Minnesota Fringe Festival 2008

The lost village of the squirrel-people is thrown into chaos when a young squirrel refuses to choose a name! A live-action cartoon packed with chattering, scampering and existential identity crisis!

Karaoke Knights - A One Man Rock Opera

by Timothy Mooney Repertory Theatre

Venue: McMahon's Pub

Five guys in a bar compete for the big karaoke competition prize as well as the hearts and minds of the audience (which occasionally participates).

Leaving Normal

by Melissa McNamara

A solo show that interweaves three characters: Eileen, a runaway destined to find a place she fits in. Shirley, a waitress whose reality is rooted in pain. And Bill, a bus driver constantly steering towards hop.

Medusa's Riddle - Fresh off the Boat

by Asian media Access

Venue: Ritz Theater Proscenium

AMA once again presents the popular 2007 Fringe show, "Medusa's Riddle." Laughter, mysteries, street anger, the bamboo ceiling, where they have in common, that's the riddle for you to solve.

My Hovercraft is Full of Eels!

by Henry Epp

Venue: Intermedia Arts

Journey into the absurd and outrageous world of Monty Python filled with outlandish characters, raucous energy, catchy musical numbers and original animations. It will leave you in hysterics!

Sex, Lies and Abandonment: The Nature of Adoption

by Jane Kathryn Kolles

A birth mother surrenders her baby. An adoptive mother receives. After years of silence, they each have something urgent to say. Step inside the adoption journey and watch these women kick and scream through loss.

small aïda

by Penelope Freeh

Venue: Theatre de la Jeune Lune

A dancing two-person re-telling of opera's famous story. From Verdi to Johnny Cash, high-octane movement is born from a low rumble. Tumble into sound, fury, graceful disquiet and limbic pomp.

Spring Awakening

by Blue Water Theatre Company

Venue: Lab Theater

Sex, drugs and Wagner run wild in "Spring Awakening," the story of a group of German teenagers who, in 1891, must find their way out of adolescence and enter adult society in a most confusing time in their lives.

The Attack of the Big Angry Booty

by Traveling Kurkendaal Productions

Venue: Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts

Have you ever been on a diet? If you have then you know that dieting isn't easy. Whether it's five pounds or 50 pounds, the weight-loss journey can be a challenging one. Come experience diet rollercoaster.

The Scarlet Lady

by Bridge Productions

Venue: Southern Theater

Melanie Moën, a free-spirited writer, appears to tormented auteur Jay Johnson thirteen years after an ill-fated theater affair. Passion unfolds, all under the watch of the Scarlet Lady, who wanders the catwalk above.

The Supercilious Ways of Walter Wading

by SPARK theater + dance

Supercilious meets super-silliness when Walter's usual path through the woods leads him to the most unusual surprise.

Writers of the Purple Sage

by Writers of the Purple Sage

Venue: Playwrights' Center

Retired travel editor Catherine Watson and retired uncle Al Sicherman read some of their favorite pieces from the Star Tribune and perhaps illustrate why they aren't still married.

Thu., Aug. 7 @ 6:00 p.m.

Reefer Madness: The Musical

by Young Artists Council

Venue: Bryant-Lake Bowl

A musical based on the 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film. A tongue-in-cheek comedy about the perils of drugs, sex and general moral turpitude.

Thu., Aug. 7 @ 7:00 p.m.

A Wake for Change! Tune In, Turn On, Folk Out

by A-Stage

Venue: Kieran's Irish Pub - Titanic Room

After Elvis but before the Beatles, there existed a small movement that became a precursor to everything the '60s now stand for.

Antigone...A Riff on Sophocles

by Metropolitan State University's Theater Underground

Venue: U of M Rarig Center Arena

No droning Greek choruses draped in bed sheets! Forget the stately columns and enter a world of rap music and rebellion! A tale of intransigent leaders and the need to resist them, no matter the cost.

Catfight!

by John Ervin

Venue: Ritz Theater Proscenium

Dedicated to Michele Bachmann, Ted Haggard and Larry Craig. Two rival teams of documentary filmmakers, following two opposing congressional campaigns, affect the election thanks to one swingin' higher power!

Deviants

by Live Action Set

Venue: The Soap Factory

Meet four individuals you'd rather not know but can't ignore. See them in an old Soap Factory. "This surprising melange of transgressive theater and dance is disturbingly funny." Rohan Preston, Star Tribune.

