Chicago Fringe Festival Day 3: That's Weird Grandma, Murmurations, Melody

Last Saturday, my son and I spent about 5 hours on a beautiful Saturday afternoon watching shows at the Chicago Fringe Festival.

It was the last weekend of the Fringe, and it was a lot of fun.  It was (I think) my son's first Fringe festival, and I don't think he'd been to 3 shows in one day.

Overall, he had a pretty great time!

(If you want to read some of my other reviews of the Fringe, here they are:) Preview of Chicago Fringe 2017 Chicago Fringe Day 1:  Just Add Gravity, Underneath the Lintel, Mark Toland Mind reader. Chicago Fringe Day 2:  Mistero Buffo, Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth, LoFi Dance Records Chicago Fringe Day 3: That's Weird Grandma, Murmurations, Melody Superhero Ballet

PLEASE NOTE: As with many of the theatre shows I review on this site, I did receive free entry to the shows with the hope that I would write about them.  My opinions remain my own, uninfluenced by the price.  I take my integrity seriously, and so should you.


While the shows are now over, many of these companies are Chicago based and continue to run programs that it is possible to see.   I also think it's good to give artists a review of their work.

All told I saw 9 shows at the Fringe this year, and had a great time doing it.  I hope to go to at least as many shows next year!

Here are the reviews of the shows we saw on the last Saturday of the Fringe.

That's Weird Grandma by Barrel of Monkeys

That's Weird Grandma is a show by Chicago group Barrel of Monkeys.  They do something smart and pretty interesting.  They go into schools and work with kids on storytelling.  The kids write the stories, and then the improv troupe acts them out, the best of the stories they collect and put together into their shows, which appear regularly on Chicago stages (after the Fringe festival, they are starting another open-ended run at the NeoFuturarium.) In this way, they are getting paid by the schools to work together to develop material, and at the end, the student writers get to see their work put on by a professional company rather than just sit on a refrigerator somewhere. It's Win, Win, Win!

The show was a lot of fun, mostly because the stories all featured amazing kid logic.  One of the stories was about a pie that doesn't want to be a cannibal and refuses to eat other pies.  Another one featured a kid who wished for wizarding powers and what happened once she got them.  A third story was a monologue by the monster that lives under the bed.  The stories were all printed in the program, so you could compare the source material with the adaptation.

The 55 minute show had 15 stories in it, performed by a cast of 7 or so plus a musician who provided musical sound effects for all the shows. The costumes and props are relatively minimal (although there was a unicorn head that was fantastic as a mask.  The acting was fine and entirely servicable, although perhaps a touch too broad all the time.  It would have been nice to see on occasion, a lighter touch.  Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the acting is that it never makes fun of the subject matter.  The actors are there to serve the story, and they do.

This was an enjoyable show, and I'd highly recommend seeing a version of it if you get a chance.
(as I mentioned they will be doing an open ended run at the Neo Futurarium in the fall)

Find out more about Barrel of Monkeys and That's Weird Grandma

See a video about the process behind That's Weird Grandma

Semi- Circus  Murmurations

The next show we saw was a circus from new circus group Semi Circus.  Semi-Circus started in 2016 as a circus collective.  They use circus skills, physical theater, improv and other skills to create plays.  Murmurations is their first show.

The show starts off as a kind of therapy session.  A therapist comes in and asks an audience member if they have been working on what they talked about last week.  She then asks other audience members.  Slowly the company comes in, and each of them has a quirk.  Throughout the course of the show, each person stands forward to do their act as a way of dealing with/ expressing their quirk.

By the way, a murmuration is a formation of starlings that make complex and interesting formations as they fly.  This is a good word for this kind of work, as the actors murmurate (assuming it's a verb) as they display their skills and their foibles.

The show was a very lovely mix of circus and theatre.  There was a lot of comedy, some very impressive skills, and a lot of heart to the show.  One particularly moving part for me was when the therapist does her bit, which involved a talking belly (her own).  It was funny, brave, hilarious, and moving all at once.

The company is directed by local circus writer Kimzyn Campbell, and two of her children are in the show as well.  It reminded me a lot of the Montreal circus company Sept Droits de la Main (7 Fingers of the Hand), a group of young circus artists who have now built seven or eight shows that tour worldwide with a similar aesthetic.  The 7 Fingers are more virtuosic in their circus skills, but the ability to really share stories while in a handstand, or while juggling, or by doing barrel rolls is in some ways more important, and these young performers have that.

 I look forward to seeing the next iteration of either this show or a new one.
Find out more about Semi Circus on their facebook page.

Melody by Tiffany Lawson Dance

The last show we saw of the Chicago Fringe was Melody by Tiffany Lawson Dance.  Billed as an original superhero ballet, the show follows young dancer Melody, who has super powerful feet, and uses her dancing to vanquish bad guys.  Her friends include Hoops, Hugs, and Courage, and they help her to get through to defeat her evil twin Dissonance.  There is a live band, including a trombone player that was a lot of fun to watch and listen to.

Looking at their website, this looks like a show that they toured to Chicago libraries this summer. It seems like a great fit for a library's young audiences program.

