THE WRITER: You've been reading too much Virginia Woolf.

STEPHEN: And what of it? Some say she is The Goddess.

THE WRITER: Yeah, and reading her makes me want to put stones in my pockets and walk into a river.

From the mixed-up mind of Allegra Lingo, writer of Minnesota Fringe shows Hubcap Frisbee, A Heap of Broken Images, I Hate Kenny G (Encore winner 2007), Tipping the Bucket (Encore winner 2008), Crescendo, and The Last Ditch (2011 Fringe winner Best Spoken Word; FringeFamous.com; co-written with Rob Callahan) comes a brand new play that rips back the protective layer between the audience and the initial fumbling and mumbling of a writer putting together a new work. This time, however, she's leaving the storytelling behind and replacing her trusty music stand* with Fringe newcomer Taylor Brorby. Lingo and Brorby assume the characters of The Writer and Stephen, stuck on a hotel balcony overlooking the Atlantic coastline, tides and deadlines looming, with only Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, mermaids and Mick Jagger for company. Only one of them will emerge as the real artist after a battle of quick witted banter and literary one-upsmanship.

This is Lingo's first play. She's petrified excited to show it to you.

*Although the music stand is gone, the whiskey bottle remains.



Praise for Lingo's previous work:

“Lingo takes huge raw talent and turns it to gold in her writing and performance alike, never letting up on craft for a minute, never getting sloppy, never resting on her considerable experience just because she can, and she takes the audience on a marvelous and unexpected trip we never could have imagined taking on our own.”
--Marya Hornbacher, Pulitzer Prize nominated author of Wasted and Madness

"The John Steinbeck of Minneapolis"
--John Townsend, KFAI

"precise wit, and polished, radio-style delivery"
-- City Pages

"Many keep photo albums of their life. Allegra has kept an album of word images she enjoys to shares with others. An album of images that are vivid, filled with color, alive, and full of the reality of life. There were occasional flashes of Will Rogers and Mark Twain in her social commentary. Look for more to come. She did a fantastic job to fill the space of a theater in the round. Tip of the hat to those who coached her. Great stage presence. Look forward to next time she shares the photos from the album of her life."
--Audience Review

"She is a tonic. Even if you don't know her, you will leave the performance feeling like you spent time talking with a good friend. And in the midst of the wonderful madness that is Fringe, this is the kind of pause that really recharges your batteries, and makes you appreciate your own life and blessings just a little bit more than before."
--Matthew Everett

Cast + crew

Allegra Lingo
Role: Writer / Performer







Allegra was first published at the age of 13, then promptly forgot she could write until taking a writing class in college, and hasn’t stopped since. She has written and performed in ten of the last twelve Minnesota Fringes, including I Hate Kenny G (Encore Winner 2007), Buckets and Tap Shoes (Encore Winner 2007), Tipping the Bucket (Encore Winner 2008), Crescendo (2009), and 2011's The Last Ditch (Best Spoken Word show, FringeFamous.com) with Rob Callahan. Allegra recently completed an original works residency at Minnesota Public Radio, and is a co-founder of and regular performer with the collective Rockstar Storytellers. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Non-Fiction Writing at Hamline University, and works as the Minnesota Fringe's Audience and Volunteer Services Director. In her spare time, she is the principal saxophonist for the Minnetonka Concert Band. Allegra and her wife Amy live in Minneapolis with their dog James and two cats Carly and Louisa. If you ask nicely, she'll make you chocolates. A Comedy of Edits is her first play.

Taylor Brorby
Role: Writer/Performer







Taylor is thrilled to be sharing the stage, and making his MN Fringe Festival debut, with his friend Allegra Lingo. A native of Bismarck, ND, Taylor has played characters from Bilbo Baggins to Mark Twain to a drunk actor in a play within a play. Taylor is currently pursuing a Master's in Liberal Studies (what he calls the anti-Rick Santorum degree) and is currently working on his thesis. When he is not fly fishing or enjoying the Minnesota outdoors Taylor can be found helping keep Allegra sane. Taylor's writing has appeared in the Star Tribune, MPR, and Rock, Paper, Scissors (forthcoming).