Dreadful Penny's Exquisite Horrors

by Tantalus Theatre Group

Join us if you dare at an uncanny sideshow of longing and desire where all manner of monstrosities are revealed and reveled in, and nothing is forbidden. Audience discretion is advised.

Going South

by Commedia dell'farte

Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre

Tom's strapped for cash and months behind in rent. With time running out, he is on the brink of being evicted. Afraid of his landlord and the ouside world, he and his roommate need to make some money... Fast!

Herocycle

by FTF Works

Venue: Red Eye Theater

"Herocycle" takes the audience on a death-defying leap across pop culture and fame and into the psyche of Evel Knievel. Actors and aerialists weave an epic tale of a quest for the man behind the action figure.

Mortem Capiendum

by Four Humors Theater

A tonic with seemingly miraculous properties, three con-men beginning to believe their own pitch, and a perfectly ordinary trunk containing From the creators of "Deviled Eggs" and "Bards."

Ophelia

by Studio Zero

Venue: Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts

An investigation into the hidden love story within Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. The piece explores a familiar story from a new perspective in a new work from this talented young company.

Pizza, Amore & Fantasy

by Singing Beach Productions

Venue: Southern Theater

The host of a mythical Italian tavern entertains his "customers" with live music and stories, including a quick how-to of Italy's two most popular dishes.

Stimulate This!

by Mad Munchkin Productions

Venue: Playwrights' Center

Did you get yours yet? Feeling confused? Feverish? Nauseous? We're the ointment for your Economic Stimulus Itch! Prepare for your "check-up"! Get a healthy dose of advice on where to put your economic stimlus.

Stupid Face

by Courtney Roche

Life is hard, but when you wake up to find your entire world has changed without consulting you, life turns into a real bitch. This is the story of one woman's quest to laugh in the stupid face of adversity.

Sun Tzu's, The Art of War

by No Refunds Theatre Co.

The 3,000 year old manual on war's practice and philosophy used throughout history by generals and businessmen with ruthlessly effective results. Now on stage! And Funny! There will also be a mambo.

Vote for Pedro

by Teatro del Pueblo

Venue: Intermedia Arts

Loosely inspired by the hit movie "Napolean Dynamite," this script follows a young Latino high schooler who wants to be elected class president and does a documentary of his Latino history for his classmates.

War of Worlds: The Musical - A Tribute to Old-Time Radio

by Hometown Theatre

Venue: Lab Theater

Mysterious news reports interrupting the comedy hour are thought to be jokes until Martians break in and slay the audience with their three-legged tap dancing. Can the human race survive this? Come and find out.

Thu., Aug. 7 @ 8:00 p.m.

SHIFT

by Jonas Goslow

Venue: Bryant-Lake Bowl

Culture. Economy. Scientific Thought. We exist amid shifting, self-regulating networks of all kinds, indifferent to the fortune and loss of the individual. This show is about the individual.

Thu., Aug. 7 @ 8:30 p.m.

Advice-a-Versa

by Intertwine

Venue: Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts

Is advice the eighth wonder of the world or the eighth deadly sin? We give it and get itsolicited and unsolicited. Whether it's good or bad, we still can't get enough. If you want, join in. So, what's you advice?

If a Tree Falls

by Cloudless Day

Venue: Intermedia Arts

then no more walks in the woods? An end to nature? Or time to reinvent? Two women ponder changing lives and landscapes with an irreverent yet lyrical montage of poetry, parody and storytelling.

Lysistrata 2.0

by White Elephant

Venue: Southern Theater

The original battle of the sexes. Revamped. Now with face-stomping action. An ensemble-created piece utilizing physical performance and stage combat to explore how men, women and war are intertwined.

Meet the MacBeths

by Lauren and Joshua Iley

Venue: Lab Theater

Mac and Betty are a charming "Better Homes and Garden" couple who plot murder plans over pot roast. Shakespeare visits a 1950s suburban utopia to unfold how far an ambitious duo will go for the American Dream.

Numbers Up!

by John Leo

Superstar "El Macho del Norte" has wandered off for good, leaving his overwrought sidekick pants down, curtains up. Eccentric dance, raunchy jokes, bittersweet melodies and outrageous physical comedy ensue.

