Minnesota Fringe Festival 2010

Winner of the Minnesota Fringe Festival artists pick for Spirit of the Fringe Award in 2003 returns this year to the Jungle Theatre.

"...the overall professionalism seen at all times by this viewer left no doubt in my mind that I had just witnessed a performance worthy of New York...I was nowhere near as talented at that age. And the good thing is that they can only get better!"
-Tom C on the MFF show review forum of the 2003 performance

What Matthew A. Everett of TW Daily Planet has to say about us





In living traces - burning breath a group of wickedly intelligent young artists explore the story of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp from the Arabian Nights. Using the techniques of Ntozake Shange, Betsuyaku Minoru, Harry Kondolen, Peter Handke, and the dadaists, they have created a collage of provocative works full of fascinating soundscapes and movement that defies physical limitations- pushing their minds and bodies to the edge to create a performance of astounding passion and infectious abandon. Wealth, Regret, and Sacrifice, explores the confusion of Aladdin's mother as she tries to reconcile her son's behavior towards her with her hopes and sacrifices for him. The Sword in the Bed, explores interpersonal relationships and how they are affected by shared trauma, dissonant memories, and ritual as Aladdin and his wife discover an old relic that dredges up uncomfortable memories from the past. In I Tell, Scheherazade tells of her personal struggle to defeat the Sultan, whose revenge hardened heart consumes him, threatening the lives of women everywhere. She uses rhythm and dance to conjure characters for her stories and survive in a world where greed begets power, as power begets greed.

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The Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop (MXTW), created by Dr. Jim Hamilton, professor of philosophy at Kansas State University, in 1989, is a program of the Arts Center of Manhattan, Kansas. It is a 5-week workshop for high school students. Part classroom and part production-company, participants study various styles of avant-garde theater, then write and perform original pieces under the influences of the styles they have studied. MXTW empowers participants to make strong creative choices, engaging an audience as abstract, intelligent, and innovative as they are. MXTW will astound you with their perception, innovation, and passion.

Lakin Anderson
Role: performer

Hanne Bonilla
Role: writer/performer

Brain Burton
Role: writer/performer

Ashley Donnert
Role: performer

Cara Hillstock
Role: writer/performer

Barbara Korten
Role: writer/performer

Ashtin Lee
Role: writer/performer

Mercedes Santiago
Role: writer/performer

Claire Tolentino
Role: writer/performer

Jim Hamilton
Role: producer

Gwethalyn Williams
Role: director

Elizabeth Uthoff
Role: technical director

Josh Burmeister
Role: assistant director

Megan Clark
Role: assistant director

Ashley Flinn
Role: assistant director

Amanda Paez
Role: assistant director

User reviews

Such Great Talent at Such a Young Age
by Andrew Fafoutakis Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
For an ensemble this young, they have incredible passion, dedication, and heart. I made it to their last show and could not have been more pleased. These kids tackle styles and theatrical artisans that take people years to study, and they pull it off brilliantly. Their re-telling of the story of Aladdin was beautiful, heart-breaking, and haunting. I can only hope they come back to the twin cities to share more works with us because we could definitely use their infectious energy. Bravo!

Innovative and exciting
by Sharon Kahn Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
This is not the story of Aladdin. It's kind of a group poetry slam combined with interpretive dance exploring emotional themes suggested by the Scheherazade and the Aladdin story. The dancing is not particularly polished, but it is intense and athletic, providing very effective punctuation for the stacatto poetry.

I liked the first set the best, exploring the story of Aladdin from his mother's perspective. The emotional insight in this interpretation was startlingly deep coming from a group of teens. I guess I would have expected them to identify a little more with the teenaged Aladdin than with his much put-upon mother. Impressive work.

A very different, very enjoyable show, all the more amazing for having been developed from scratch in a 5-week workshop!

I live for shows like this
by Scott Pakudaitis Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This group of talented young actors studied non-traditional theater styles for two weeks then created this magnificent show in three. They threw themselves completely into this performance. Their energy was boundless. The five pieces in this show, all of which were based on the story of Aladdin, were excellent examples of theater styles that we don't usually see performed. I especially enjoyed the dada and the Kondoleon styles, but all of the pieces were well-executed and rather enthralling. The text they wrote is lyrical; the movement complemented the text perfectly. I wish these actors long, successful careers and I hope they continue their exploration of experimental theater.