Kim Schaufenbuel
Role: Director







Kim is a singer, actor and surgery aficionado. This is Kim's first time participating in the Minnesota Fringe, but she has been active in regional and community theater in Southern Minnesota for 15 years as a performer, director and technical crew. Best known for her performance in the title role in the musical Always, Patsy Cline, these days when Kim is not selling surgical devices she is working diligently on graduate school course work.

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User reviews

Solid ... for Creative Types
by Mark Mikula
Rating 4 stars
Unlike several of the reviewers here, I am a relative newcomer to Callahan and Lingo. As an occasional writer myself, I really felt this play was highly effective. Allegra Lingo chooses her own totems to inspire her approach to story. They weren't mine, but I was able to easily enough appreciate her story and map my experiences with inspiration, procrastination, and finding my voice to this one. I really liked how the initial premise for the show was presented and then abandoned. I thought Tyler Brorby was an effective foil to Lingo's struggling writer. Very occasionally the arguments between the leads lost their energy because of some missing point of fact or reference that was obscure, but, overall, this was a very winning piece.

Lingo & Brorby & Jameson & Woolf & Joyce
by Fringivitis Vulgaris
Rating 4 stars
It's not story telling this time; it's an actual script with dialogue! Allegra Lingo writes what she knows: writing, academia, and artistic angst. Taylor Brorby brings a fresh voice to Fringe, a perky optimist to counterbalance some of the whiskey-fed doubts. Recommended for academics, angsty writers, and anyone who expects the usual Callahan/Lingo collaboration, sans Callahan.

Thoughful and fun
by Heather Baldwin
Rating 5 stars
Having seen Allegra perform many times over the past few years, I was struck by how different this piece is from the storytelling performances she usually does. I enjoy those too, but it was cool to see her and her co-star Taylor Brorby actually ACTING, as opposed to off-book storytelling. It is a play within a play, with smart dialogue and a clever twist ending. Allegra's witty persona shines through the script, and Taylor's talent and adorableness was delightful.

A new direction?
by Will Weisert
Rating 4 stars
I'm a bit torn here as I really like Allegra's solo storytelling. While she's done a good job of transitioning her solo work to a multi-character format, that process is still a work in progress -- the worksmithing is there, almost as fluid as her solo work, but elements of staging are at times a bit too stiff, detracting somewhat from her exploration of the writing process.

Witty, smart, fast-paced
by Scott Cooper
Rating 5 stars
If Aaron Sorkin wrote a Fringe show, this would be it. Very clever and completely engaging, this show just flies by while your brain tries to keep up. I think the script could almost be TOO clever, if these two actors weren't able to pull off a believable performance that just feels like a natural conversation - albeit a natural conversation between two people who happen to be incredibly witty and may have a team of writers backing them up...

A Play!
by
Rating 5 stars
Anything written by Allegra Lingo is sure to be fantastic!
This one doesn't disappoint. Allegra's writing sticks in your head and gives you something to think about.
One of the best of Fringe. Go see it!

Had Moments
by Ryan Sanderson
Rating 3 stars
It starts off very slowly, with way too many false openings and ambiguous structuring devices. But once it gets going its thoughts on writing and identity are well thought out and well conveyed. It's only sporadically funny and goes long stretches without inspiring much of anything, but the final scene redeemed a lot.

My Foodie Cadets
by Brian Watson-Jones
Rating 4 stars
An interesting exploration of the writing process. I'm not sure I could recommend it to non-writers; I don't have the external sense to guess if it would be interesting to people who haven't stared at a blank page waiting for genius to happen. I also wouldn't recommend attending if you're at the end of a long day; I made the mistake of going while emotionally exhausted from my first performance of Fringe, and as interested as I was, I had to pull the old "shove my keys into my thigh" trick to stay present. But if you're ready to listen to some debates about literary creation, make the plans to catch this one.