Phi Alpha Gamma

by Dan Bernitt

Two years ago, a gay-bashing plagued the fraternity's image. Weighing loyalty and justice, how will the brothers react when a member of their group comes out?

School Of Rockstars

by What Happened Productions

Rockstar Storytellers take you to school with spoken word, comedy and monologues that make the grade, from A+ ("Brown-Nosers") to F ("Shut Up About My Potential"). New lineup each show.

Suspicious Minds

by Cole T Walsh

Venue: Playwrights' Center

A writer, a prostitute, her boyfriend, his hostage in one hotel room for one night. A writer hires a prostitute whom he paysnot for sex, but an interview and some inspiration. He gets more than he paid for.

The BoyShow

by Youth Performance Company

It's here! YPC's "coming of age" trilogy is complete! "Goddess Mense," "The Talk" and, now, "The Boy Show," a no-holds-barred exposé of growing up male. Warning: No snips, snails or puppy dog tails.

This Play is Trash

by The Theat of the Cunch

Venue: U of M Rarig Center Arena

Why buy something you can get out of a Dumpster for free? One man's trash is another man's one-act play.

Waking in Minneapolis

by Chris Knutson

Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre

A man awakes to find his life has fallen apart and his bike is missing. He attends the "wrong" wake and has a "life-changing" day with the unique characters he encounters there.

We Live Like This

by Bombastic Productions

Venue: Theatre de la Jeune Lune

Kaleena Miller and Ned Sturgis come together to create a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Offering a look into what inspires them and what makes them tick, they offer the simple explanation, "We Live Like This."

We Walk Among You

by Ray Terrill Dance Group

Venue: Ritz Theater Proscenium

New work inspired by the vivid, lyrical Gypsy who scatter and regroup, flowing like water, remaining true to their essence; living proudly in the perpetual present of the cyclical, renewable life of the spiral.

Thu., Aug. 7 @ 10:00 p.m.

59 Minutes 'Til the End

by Steve Anderson

Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre

A 49-minute show that knows we all die a little every day. Laugh, cry and sing (optional, very optional) to the stories and songs of one man's deaths and rebirths. It's the feel-good funeral of August.

by Maximum Verbosity

Welcome to the real Fringe of American politics! The original masters of doublespeak and weasel words take on the myriad ways language is used to retort, contort and distort in this irreverent sketch comedy.

Audish

by The Bakery Theatre Company

Venue: Theatre de la Jeune Lune

The strange story of five girls who experience the most absurd audition ever seen by mankind. Anything can happen in this show of unfortunate events filled with humor mystery and a lot of Smartwater.

Beowulf or Gilgamesh You Decide!

by Chopping Block and Charlie Bethel

Venue: U of M Rarig Center Arena

The audience picks between Beowulf (a peckish demon snacks on the Danish) and Gilgamesh (a god-king takes on the underworld). Mesmerizing stories told with the energy, drama, and comedic flair which have made Bethel a perennial Fringe favorite.

Gone, Gone, Gone

by Monica Rodero & Daniel Schuchart

Venue: Southern Theater

The witty and humorous Milwaukee-based powerhouse Rodero and Schuchart navigate sticky situations and improbable scenarios while shaking things up in this dance-driven show.

Gypsy Passion

by Shadia with Raks Bedawi

Venue: Lab Theater

Journey along the silken trial in an evening of exciting dance. Colors of the rainbow, swords shinny creating patterns of delight. Raks Shark: Dance of the East. Belly dancesensual, hips swaying to the rich rhythms of dances from the Cradle of Civilization.

Herocycle

by FTF Works

Venue: Red Eye Theater

Musical the Musical!

by Urban Samurai Productions

Presenting the greatest moment in the history of the universe, "Musical the Musical" will leave you humming, laughing and talking to yourself while you aimlessly roam the streets rummaging through Dumpsters!

Reviving the Lecture Circuit

by Meg and Rob

Venue: Playwrights' Center

Sick of modern celebrities? Sketch comedians Meg and Rob are here to help! They'll bring you lectures from six madcap famous folks who won't be profiled in People magazine But you wish they would be.

Systems: A Literal Interpretation of the Fourth Wall

by Insurgent Theatre

Two cogs trapped in lives of utter futility behind the fourth wall. As years pass unnoticed, the two endure procrastination, incorrigible teasing and new ways of being in this existential comedy.

The Cody Rivers Show Presents: Stick to Glue

by The Cody Rivers Show