Made my Fringe
by Rachel Nelson Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This is smart, funny, perceptive theater--taking a story that lives in our culture (Aladdin) and pulling it, stretching it, playing with it from many angles.

Kudos to all performers for this script and your performances, all created and rehearsed in 3 weeks. Their high-energy committed perfromance made my Fringe.

As with all my favorite theater, this troupe expected the audience to participate in creating the show's meaning. They told us as much in the unisemble introduction.

The audience at their final performance responded by jumping in, laughing, watching, and giving the performers a standing ovation. Down the row from me sat Casebolt and Smith (creators of my other high point Fringe show this year).

So if you missed Manhatten Experimental Theater Workshop's show this year, check them out when they return next year (we hope!)

Yellsville, Kansas
by Scott Jackson Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
This was experimental theater delivered by shrill and earnest teens who delivered little of the promised theatrical variety. Perhaps it was intended for the hearing impaired. Return to Kansas unopened.

Hard working kids!!
by kelly C. Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
These kids worked amazingly hard on this. 3 weeks of development, from concept to completion, and they presented a very tight, precise show of movement and synchronized speaking. Based around the story of Aladdin.  

The style they chose is extremely difficult to make work, especially for a whole hour. I rarely like that style (I've had to perform it myself) but I was not bored. I was impressed mostly by the dedication to detail of these kids. They deserve support.

UGH!
by Eric Hansen Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
The youth had energy- providing different combinations of presentations and it was difficult to follow [performers talking in chorus and stories not making sense].

A dimension not only of sight and sound,
by Neal Axman Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
I wasn't sure what to expect from this show and I was totally blown away! The narrative is definitely non-traditional, but I thought the story of Aladdin's mother that started five minutes into the show was really powerful and moving.

The stage movement was more like a ballet than a traditional theater production and I though the visuals were arresting. My favorite visual was probably when three actors made a six-armed genie while meditating on whether Aladdin controls the genie, or the genie controls Aladdin.

Reading the other reviews, it's definitely helpful to read the program before the show starts, but I would characterize the speech as chanting rather than yelling as the entire company is chanting the same thing in rhythm.

Definitely my favorite piece that I've seen so far this season.

Worth seeing
by Suzann Willhite Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Creative, energetic performance by youth. Read the playbill before the show to fully appreciate the performance.

Depends...
by Sam Card Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
I will start with the postitives coming from the show: I will admit that the show kept me very intrigued, I was interested and I did not get bored. I thought that all the choreography was very creative and wonderfully done by all performers. The scripts (written by the young actors) were very creative and I give them props for that.

On a not so impressive side, I go to shows not to be intrigued or interested, but to see people perform. I feel like there were only a few actors on the stage who actually performed this show. I was interested with the movements and the words, but theater is more than just movements and words and I feel like I was missing emotion. Although there was not much dialogue in the show I feel that when there was I did not get any emotion coming from the actors. In summary it was not believable.

I will admit, it could be that this show was just not my style. I would not say that it's a "bad show to see", it is very interesting. But do not go searching for people who are perfroming or acting.

P.S. the girl who plays the drums was the best performer on the stage, props to her. She is an actor.

Precision dada troupe
by Dave Romm Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Very talented high school dancers created a show during a five-week workshop, and they rise above expectations. Not all of it worked, but much did and a few bits were spectacular. You do have to read the program beforehand to understand where they are in the Scheherazade/Aladdin story, which is told in non-linear form showing only a few glimpses Arabian Tales. A Shockwave Radio Theater Review.

Baron Dave's LiveJournal and snarky comments on Facebook.

maybe
by m. freiert Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
a series of dance and shared spoken word pieces based around aladdin's peripheral characters as a means to look at him.

a strong script and concept, but parts of the implementation left things to be desired.

several pieces had one volume throughout, with the performers seemingly only yelling, however the 4th piece showed a lot more depth in it's performance. were all of them that solid and nuanced it'd be an easy 5 kitties.

with a few minor bloops (as expected at the fringe) complex lyrical timing was impeccable, but again the subtleties were entirely nuked by yelling.

if you've a free slot, check it out, it's impressive, but not a must see.