However, my son is 9, and we were hoping for an actually choreographed superhero ballet, complete with lots of athletic moves and powers.  This was more like a way to get kids to see their first dance show.

Don't get me wrong, the show was great for the 3-5-year-old set, who got to dance, and sing, and see live music and dance being played out.  There were a lot of interactive little pieces, including a pre-show by one of the performers who is apparently also a kid's music singer, and he played some nice interactive songs (and plugged his CD!) During the show, director Tiffany was very proactive in making sure that kids would be included, would get up and dance, and helped encourage them.

This was listed as an all ages show, but without the participation element, I think the story, the performance, and the dancing were all too simplistic to be of much interest to non-parents or older kids.  If you have younger kids, though, I think this would be a lot of fun.  (My son would have loved it 6 years ago!)

Find out more about Tiffany-Lawson Dance on their website.  http://www.tiffany-lawson.com/

Apparently, they do a lot of stuff that is not kid oriented, and I'd be interested to see that sometime!

Well, that wraps up my Fringe reviewing this season (unless some of the later Fringe's in the season want to fly me out to their Fringe to do more reviews, put me up, pay my per diem, and a small stipend! (I am open for suggestions!)

Chicago Fringe Reviews: Day 2: Mistero Buffo, Dandy Darkly, and LoFi Records

For my second foray into the Chicago Fringe, I saw three shows on Friday night.  I was a little disappointed that none of the shows were particularly well attended. (I estimate that the 7 pm show I saw had 15 people, the 8:30 pm show had about 25, and the 10 pm show had 5.)  For a Friday night and for the quality of the offerings, this is too low.  Start Fringing people!  There are just two more days (including today!) to see shows for this year, and there's still lots of great stuff going on.

Here are reviews of the shows I saw last night:  (pardon any grammatical errors, I want to get the reviews out there.)


PLEASE NOTE: As with many of the theatre shows I review on this site, I did receive free entry to the shows with the hope that I would write about them.  My opinions remain my own, uninfluenced by the price.  I take my integrity seriously, and so should you.

(and if you want to read some of my other reviews of the Fringe, here they are:) Preview of Chicago Fringe 2017 Chicago Fringe Day 1:  Just Add Gravity, Underneath the Lintel, Mark Toland Mind reader. Chicago Fringe Day 2:  Mistero Buffo, Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth, LoFi Dance Records Chicago Fringe Day 3: That's Weird Grandma, Murmurations, Melody Superhero Ballet

Mistero Buffo performed by Panos Vlahos.

I was very excited to see this show, as I am a big fan of Dario Fo.  (In 1996, as part of Copenhagen Cultural city, I went to a conference by ISTA in Cultural Anthropology.  I went because Eugenio Barba, Jerzy Grotowski, and Dario Fo were all going to be in the same place at the same time.  Just after my conference, there was a Commedia Dell'arte Festival which I crashed, and I ended up taking a workshop with Dario Fo, and then basically just followed him to all of his events and performances.  In 1997 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.  Now, I am NOT saying that there is a causal connection between my studying with him and him winning the Nobel  I leave that for others to decide!  :O)  )

Mistero Buffo (The Clown Mysteries) is Dario's take on medieval mystery plays-- he tells stories and parables from the Bible from the clown's point of view.   I've watched Dario perform some of those pieces, both on video and in person, and Dario has a very light touch, so that he tells these stories in a way that is first funny, and secondly serious.  (Actually as a performer, I took this idea from watching Dario work:  To tell great stories from a vulgar point of view)

The comedy makes the tragedy very powerful, and leapfrogs what is possible if it were a straight tragedy (or even just a comedy)  This is what makes Dario's work so wonderful, it contains both tragedy and comedy, and the comedy is so funny that it knocks you down, and the tragedy is so strong it makes you cry, and if it hits you just right you are laughing and crying at the same time.  Dario performed this play in football stadiums during the 80's and 90's.



The show starts with a great promise.  The audience is in the round, and Panos has slipped into the circle.  While we are waiting for the show to begin, Panos asks somebody quietly "Are you here for the miracle?"  And he continues to ask this, of multiple members of the audience, and then through this he starts to tell his story.  And what is theatre if not a miracle?  As he starts to enact the miracle, he tells the story of how he was changed by Jesus, and then he starts to act out all of the parts.

Panos is a strong and supple actor with a lot of range.  He's graceful, he's handsome, and he has a winning personality.  His characterizations and his mime/physical body work are strong.  To say he is no Dario Fo is no insult, but after watching the show, I was still a little disappointed that he is no Dario Fo.

To my mind, the show was too strident too often, and Panos used his powerful physique and voice to hit the door, to yell, to run around without the subtlety that makes the sum more than its parts.  The show overstressed the tragic elements and didn't have a light enough touch for me.  Part of this is the presentation- Panos presents himself as a guy telling his story, and the stories are connected.  When Dario tells it, he tells it at a remove.  He is Dario Fo, putting on a character telling a story, and after the story he becomes Dario Fo again. And then tells you the next one.  Panos is the character from the start.

