (real life Shatner’s most famous, and let’s be honest, only role). Full of pop-culture references and witty satire, this homage to Shatner is the perfect play for any Trekky, and really, just anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s. It’s probably not the final frontier of comedy but you’ll at least get to see grown men running around pretending to shoot each other with phasers.
They have a performance tonight at 5:30pm, and their next performance is Tuesday 8/7 at 7:00pm, all at the U of M Rarig Center Thrust stage. See the whole schedule at the MN Fringe Festival website, link provided above.
If Star Trek references remind you too much of a time you couldn’t get laid, you might consider checking out a burlesque show for some hilarious T & A.
As the Stomach Turns: The Musical by local favorites Le Cirque Rouge Cabaret and Burlesque, and directed by Amy Buchanan, is an homage to The Carroll Burnett Show from the 70′s. The show skirts around elements of murder, deceit, long-lost relations, experimental surgeries, exorcisms, nosy neighbors and of course, a healthy dose of tatas. If you’ve seen Le Cirque Rouge perform at the 331, you know they put on a great show, and if you’re not a fan of the musical aspect, you can rest at ease knowing you saw some cute girls (and boys) naked.
Their next performance is on Wednesday 8/8 at 5:30pm at the U of M Rarig Center Proscenium stage. See the whole schedule at the MN Fringe Festival website, link provided above.
Perhaps you’d like to indulge your intellectual side. We’ve got you covered on that, too.
Jay Gabler has been a well-known local theater critic for years, working as the Arts Editor for the Twin Cities Daily Planet and also freelancing for Vita.mn, so it’s not too surprising that he’s finally writing plays as well. Ivory Tower Burning is Gabler’s debut production in Fringe, and he’s already getting some big press for it. The play is a sociological think-piece, which takes place in 1960′s Cold War America. The plot revolves around the meeting of two sociologists, Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills, famous for their clashing ideologies. It’s Capitalism vs. Socialism, an appropriate topic for our tumultuous political times. And just to add a bit more curiosity to the matter, not only is Gabler a first time playwright for the Fringe Festival, but he’s acting in it, too.
His play’s next show is on Monday 8/6 at 10:00pm at Bryant Lake Bowl. See the whole schedule at the MN Fringe Festival website, link provided above.
Still too broke? How about a free show?
Twilight of the Mississippi (trailer above) isn’t a live performance. In fact, it isn’t even part of the Fringe Festival. You might say it’s on the fringe of The Fringe. But nonetheless, this local documentary is exactly what Fringe is all about: the supporting of local actors, local production companies, and a medium to give a voice through which previously obscure talent can be heard. Best of all, the showing is free. The documentary is a collaboration between Unseen Ghost Brigade and Closing Eye Studios, which follows a troupe of actors (Unseen Ghost Brigade), as they ride down the mighty Mississippi River on a homemade raft, giving impromptu street performances in cities along the way. However, the focus of the movie isn’t the players, but the setting, as the troupe explores issues of traffic, pollution and the displacement of people as industry and overpopulation continue to dictate the direction of one of the greatest rivers in the world.
The next screening of the movie is on Thursday 8/9 at St. Anthony Maine Theatre at 7:00pm. FREE.
The Fringe Festival goes until August 12.
