Minnesota Fringe Festival

Euripides' epic Greek tragedy MEDEA thrust into the present-day United States. Resurrected MARIA collides head-first with current immigration turmoil and political corruption.

Holding true to the classic Greek structure, in a word for word, line for line transposition, Euripides' epic Greek tragedy MEDEA is thrust into the turmoil of today. Mexican-born Maria schemes her way out of a non-negotiable deportation, fuels political scandals, and plots murder and revenge against her unfaithful New Jersey Senator husband. The universal themes of betrayal and revenge complimented current national immigration debates and political corruption scandals. Maria collides head first with her family, friends, and the current condition of national political affairs.

What was expected is never perfected. What is not, finds a way opened up.

As the play begins, it is mid morning outside Jason's home in New Jersey. Ten years have past since he traveled to Mexico City for the Shop-mart Corporation as a buying agent to bribe officials of the city for cheap labor and business. During that time, Jason met Maria, a government official's daughter, and brought her back to the states as his wife. Since then he has become a conservative New Jersey Senator. He and Maria have been living modestly in Jersey, models of unquestionable devotion to each other and their son. But news has just broken that Jason is going to divorce Maria and marry the daughter of John Creon, U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

The cast

Christina Lein
Role: Playwright/Producer/Director/Chorus Woman 3
First time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer, Christina is a special education kindergarten teacher by day and dance instructor by night. This is her first written dramatic work. Christina holds a B.A. in Theatre, emphasis in acting & directing, a Dance Minor, and a B.S. in Special Education from Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Laura Garcia
Role: Assistant Director
Laura Garcia graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a BFA in Theater. She has worked in a number of theaters in the twin cities. Right now she currently is planning a wedding and can't wait to tie the knot. She is thrilled to be part of a fringe show and hopes you all enjoy.

Lisa Gilbert
Role: Maria Pelion
This is Lisa's first time performing in the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Lisa works at Nickelodeon Universe as a character performer. She has been in the performing arts since Junior High. She is currently getting her MFA in Creative Writing at Hamline University.

Yolanda Cotterall
Role: Abuela
Yolanda has been a regular Minnesota Fringe Festival volunteer since her arrival from California in 2004, and this is her second time performing. Yolanda has been acting since 1989 and has performed on stages in California and the Twin Cities. Her work in the Cities has been with Park Square Theater, Teatro del Pueblo, and Mixed Blood Theater. Yolanda works for the Latino Economic Development Center in Minnesota as an economic development specialist helping Latino immigrants open businesses and achieve success in their new homeland.

Megan Losure
Role: Chorus Woman 1
Meghan is so happy to be making her Minnesota Fringe Festival debut as Woman 1 in "Maria: A Contemporary Tragedy"! Megan holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota, Morris. She has previously toured with CLIMB Theatre as an Actor-Educator. Megan thanks her mom & dad, her friends, and KTJ for all their support.

Maria Cofrancesco
Role: Chorus Woman 2
This is Maria's first time acting in the Minnesota Fringe Festival. By day she works at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center as a Generic Nurse Practitioner. She has a MS in nursing from the University of MN. She has taken acting classes at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, has studied voice for the past several years with Osana Bryn, and has preformed in many local community theater productions.

Tim Connors
Role: Jason Pelion, New Jersey Senator
Tim is sometimes an actor and improver with experience in numerous shows at the University of Minnesota Morris as well as CLIMB Theater and the occasional gigs. Tim holds a B.A in English from UMM, he works with adults with developmental disabilities and is currently pursuing a MAE in education from Augsburg College. This is Tim's first Minnesota Fringe Festival production.

Robert Larsen
Role: John Creon, US Supreme Court Justice
Robert may also be seen in Theater in the Round's Room Service. He will next be seen in their September production of Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing as Leonardo. In his "other" life Robert is a Tai Chi Master and psychotherapist in private practice.

Joseph Halvarson
Role: David Aegeus, President of the USA
This is Joseph's first appearance in the Minnesota Fringe Festival. He frequents the improvisational theatre circuit in Minneapolis performing with T-Rex Force, Treppenwitz, and Comedy Sportz. Joseph works in unemployment insurance, but will uproot himself this August to teach English in South Korea.

Alexander Burt
Role: Private Tutor
Alex is a new graduate of Prior Lake High School, and he is on his way to the U of M to study Engineering. He was extensively involved is theater through out his high school years with roles including Charlie Gordon in Flowers for Algernon and Randolph MacAffee in Bye Bye Birdie. This is Alex's first theatrical experience outside of Prior Lake.

