Minnesota Fringe Festival

schedule

Ms. Heidi's one-woman kaleidoscope of characters reveal the secrets of girlhood, fires of female sexuality, and future of life on a plastic planet. July 30-August 8, Augsburg Mainstage.

"A MUST SEE."Strib "HILARIOUS." Lavender

GRRL'S! 60 second trailer, filmed by Brian D. Garrity.
Place your vote for the trailer three times at the Fringey Awards.

Games of Slaves and Masters, Kleenex kisses, first crushes, Truth or Dare, slapstick romance, our love affair with consumerism, and what will be left behind as language compresses and plastic proliferates...

GRRL! is a series of vignettes written and performed by "One Woman Tornado" Heidi Arneson, developed over the seventeen years, through live performances in New York, Cleveland, California, Chicago, Winnipeg, and locally at Patrick's Cabaret, The Walker the Weisman, the Southern Red Eye, Bryant-Lake Bowl, the Jungle and Wild Yam Cabaret...

GRRL! also includes Ms. Arneson's newest piece, BIG WRAP MAC, a comedy about the proliferation of plastic, the breakdown of language and the tenacity of the human heart, (in which costumes, props and characters are composed entirely of plastic trash), a recent hit at Bedlam Theater's 2009 Ten Fest.

Since Ms. Arneson began her solo work onstage in 1991, she has received numerous accolades for her autobiographically-based performance art, her uncanny ability to portray numerous characters at once and her honest, edgy embodiment of a child's inner life, the sharp-teeth of adolescence, and the ferocious growing pains of female sexuality...

But her newest work, included in the GRRL! retrospective, transcends the personal and digs into the future of a suffocated planet, where the last human alive does her damnedest to assemble daily life out of a mutated language and ocean-wide piles of plastic.

"Her ability to pull off numerous characters at once is impressive by itself, but she combines it with an analytical sensitivity of a gifted writer as well. This is a rare spectacle." City Pages

Don't miss this seasoned performer's masterwork.

GRRL! Written, Directed and Performed by Heidi Arneson
Film trailer by Brian D. Garrity.

Support for the development of this work came from the Bush Artist Fellowship, The Playwright's Center Core Membership, Red Eye Works-In-Progress Series and the Franklin Furnace Emerging Performance Artist Award.

"This is one of those special moments where the rules do not apply!"

July 30-August 8, Augsburg Mainstage

Heidi Arneson

GRRL!

Thu., Jul. 30 @ 7:00 p.m.
Fri., Jul. 31 @ 8:30 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 3 @ 10:00 p.m.
[S] Thu., Aug. 6 @ 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 8 @ 1:00 p.m.

KEY:
[S]=ASL interpreted
[A]=Audio described

Warning! Adult language

Venue Augsburg Mainstage
For ages 13+
Created by Heidi Arneson
Web site www.Heidihouse.com
genres Solo, Comedy
subjects Relationships, Political
features Original script/choreography

Overall rating

User reviews

Grrrrreat!
by Cody Stewart Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
7-8-09 @ 1pm
Augsburg Mainstage

Despite wardrobe and prop malfunctions, Heidi Arneson presents a poetically witty piece topical and poigniant to today. Her gritty voice and energetic character portrayals were very entertaining. Great writing too amidst this charming performer. 4 out of 5.

Great
by Waylon Werner Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This might be the best 1 person show I have seen this year. Heidi is one hell of an actress.

More Performance Art Like This
by Thomas Cassidy Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
More performance art than acting or storytelling, this sharp, grrrowling show is a mix of unapologetic satire and psychic slapstick. Heidi's mutating character is energetically profane but also oddly sweet. In the final piece, where our future in plastics is a bit different then what was promised in
The Graduate, Heidi's survivor creates a surrogate family and is always looking for a toy. Excellent show by one of the few fully coherent performance artists I've seen. When she performed the final piece in-progress at Cheap Theatre a few months ago, I was impressed. Now doubly.

outside the box
by vickijoan keck Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Heidi's stories of girlhood, loss of virginity, and her vision of a post apocolyptic future is strange and fringy fun. Love her or hate her, she is anything but middle of the road and ALWAYS memorable! I had the pleasure of seeing her at the sign language interpreted show and her repoire with the interpreter was amazing! If you have never had the experience of seeing Heidi - you need to see this person for yourself because she defies definition!

