Minnesota Fringe Festival

Murder! Revenge! Betrayal! Ghosts! Sock puppets!

In this darkly comic adaptation of Aeschylus' 458 BC award-winning tragedy, Agamemnon comes home after ten long years at the Trojan Wars to a wife who is plotting to kill him and a ghost who is bent on revenge. Hilarity, violence and incest ensue. Join us for this murderous family reunion!

Despite the fluffy, fun exterior we presented in our awesome trailer, this is not a show for young people. This is still a Greek tragedy (albeit a Greek tragedy on uppers) written for adults. Leave the kids at home unless you want to explain to your impressionable youths how someone can be both father and grandfather to the same person. Just sayin'...

Written and Directed by Eric Netterlund.


Check out Matthew Everett's feature on our show! We're #20 on his list of shows he has "got to see"! Totally unexpected but not unwelcome in the least! Thank you from the bottom of our Thespian hearts

Go vote for our trailer over at Fringey Awards!

The cast

Heather Quigley
Role: Clytemnestra
Heather Quigley (nee Heather Lorraine) (Clytemnestra) is a Wisconsin native who met her husband Kevin onstage in Jesus Christ Superstar. Having made her Minnesota debut in the 2002 Fringe Festival (2 Noble Kinsmyn with Calibanco), she returned to the Fringe wearing her producer hat for 2005's Everyman (Good-Deeds) and 2007's' wildly controversial' Salome (Salome), both for Arthur Repertory Theatre. Some favorite roles from recent years include Gretel in Hans Brinker, Essie in You Can't Take it With You, and Midge in The Hollow.

Eric Netterlund
Role: Agamemnon/Director
Eric knows his place in the world. He usually finds himself offering comedic relief to those around him onstage and off. He likes to act and has done it before, most notably when he was working on his B.A. in Theater at Northwestern College including the roles of "Sir Toby" in Twelfth Night and "Joe Benjamin" in God's Favorite. He directed a couple of short plays in college, including a ten-minute comedy Eggnog which he wrote himself. He also recently was happy to have another original ten-minute play of his, Candy Striped, performed in the 2009 Lakeshore Players Ten-Minute Play Festival. To everyone who has put so much hard work and thought into this production, he thanks you.

Maria Swanson
Role: Cassandra
Maria Swanson (Cassandra) has had visions of red carpets and little gold dudes dancing in her head ever since childhood. While this is lofty dream, she remains the eternal optimist. She has appeared in Lilies of the Field as Sister Albertine, and Aristophane's The Birds as Procne (Queen of the Birds). She also played a quirky, roller-skating maid, Mary, in the non-sequitur show The Bald Soprano. She is from Baxter, Minn., and is a theatre major with the desire to act in films. She was a dancer for 10 years, a baseball player for six, and a hopeless music junkie her entire life.

Daniel Steddom
Role: Aegisthus
Daniel Steddom (Aegisthus) is a resident of Minneapolis, Minn. His repertoire of roles includes Ralph Herdman in "The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever," Mario the Italian Lobster in "Cassy the Crab and Rosita the Island Girl," and Toby in "The Mighty Mississipi" for Steppingstone Theater in St. Paul. For Northwestern he performed the roles of a wildebeest, a school of sea horses, and a gun-happy hunter in Seussical, the drunken Pat Sweeney in The Rope, the prodigal Stevie in The Christmas Shoes, and the over-educated (and rather nerdy) Prof. Willard in Our Town. When not involved in theatre at college, he is an active member of his church drama group "Messengers," traveling and communicating the Gospel's truths through the performing arts. He is also an avid writer, researcher, and weaver of absurd yarns.

Hannah Norris
Role: Watchgirl
Hannah Norris (Watchman), a Minneapolis native, has found a way to incorporate her flair for the dramatic into almost every aspect of her Jack-of-all-trades life, ever since she first put on Shakespeare plays with her stuffed animals, whether it be in writing, teaching horseback riding lessons, or entertaining coworkers and customers alike as a barista. She has dabbled in a broad range of roles in her theatrical experience, from Sally in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Mrs. Kirby in You Can't Take It With You, and Thornton Wilder's immortal Emily Webb in Our Town. Hannah graduated last year from Houghton College with a degree in Therapeutic Recreation, and hopes to pursue a Masters in Dramatherapy, where she can combine her love for psychology, acting, and people, and eventually use her degree in missions work, both locally and worldwide.