Catherine Hansen
Role: Messanger/Secret Service Agent/Police Officer
Catherine graduated from St. Cloud State University with a major in theater and a minor in film studies. In addition to acting in plays and movies, she also writes screenplays.

Parker Jorenby
Role: Andres Pelion, Maria & Jason's Son
Parker Jorenby is 9 years old and entering 4th grade at Jeffers Pond Elementary School in Prior Lake. His other theatrical experience includes his church's annual production of the Passion Play, and Prior Lake High School's theater camp. He is a 2nd degree Black Belt and a 1st year WEBELO in Cub Scouts. Parker is involved in his church, soccer, basketball, baseball, and loves hanging out with his friends, especially those who have cabins.

Greg Albrelht
Role: Secret Service Agent/Police Officer
This is Greg's first Minnesota Fringe Festival production. He will be beginning 9th grade at Prior Lake High School. He is actively involved at his church where he has been a part of several productions.

Daniel Lein
Role: Secret Service Agent/Police Officer
Daniel is very excited to be acting in the Minnesota Fringe Festival this year. Dan works as a normal 9-5 job by summer and during the year he attends school at Minnesota State Mankato. See Dan. See Dan Run.

Thomas Anderson
Role: Secret Service Agent/Police Officer
Thomas is thrilled to be a part of this production. He is no stranger to theater, for he has appeared in various community theater, school, college, and church drama productions for many years. He holds a B.S. in music theory from Augsburg College.

Mitchell T. Petrich
Role: Secret Service Agent/Police Officer
This is Mitchell's first experience with the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Mitchell has been doing stage work since he was 10 and hopes to continue on that tradition. When he is not doing things on the stage, he is entertaining drunk people with trivia shows all around the Twin Cities.

David "Snuff" O'Fallon
Role: Stage Manager
As you may have noticed, "Snuff" is not a common name. It is David's nickname he received when he first began working in theater in 10th grade. Snuff was involved in every play since then at Prior Lake High School, in various stage production crew roles. Snuff will be attending MCTC this fall and plans on perusing a degree in theater.

Dave Tuma
Role: Scenic Design & Construction
Dave has been building sets for 13 years for community theater, high
School theatre, and the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. He has worked as Stage Staff for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and currently works at Prior Lake High School teaching kids technical theater skills. Dave also enjoy getting onstage occasionally.

Rachel Goetll
Role: Costume Design & Construction
Rachel R. Goettl is a student at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire studying English Literature. She has worked on costuming for the Benedicta Arts Center in St. Joseph, MN, and also for the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Theatre Department. In her free time, Ms. Goettl enjoys turning epic sewing failures into "existential/totally on purpose!" wearable art.

T.J. Barber with Teajay Design
Role: Image & Graphic Design
T.J. Barber is a Graphic artist working out of Minneapolis. He graduated from St.Cloud State University with a Bachelors of Art, and is a self proclaimed movie buff. He mostly works with Musicians and apparel but is always looking for a challenge. He can be contacted at his e-mail address teajaydesign@gmail.com for questions, comments or quotes on work.

Zachary Lein
Role: Original Music
Zach Lein is a recording/live sound engineer and artist based in St. Paul. He has recorded and written in a wide set of genres including folk, electronica, funk, metal, hip-hop, rock, indie, pop, and jazz. His most recent project is playing bass with a hip-hop group at venues in the twin cities.

Benjamin Mattson
Role: Original Music
Ben graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a B.A. in Theatre Arts and a concentration in music theory/composition. He has worked with CLIMB theatre, National Theatre for Children, The Minnesota Shakespeare Project, and he has taught music and acting workshops through Youth Performance Company. Ben has composed music for a number of productions, including "America:aciremA," "Fatal," "Mr. Charles," and Savage Umbrella's full-length original musical,"A Christmas Carol Finale."

Christina Lein

Maria: A Contemporary Tragedy

Sat., Aug. 1 @ 5:30 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 2 @ 10:00 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 3 @ 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 8 @ 5:30 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 9 @ 4:00 p.m.

Warning! Violence, Adult language, Loud noises/gunshots

Venue Minneapolis Theatre Garage
For ages 16+
Created by Christina Lein
genres Drama
subjects Political
features World premiere, Original script/choreography, First-time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer

Overall rating

User reviews

Mad-Libbing Greek Tragedy
by Justin Alexander Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
The show promises "MEDEA thrust into the present-day United States", but simply playing mad-libs with a Greek tragedy doesn't accomplish that. Particularly when the playwright can't even be bothered to give the mad-libs even the most basic semblance of sense.