Odd In A Good Way
by Dean Hatton Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
The show is not as odd as the trailer so don't let it scare you.
I had a good time at this show and laughed often.
Also found some deeper meaning under the performance.

Estrangement in Our Strange Land
by Damon Rudman Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Arneson’s crazed vignettes of childhood, adolescence, and a predicted post-apocalypse make alienation into a rollicking good time! A hoot & a half!

Three shows in one
by Michael Wade Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
I really enjoyed myself, though I felt like I was watching three individual shows. Each was incredibly well done, but the play ends in a place that is so different from where it began that it was jarring. Her work is thoughtful and entertaining...I'd just like to see some more cohesion.

Major left turn
by Melanie Thome Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
I really enjoyed her energy and creativity. The premise of Grrl I identified with quite well and enjoyed it. Then it took this turn that confused me. I had never seen any of her other work so I was a bit confused about going into the future. It lost me completely at that point.

Totally Fringe Fun!!!
by Peggy Bandit Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This was one fo the first shows I watched this year and a great way to start the Fringe! Also, if you listen closely, there are some important social messages included.

Oddly touching
by Kelly Glader Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This show is weird, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's weirdness is emotionally provoking, maybe more so for females than males as they can relate to many of the scenes, but it's a good show no matter what sex you are (I know this--my male friends tell me so). It's unexplainable, and it's not just a show--it's an experience. A must-see experience.

I liked this show
by Liz Floyd Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
but 5 kitties? Sorry, not from me. Probably a 3.4

Quite Fringy
by Sophia Naylor Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
A weird and honest look at growing up a grrl--although I think the grrls in the audience enjoyed and appreciated Heidi Arneson's work more then the men folk. Arneson's ability of snapping between exciting and energetic characters was amazing and a joy to watch. As the play progresses, however, it seems to lose the original focus (growing up) and instead turned to environmental issues, which, if it had to be done, was done in a fantastically hilarious way. Very fringy in that respect, if that's what you're looking for. Also, Arneson's balloons are naughty, bold and funny...which pretty much describes this show.

Hilariously Bizarre
by dixie treichel Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Funny, disturbing, creative, imaginative, visually provoking.
If you are looking for something unique and over the edge - this is the show for you. A show with true fringe spirit. Must See.

Brilliantly handled!
by B. Irving Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Heidi Arneson's performance is filled with people, situations, and fast-paced observations about life you will find a throughly enjoyable evening.

There were only two things I wished for during GRRL:
an orchestra in the pit, and
a choir in the wings.

Kaleidoscopic Visionary Romp
by Lynn Cross Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Sigmund Freud, Charlie Chaplin, and Lucille Ball meet up in the body of a little girl from the Lake Wobegon area. Hilarity ensues. The world starts to get saved. Hard to ask more than that from a Fringe show!!!

grrl
by nancy kohlsaat Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Outlandish, daring, funny, well written and well acted. Heidi shares her childhood in a way we all can relate to. Her characters as teachers, neighbors & childhood friends are impeccable and amazing. Heidi as one person playing & acting all the characters, shows she is a extremely gifted writer and performer. It will stir up some of your own memories and make you laugh. There are the "naughty" moments in life that we all think about, go through but don't tell anyone as children and young adults that she captures and shares. It is not run of the mill..you will remember her performance! Go see it.

Lots of fun.
by August Berkshire Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Journey through the land of Heidi's maturation, from girlhood to womanhood, hitting all the funny speed bumps along the way. Some highlights from last year's show are tacked on the end but are well worth revisiting.