Amy Suiter
Role: Chorus 1
Amy Suiter (Chorus 1) has had an appreciation for the art of "pretend" ever since she actually ate mud brownies while playing with her cousin in kindergarten. She has delved into such roles as Elaine in Arsenic and Old Lace, Poor Chorus in Urinetown, and Yelena in Chekhov's The Bear. Amy has also dabbled in writing and directing, her most memorable experience being her production of The Bald Soprano, the show that taught her to love non sequitur and deliciously illogical paradox. She adores theatre and acting with the same intensity as she does her morning coffee, and finds that caffeine and performance join hands quite nicely.

Larisa Netterlund
Role: Chorus 2/Designer
Although new to the Fringe, Larisa is not a newcomer to theatre, having graced the footlights at Northwestern College, Bethel University, Theatre Limina, and Fort Totten Little Theatre in such roles as "Maria" in Twelfth Night and "Jack's Mother" in Into the Woods. She has also costumed and directed at her alma mater, Northwestern College, where she recieved a BA in Theatre. Larisa is moving back to her home state of North Dakota this August to pursue a Master's Degree in Theatre from the University of North Dakota. She also is also excited to be the token chorus girl to be sleeping with the director - her husband, Eric!

Antoine LaFromboise
Role: Chorus 3/Frederick
Antoine LaFromboise has played a variety of roles through the years that build off of his dreamy auburn locks and toned, slender bod. He's been a firefighter, Egyptian slave and urbane agent, among others, and has performed on a variety of stages, including Northwestern College, Anoka Ramsey and Bryant Lake Bowl. When he's not acting or working at the PR agency Padilla Speer Beardsley, he can be seen performing arial acrobatics in Northeast Minneapolis (can you say trapeze?). And to answer your question: Yes; he's flexible.

LaFromboise is not sleeping with the director, though not for lack of trying.

David Oman
Role: Thyestes
David Oman grew up in North Branch where he was home schooled up till college. Somewhere along the way he became rather attached to theater and did homeschool co-op productions in high school. He easily chose to major in theater when he got to college. His fondest memories of theatre include wearing yellow stalkings and a seven-foot celery stalk (Malvolio in Twelfth Night), screaming "that's a sin!" (as Mendel in Fiddler on the Roof), and dying in a sword fight (as Paris in Romeo and Juliet). His ambitions include getting a paying theater job, marrying his amazing girlfriend, memorizing and performing books of the Bible, and writing a book on philosophy and mysticism.

Matthew Landby
Role: Herald
Although he usually inhabits the theater as a musician, Matt is pleased to stomp on and off the stage a few times as a credited character. He is no stranger to supporting roles, having played a chorus member in countless shows, the Fiddler from Fiddler on the Roof twice, and most infamously a pink and green troubadour in Twelfth Night. He enjoys musical theater, especially from the pit, and most recently played violin for Yellowtree Theater's recent production of The Last Five Years. Matt picked up a B.A. in History from Northwestern College and now works, sleeps and reads philosophy in Roseville, MN.

Theresa Henderson
Role: Stage Manager/Production Manager/PR Guru
Theresa Henderson (Stage Manager) discovered her love for theatre back in elementary when she was given the opening speech of a school production. Since then, she has earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and public relations from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn., where she has performed such roles as Mother Maria Marthe in Lilies of the Field, Hannah Fergusen in The Spitfire Grill, and Grace Bradley in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Within the theatrical realm, she has found her niche being the mother and boss of the actors and crew and hopes to someday do it for a living.