Trying something new
by Jon Skaalen
Rating 3 stars
I laud the effort to try something new, to go outside the comfort zone, and to know that one’s fans will follow and support – even if it’s not totally successful, which this isn’t. Literary word-fun it is, and a worthy debut for Taylor Brorby, but it takes awhile for the “show” to be introduced, and then is difficult to focus when, visually, there is nothing to focus on. Radio drama and ideas worth chewing on, yes, but without more edits and a choreographer, not yet a stage play.

Sharing the Spotlight
by Julie Blaha Landon
Rating 5 stars
Allegra really doesn't have to share the stage with anyone given her Fringe fame, so I was most impressed with how she showcased her co-star Taylor Brorby. She gave him some of the best lines and let him genuinely be the star for much of the show. That generosity laid the foundation for a warm, smart show.

Don't need to be literary to appreciate.
by Darren Schaufenbuel
Rating 4 stars
The show was a great 2 person look into the mind of a writer. You do not have to be writer to appreciate. I felt it covered challenges we all have in "getting started" in life and does it in a comedic and entertaining way. Taylor Brorby is a refreshing newcomer to the Fringe Festival.

A Lovely Literary Show
by Mark Long
Rating 4 stars
Comedy in the title will mislead some. There are funny parts in the show, but the majority of it is two wordsmiths showing their talent. And just because you can write it, doesn't mean you can say it on a stage. This is the most impressive thing about the show. Allegra and Taylor beautifully flow through their words.

When subject is yourself, beware!
by Robert Garfinkle
Rating 1 star
This show was earnest but ultimately not very good. In it a writer reflects on the challenges of writing, and that kind of reflexiveness is dangerous if not handled well. Here, it wasn't. I don't know if the agony of writing is good material, but here it swings between shallow, bland pronouncements about writers block to pretentious, disconnected ramblings about Joyce and Woolf. Not a good choice, I'm afraid.

Robert Garfinkle

A bit puzzling; it didn't grab me
by Mariellen Jacobson
Rating 3 stars
Not as engaging as Allegra Lingo’s shows in prior years, this was a fairly dense rumination on the process of writing and the influence of Joyce/Wolf/Austen. I guess that I prefer the end result of the writing. The “play within the show” didn’t feel a lot like a dialog to me – do MFAs really talk to each other like this in real life? Do they pace around while they’re talking to each other? Allegra did observe that you might as well try out new stuff if you’ve won a spot at The Fringe. True, and more power to her, but I do hope that she'll return to the solo storytelling genre in future Fringes.

You get what you need
by Joyce Spirala
Rating 5 stars
Go see this amazing play written by Allegra Lingo and performed by Allegra with Taylor Brorby. It takes you on a journey from the sunrise and sunsets of Delaware's coast to the Icarian Sea and culminates in a crescendo worth waiting for!

Disappointing - Didn't work for me
by Gorden Hedahl
Rating 1 star
I had read and heard many good things about Allegra Lingo's previous work, but this simply didn't work for me. I found it too predictable and obvious (e.g. very old jokes about waiting for the Lord's rescue, and explaining the card reference) and too many little philosophical mind games that most of us have encountered. The performances are on different levels--Lingo quite low-key and naturalistic and Brorby more expressive--but not really engaged or believable as characters. One of the problems was that it is billed as a comedy, but there isn't much to induce laughter. The description led me to think there would be story telling, but that didn't happen either. Disappointing.

Brave the mermaids
by Florence Brammer
Rating 5 stars
This was a very moving reflection upon what it means to create something out of the minutae of everyday experience, and about those magical, epiphanous and rare moments when what has been created is authentic. I left teary-eyed with a huge lump in my throat. An extremely thoughtful, insightful and layered script with an engaging and effective presentation.