For example, you cannot take a Greek chorus forced to serve as helpless witnesses to horror specifically because they are a Chorus and not actual people and replace them, line-for-line, with three house wives who are actually standing right next to Maria when she decides to murder her son.

Nor can you simply search and replace the word "King" with "Supreme Court Justice" and expect to end up with something that makes the least lick of sense.

I think there's massive potential in the idea of taking the basic dramatic form of Medea (a woman taken from her home country and then discarded when the next piece of pretty meat comes along) and transplanting it into a modern setting: The quiet desperation slowly dissolving into murderous madness could be quite moving.

But MARIA isn't willing to do the work. Instead, the script takes short cuts and the result is palpable nonsense lacking both the grandeur of Greek tragedy and the understated power of domestic tragedy.

In addition, the staging of the play was monotonously one-dimensional: The three house wives of the Chorus spend almost the entire play huddled around an upstage table, while the rest of the play consists of people walking in straight lines between the up-right door and the down-left entrance.

The performances throughout the play were inconsistent. The only actor who truly rose above the lackluster material was Catherine Hansen, who -- in her few, too-brief moments as a messenger at the end of the play -- made interesting choices and conveyed them with strength.

Lisa Gilbert, in the lead role as Maria, offers tantalizing moments of talent. However, her tendency to swallow the ends of her words is only a symptom of a larger habit of distancing herself from the material. If Gilbert ever dares to stand-up and face her material, I would expect great things from her.

Appreciate the show
by Ken Presley Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
My first Fringe performance and was very glad to have attended this play. I am not an expert on Greek tragedy, acting or directing so I evaluate only on my appreciation of the acting and my response to the performance as a whole. The players did invoke sympathy, enmity and a range of other emotions as I watched. A very successful depiction of a tragedy in the Greek tradition. Thank you to all who made this possible.

Great Idea but Lacking in Execution
by Joshua Humphrey Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
This was an interesting concept, which carried me into the theatre. Medea with a modern day immigration/politic corruption bent? Sign me up.

Unfortunately, it doesn't carry through into the actual production. Maria, our stand-in for Medea, is portrayed as a raging drunk, making her ultimate decision to kill her children seem more like a drunken whim then a reasoned, vengeful plan. Maria also uses expensive goods to sway Jason's new love interest, which is supposed to portray the latter as materialistic and petty (and Maria as a savvy judge of character) but instead it plays more as a sexist comment on women--which sits askance to the entire play.

A lot of love went into this production, and I think the playwright/director Christina Lein deserves some applause for trying to make it work. However, it never quite coalesces into a unified vision. Part of the reason seems to be that the cast is a little too large at 18 people, and many of the roles don't do much of anything besides stand onstage.

I still love the concept; if it was expanded and more focused it could be the powerful commentary it claims to be.

Powerful and Passionate!
by Lynette Dux Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
I appreciated the context of the Greek Tragedy from concept and format, dialogue and acting, use of the chorus and translation to modern day relevance. I thought ALL the dialogue was well written to evoke the emotion of the "tragedy" - why go to a luke-warm Tragedy? Overall, the writing, acting and performance was very powerful. A worthwhile endeavor for The Fringe. I hope to see more from this passionate playwright!

A good idea, but just doesn't clique
by Jon Seismic Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
The show I went to seemed like a high school production of a serious drama. Serious acting is hard to do at a fringe show and the actors seemed to be trying too hard (or not hard enough) that it was almost comical.

Dark
by Niel Darb Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Very Dark, Well Acted. How far do you go for revenge? How far do you go for power?

Piqued My Interest
by David Shlay Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
I had forgotten that I had seen the original Greek tragedy a number of years ago. Seeing this most interesting production led me to reserve another modern version of this on Netflix. I enjoyed the performances and was pleased to see another classic updated without losing its relevance. I have been fortunate over the last three years to see many shows by many fringe artists. Some have been excellent featuring gifted performers who can always be relied upon to give us great entertainment. Seeing Maria reminds me what the fringe is all about. It is about giving up and coming writers, directors and performers a venue to present their art with the promise of even bigger and better things to come. A very thought provoking and entertaining production.

Seeking Power
by K. U. D. D. Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Superb performance from strong male leads. Robert Larsen, Joe Halverson, and Tim Connors take this show by force.