David Philip Norris
Role: Producer/Lord High Everything Else
David found his true calling later in life than some. By way of a bachelor degree in music composition, he discovered the world of theatre and theatre and rediscovered his love of acting which he found and fostered in high school through various community productions and improv ensembles. He has worked with and written music for productions at Theatre in the Round, Bedlam Theatre, and the theatre department of Northwestern College. David is an artisan of all things English - playwright, writer, and lyricist - though his main gig is writing copious amounts of music. He is madly in love with the writings of Bertolt Brecht, though it would never work out. Some of his favourite roles include a psychotic android, a deranged sociopath and a wolf (do you see a theme here?), but his dream is to one day soon do a production of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman.

Shadow & Substance Theatre

Agamemnon

Thu., Jul. 30 @ 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 2 @ 8:30 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 3 @ 7:00 p.m.
Thu., Aug. 6 @ 10:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 9 @ 1:00 p.m.

Warning! Violence

Venue U of M Rarig Center Xperimental
For ages 13+
Written by Eric Netterlund
Web site www.shadowandsubstancetheatre.blogsp...
genres Comedy, Satire
subjects Relationships, Historical
features World premiere, Regional (MSP) premiere, Original script/choreography, First-time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer

Overall rating

User reviews

Horrible
by Brandon Parks Follow this reviewer
Rating 0 kitties
I left in shock after watching this, sock puppets in a Greek Tragedy.

The cast seems to have been composed of the worst actors found in the entire state.

I don't even know where to begin picking apart this atrocity.

Zero kitties.

Good try but fell short
by Mike Lewis Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
Ditto what everyone else said about the sock puppets; best part of the show. The show started off slow, but towards the end, the jokes came faster and funnier. I felt it just needed to be a little snappier; the long pauses between laughs were very noticeable. A good effort, though. Wowser!

The least funny comedy I have seen
by Derek Miller Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
Updating a classic play is dangerous--mostly because anything you can think of to update it has already been done, and probably been done better than you could do it. This is especially true in the case of the classic Greek plays, which have had thousands of years for theatre-folk to tinker with them. If they are going to work, the adaptation needs to be slick, smart and compact and it needs to hew close to the original themes that made the play a classic in the first place.

This adaptation of "Agamemnon" accomplishes none of these. It is an exceedingly clumsy and dumb, and feels overly long, despite the fact that it clocks it at only 45 minutes; and it jettisons just about everything that makes the original compelling. "Stupider is funnier" is the general rule employed. The playwright has rendered every character so incredibly incompetent that I can't believe they would be able to tie their own shoes, let alone win a war or plot a murder. In fact, the most compelling parts are throwaway gags involving sock-puppets, a motif that the play introduces early, does away with and takes pains to ridicule throughout the remainder. I will give Hannah Norris some credit as the Watchgirl, whose clownish role at least brought some quirky spark to the stage. I felt rather embarrassed for the rest of the cast, to have to put up with such terrible material.

For a production that tries achingly hard to be a zany comedy and aims to land a joke every 20 seconds or so, I laughed exactly three times, and this was at the same running joke about a shark in a bathtub. The original version is a dark tragedy full of subdued wit. The only tragedy in this "Agamemnon" is the production itself.

Ouch
by Mistress Mary Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
The only reason to see this show is Heather Qugley as Clytemnestra, and possibly the sock puppets. The material itself is dreadful and makes no sense- could someone please take this cast and put on Agamemnon for real? The result would be better.

Mixed bag
by Sarah Holmberg Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
Some good things to see here - particularly enjoyed Hannah Norris and the sock puppets - but too much other stuff that just isn't working.

I did enjoy the costumes a great deal, and the clear choices being made by the production in the more technical elements.

Needs more sock puppets...
by Justin Alexander Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
Hannah Norris is a consistently bright light of quirky fun in this otherwise murky production. The script is uneven and left unaided by the uneven (and flat) performances given by the rest of the cast.

By way of example: Half-way through the show we get a running "gag" in which one of the characters keeps trying to use their sock puppets and the other characters shout them down. The problem? The sock puppets were the funniest part of the first half of the show.

The production seems to lack an understanding of its own strengths, rendering it incapable of developing or capitalizing upon them.