Nicely Written
by Phillip Schramm
Rating 4 stars
The beginning of the show had me a little worried. The dialogue was a little awkward and felt artificial. But as soon as they got into the "play", the dialogue began to click and not feel so forced. The "battle" they have opens your mind for exploration. The final monologue in the show is one of the best written pieces I have heard, and the show is worth it just to hear it.

Lingo and Brorby
by Jess Lindgren
Rating 4 stars
As others have said - this is a departure from a normal Allegra Lingo spoken word piece. That's a big part of what Fringe is about, though - writing/acting in/attending a piece of performance art that is outside of your normal comfort zone!

Personally, I found some of the literary references to be a little over my head. They utilized the Arena space quite well, and the performers were engaging to the very last, which can be hard to do in a two person show.

MEGA shout out to Mr. Brorby - an absolute natural on the stage, and I hope to see more of him on the local theatre scene soon.

Reality Writing made really fun!
by Chris Gennaula
Rating 4 stars
Allegra Lingo and Taylor Brorby explores the creativity process. Witty, literate, and a great way to practice 'Existential Procrastination'!

Comedy of Edits
by Michelle Farley
Rating 4 stars
If you like talking about literature (Joyce, Wolf, a little Austen), or if you like writing, you will love this show!

Allegra changes it up!
by Bradley Johnson
Rating 3 stars
If you have seen an Allegra show before, expect a change. She has got to be one of the most talented writers I've ever known. The show at times went beyond my understanding, but still enjoyed the fine performances from Taylor and Allegra.

Beautifully Written
by Caroline Grace
Rating 4 stars
Going into the show, I had very different ideas of what it was going to be. As the show began, I was wildly unimpressed by the acting. But don't be turned away by reading that. If you just listened to the script, you would find it to be beautifully written. It was deep and meaningful, with wonderful allusions that were used throughout the entire play. It was the kind of play which would be nice to read, not necessarily see. But overall, I am glad to have gone, because it gave me lots of things to think about regarding writing.

A Comedy of Errors
by jan sedgewick
Rating 1 star
I wanted to leave during most of this performance. Primarily the script really needed editing, and the delivery was lacking. I didn't come away with much of anything to ponder. What I found commendable was the performance by Callahan. He has a few witty and memorable lines, and his stage presence had integrity and a naturalness to it.

Writer writes on writing about writing
by Derek Miller
Rating 4 stars
This is nothing like Allegra Lingo's past solo work or her work with Rob Callahan. Instead of storytelling, it's a play about how you get the nerve and the guts to tell a story in the first place. The show is filled with literary references and injokes that may drive people without MFAs nuts, and it wanders over the line between introspection and self-absorbed navel-gazing, but Lingo and co-star Taylor Brorby inject enough wit and humor into the piece to keep it afloat, and even tease out a few philosophical points that even non-writers can take to heart. If you care about a writer's process, this might be worth 5 stars to you. If you've never finished a book and wondered what it took to write it, then this might not be your thing.

Cherry well broken!
by Ariel Leaf
Rating 5 stars
Most friends know I would watch Allegra read a phone book, so it's almost inevitable I will love her shows, but this one stood out for me this year. Though I love her story telling, I felt honored by the honesty and fear she shared with us about the nature of the beast we call writing, and I left thinking about the things I've always been too scared to put on paper. I also appreciated and NEEDED Taylor, he was the vehicle I as the audience looked through to understand her crisis better, to have an interpreter if you will. It's not the same Allegra you've always known, and that's a good thing. And I just want to put the adorable Taylor in my pocket and take him home.

Wordy and Witty
by Paul Hogrefe
Rating 4 stars
Wordy and witty, lovers of words, Joyce and/or Woolf will love it!

Literary seduction.
by David Trudeau
Rating 4 stars
Well performed sketch that evolves into a standoff between literary giants. Lingo's storytelling seduces us into pondering the mysteries of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, and loving it. Brainy and fun.