Supreme Court Justice John Creon, played by Robert Larsen met his role with sheer might. The moment he walked upon the stage an aura of strength, power, and authority engulfed the theatre. His performance and presence is comparable to that of Lionel Luthor.

President of the US, David Aegeus, played by Joe Halverson, is the one bit of comic relief in this tragedy. Based off of former president George W. Bush, Halverson plays the role to perfection: the bumbling idiot who runs the country, but really has no idea what the hell is going on.

Tim Connors portrayal of State Senator Jason Pelion completely paralleled the thirst for power and complete political corruption our country is currently so riddled with today.

a tragedy indeed
by Cynthia Hornbeck Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
1. the author brazen asserts that this play is a "word for word, line for line transposition" of Euripides' play. Having read the play in ancient Greek, I can promise that this claim is false. Indeed, making this claim is an example of what Euripides would call "hubris"- arrogance. And lacking Euripides skill with language, the author has substituted clumsy Spanish and gratuitous swearing. The use of the C-word in particular was unnecessary.

2. The acting was only believable in the cases of Creon, Aegeus, and occasionally Jason. Very little was committed to, very few acted rather than emoted.

3. There was something culturally insensitive about casting white Minnesotan women instead of Latinas, depicting their Jersey home as a blue collar backyard with cheap lawnchairs, and clothing Maria/Medea in a wife beater with a black bra. Nor was the use of Spanish enough to evoke a culture as rich as that of Mexican- Americans.

4. While I'm discussing insensitivity, Creon's misogyny was at times accidentally funny.

5. The hyperbolic translations of Aegeus into the president and Creon into a supreme court justice resulted in more unmotivated acting and melodramatic dialogue. If this was inteded to comment on Justice Sotomayor's nomination hearings, it did so in very poor taste.

6. There is so much potential in the idea of Medea as a Latina- or Somali, or Pakistani- immigrant married to a power-hungry business executive. But this play only demonstrated that Greek tragedies lose their power if badly translated and then clumsily adapted. Hopefully this show will not discourage audiences from reading a good translation of Medea- Lattimore's, perhaps?- enjoying its beautiful, frank language, and gaining from it some sympathy for the disenfranchised..

What did you expect? It's a tragedy!
by Kyle Whaley Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
The play kept in line with original tragedy but set in modern times. Exceptional performances by Tim Connors, Robert Larsen and Joseph Halvarson. Yolanda Cotterall was also believable. Supporting cast held their own without over shadowing the main character. Good job on such difficult material.

Well Done
by Andy Flamm Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Though not a particularly uplifting story, the playwright and cast do a good job with this material. It definitely held my attention.

Eternal Themes Carry On
by Chuck Jorenby Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
It is always difficult for a story to be fresh and new. This play does so, and in such a short time is able to evoke feelings of rage, anguish, and guilt-ridden sympathy. Bringing a classic to the modern is always risky. And an admirable effort that is well worth seeing.

A Must See Tragedy
by Sue Heaton Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Christina Lein does a great job bringing an ancient tragedy to current day circumstances. The cast makes the tragedy authentic. Hope to see more of this playwrights work and cast in future shows.

maria
by B. K. Nelson Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
The most remarkable thing about this show is how a writer can reduce one of the most powerful plays in the western world to shrill melodrama. Furthermore, the acting exhibits a good deal of agony but no restraint. Where is the director? Perhaps the least worthy show I've seen in the Fringe.

Must-See
by Erin Hovland Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
A woman's personal journey and emotional distress is clearly portrayed in this performance. The actors bring to life the story of a Greek tragedy. It is a must-see for all fringe goers.

Moving Experience
by Michele Simacek Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
What an emotional true to life modern day experience of the story of Medea. Believable acting, great concept, and a wonderful way to appreciate classic literature. A must see - very different - a breath of fresh air from the usual productions in the Fringe. Moving, honest, and much to ponder and appreciate.

Tragedy, beautifully portrayed
by Jan Shaw-Flamm Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
If you're looking for laughs, there are plenty of good options. If you also like classic theater, see this contemporary staging of Medea's story. Wonderful language, great acting. It's shocking how well this story reflects today's experience.

A let down.
by Sarah Tomek Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
I was very excited to see this show, just having finished a run of Medea myself. I loved the concept especially.

Sorry to say, the acting and writing for the show was intolerable. The story lost so much power in the translation.

I really wanted to like this show. It's a definite must skip.

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