Funny
by Kristi Lawless Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
The first part of this show had me sitting in my chair, giggling. It seemed to fall apart about halfway through, but I still enjoyed it. Loved the ghost.

The Ultimate Desperate Housewife
by J. Anderson Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Seen Thursday July 30 @ 7pm Here's my breakdown:

* Chorus (Larissa Netterlund, Antoine LaFromboise, Amy Suiter)- largely forgetable with the exception of the much-hyped sock puppet show. More on that later
* Watchman (woman)(Hannah Norris)- oozes quirky so much, you might step in quirky. One of the stronger performers.
* Thyestes (David Oman)- actor seemed lost. Hard to understand in places.
* Aegisthus (Dan Steddom)- bizarre mannerisms. Not sure what Clytemnestra sees in him, he's like Shatner with a stroke. Was this a deliberate directorial choice, or just some bad acting? The world may never know. Isn't this character supposed to be sexy?
* Clytemnestra (Heather Quigley)- slightly odd casting here. A testament to her acting skills and talent that she's able to pull off such an insane cougar role when she looks about 14 under all that garish makeup. Also one of the strongest performers of the night- makes me wish this was the serious version of the play so we could watch her go. Some really nice interactions between both her and the watchman and also Cassandra.
* Agamemnon (Eric Netterlund)- for a show called "Agamemnon" we really don't see much of him. Would have liked to see more interaction between him and Clyt. to see what led up to the events of the play (and would have given Clyt. some more interesting choices to make.) **this would have been a really good use of the puppets: use the device throughout the play, giving backstory of the Trojan Wars, the whole Helen thing, Iphigenia, etc.
* Cassandra (Maria Swanson)-actress didn't have much to work with so it's hard to judge her skills. Nice scene with Clyt., but isn't the character supposed to be crazy?
* Herald (Matthew Landby)- again, largly forgettable. Not sure I understood the old age makeup- aren't soldiers supposed to be young and buff?
* Frederick-well, you have to see that one for yourself.


All in all, it's a fairly decent script that needs tweaking in a few places. More puppets, please. Since most of the timing/delivery issues were across the board I'd say that it was a directorial issue rather than the actors. Show really doesn't have much to do with the trailer, but worth checking out.

brutal
by Jeff Miller Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
It kills me to rate peoples efforts so low, but this play has been seriously overrated by the previous reviewers. The only interesting thing is the comedy twist on a tragedy and the sock puppets. I gave it one kitty because the actor who played the ghost was tolerable. This play's one saving grace was it was only 45 minutes long. Total waste of time.

Disconnect
by CT Toll Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
I saw this with a school teacher who said is represented "tween humor" (when I said I clearly didn't get it). I wonder how many tweens are familiar with Aeschylus and how many people interested in Greek tragedy will think like tweeners. Should be interesting to see how it does.

Watch the trailer if you want the puppet
by Debora Drower Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
You watch the cute, well done trailer and think maybe this will be a show done mostly in puppet form. And it is not. It's not bad but I had higher hopes for this show.

Cartoon evil
by z black Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
A fun take on the ancient classic. With sock puppets and a standout performance by the always excellent Heather Quigley, who exudes super-evil like a true cartoon villain. Opening night was a bit rough in a few places but overall it's a good show well worth seeing.

The 60's Meet Aeschylus
by Richard Shields Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
This young company decided to turn a classic tragedy into a comedy. This production reminded me of what the creators of the 1960's "Batman" TV series might have done if they had put their hand to a project like this. The costumes have a 60's flavor and the bad guys are over-the-top.

The show could still use some work when it comes to timing and delivery but it does provide laughs. For those familiar with the classic tales behind the original work, there are enough references to make you recall aspects of those myths. However, if you do not have a knowledge of the original stories you may not fully get some of the humor. Still, the high energy displayed by the cast draws you into the show and makes for a fun time.

Fun
by Kassie Church Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
With a large, lively cast this show is a really good time. There is action and adventure, love, comedy and sock puppets. What more could you ask for?

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