Existential procrastination
by Roy Close
Rating 3 stars
Allegra Lingo, who has the best name in the Fringe, is back with the latest adventure in her creative life. This time she's in an oceanfront motel in Delaware, wrestling with the ghosts of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf as she tries to write a script for a Fringe show -- this show, of course. Taylor Brorby emerges from the woodwork and they spend what's left of the hour discussing the craft of writing. There are some good lines in the mix, and I certainly intend to steal the phrase I have borrowed for the title of this review, but in the main this is a heavy slog.

A Play!
by Caroline Toll
Rating 5 stars
I have been going to Allegra's shows for years, because I just love what she does with language! Beginning as a first rate story-teller, she wowed us with many shows -- usually her pacing around a notebook, musing on what she found moving or inspirational. For the last few years, she's been changing the program - first adding her music in Crescendo, then adding friendly foils in The Last Ditch. Now she has written a play!

The familiar themes are still there - Joyce (of course), myth, travel and the over-arching theme of unpacking her creative process -- and now we have Characters! And Taylor does a wonderful job!

Even more than I expected
by Derek ""Duck"" Washington
Rating 5 stars
I'm a big fan of Allegra's writing but I wasn't expecting that when I walked out of the show I'd be so influenced. As someone who also writes occasionally, I found Allegra's journey within her own process intriguing and motivating. She makes me want to stand by the rail of the ship!

Won me over
by Kelly Rosenthal
Rating 4 stars
Thought it started a little slow but the language won me over in the end. Some lovely imagery.

I LOVED this show!
by Patrick Pfundstein
Rating 5 stars
To borrow a baseball phrase, "Comedy" drops right in my wheelhouse. Allegra Lingo loves words, and language, and writing, and she is really, really good at it, anchoring lovely, ethereal, and sometimes florid imagery with “Dude”-salted phrases. Her comic timing is great, she knows how to build things up to a crescendo, and most of all she is totally courageous as both a writer and a performer, laying bare a lot of the almost hopeless aspirations, and the fear and conflict that comes with creation. “Comedy” may cloak that courage in bundles of laughter, but both Allegra and her cohort Taylor Brorby are also working on a deeper, more emotional/human level, and that in the end is what makes this show great.

Words
by Cato Brutus
Rating 1 star
Words words words words worditty words words WORDS words wordswordwordswords.

Pretentious conversations
by Publius McGee
Rating 1 star
I really like Allegra's writing and her stories, when she's simply reading them. This, however, was not that format - much to my chagrin. I sat in the worst possible place, because I couldn't leave without being an absolute ass...so instead I was less of an ass, staying and thinking about how I wished I'd brought alcohol.

In a nutshell, this was a short story, meant to be read, not read aloud, and definitely not performed - especially not by these two, who are just plain bad actors. Mercifully, however, it was only 50 minutes long, even with the painfully staged opening.

Not as much as expected
by Marcia Avner
Rating 2 stars
Callahan and Lingo usually offer up delightful comedy. This exploration of the writer's quest for direction is disappointing. There are little sparks of interest to keep this English Major tuned in, but overall I found it drawn out and in need of connections for those of us who have not recently read the Great Works of Literature on which the dialogue depends. Nice to try new directions; better to do what you do well!

Charming!
by Max Wojtanowicz
Rating 5 stars
Allegra and Taylor are just as charming as humanly possible and their show is a wonderful love letter to the power of the written word. She's a Fringe pro, folks -- don't mess with success!

Serious Comedy
by Amateur TheaterGroupie
Rating 5 stars
Brilliant script. High energy and comedic costar. Made me think, a lot

Pointless literary angst
by Peter Erickson
Rating 1 star
A writer examines her struggles with writer's block in a tedious play with occasional sparks of humor. The show indulges itself with abundant literary allusions and quotations. Write what you know, they say, but this doesn't have to mean one's personal trials at writing are all that interesting. About half-way through the show, the character Stephen says, "I still don't know why we're here." This would have been a fitting ending as well.