I still recommend seeing this show, as the acting work is strong, and the stories are great.  Perhaps the flaw is that I am too knowledgeable.  I wanted to see Dario Fo do this work again, and not a different interpretation.  (Which brings me to my favorite fortune cookie, which is often true for me, and seems apropos here:  The joy of what you have is lost by wanting more. )

One word of warning:  The age recommendation says G- general audiences, but there is at least one graphic scene in which a man's wife is raped in front of him.  The F word is used several times, and I am glad that I didn't have my 9-year-old son with me for that.

There are two more shows in the Chicago Fringe,  Saturday, Sep 9, 2017 @ 5:30pm and Sunday, Sep 10, 2017, @ 2:30 pm.  Find out more here:  http://chicagofringe.org/shows/mistero-buffo/

Find out more about Panos and his show at http://www.misterobuffo.com

And here's a taste of Dario Fo, performing The Resurrection of Lazarus in Italian for Italian TV in the early 1990s.  Stick with it.  Even though you might not understand Italian, he's still great!

 

Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth

Dandy's poster from the Edinburgh Fringe

Dandy Darkly has no more shows in the Chicago Fringe (he's moving on to San Francisco this week and Charm City Fringe in Baltimore after that)  But I want to make sure I review the show because it is great and well worth seeing for my readers in those areas.

Dandy is an alt cabaret performer, performing stories behind a musical backbeat, with drums and music and sound effects backing up what he's saying.  It's kind of what I imagine a hipster beat poetry reading being like, if hipster beat poets were flamboyantly gay, dressed in outrageously Fabulous clothing, adorned themselves with glitter, and replaced their "cool" vibe with a rococo vibe.

His words are florid and over the top, which matches his costume and glitter makeup, and that matches his personality.   Over the top is only bad when it is not filled, and Dandy does a great job of filling it all up.

The show was well-rehearsed, and his character was fabulous, but it was the words that seemed to me to be the stars of the show. His writing is in a loose scansion with enough rhyme to make me know that he was speaking poetry but not so strong that I was distracted by the scansion.  It was just right.


The stories he told went back and forth from a VR addicted college professor to a Russian dog who hates cats.  A recurring character was Cha-Cha the caveman, the first gay caveman who invented story and song and the wheel (and although not mentioned) probably glitter.  There were lots of laugh lines.

I didn't see a live band, but at the end of the show he thanked his musicians, as well he should because the music was exceedingly well timed.  It was so well timed that it made me wonder if he somehow traveled with live musicians.  (Knowing the economics of the Fringe, I highly doubt that)

There were just 25 people or so in the audience, and I felt like this show should have completely sold out.  Everybody I talked to mentioned it as one of their favorite shows of the Fringe.

Here's a little taste for you:  If you are in the area, definitely check it out!

Find out more at http://www.dandydarkly.com

  

LOFI DANCE RECORDS: Choreography by Halie Bahr

The last show of the evening I attended was LoFi Dance Records, a set of 3 dances created and performed by 4 female choreographers from Minneapolis.  They met at a dance program in Wisconsin, graduated in 2015, and are now working together in Minneapolis.

The show was relatively brief (30 minutes or so) and ended with a very earnest Q and A.  There were only 5 people in the audience, and two of them were friends of one of the dancers, so it was a very light turnout.  I've completely been there as a performer.  (One of my first solo shows, the opening night audience consisted of my aunt and uncle from Boston, the stage manager's friend, and the reviewer for the Providence Journal.  Tough crowd!)

The dances were interesting and abstract and played a lot with meeting and connection.  The first piece was a work in progress, and one thing I thought was very interesting was the fact that the dancers were checking in with each other a lot, and even touching each other.  At first, I thought it was maybe because they were unsure of the choreography, and that might have been part of it, but I also felt it was a deliberate choice.  So much modern dance doesn't include actual connections between the people, as they tend to focus on the movement and not on the person behind the movement.

The dances were pretty athletic and had some interesting movement.   I found it refreshing. At the Q and A, I asked about the process, and they mentioned that some of the dances came about through playing games and that fun of playing games shone through.  The dancers are young and talented, but I wanted a little more physical virtuosity and precision then I saw.   My suggestion to the choreographer is to get EVEN more precise, even more varied, and to make sure that all of the dancers are completely in synch.  The sync was broken a couple of times, and for me, that ruined the symmetry.  Still, well worth watching, and a different kind of show for the Fringe.

They have one more show at the Fringe- Saturday at 4 pm

Get tickets here: http://chicagofringe.org/shows/lofi-dance-records/
Find out more about their work at https://haliebahr.com/

AFTER THE SHOWS, 

I went back to the bar and had a great conversation with Randy Ross of the show Chronic Single's Handbook.  He's got two more shows in the Fringe tonight and tomorrow night, and although I won't get a chance to see his show, I wanted to shout him out.  (But don't bring the kids!)

See it if you can, and if not here, he's  performing next week in Elgin, Illinois's Fringe Festival.

THE CHRONIC SINGLE’S HANDBOOK

by Randy Ross

from Somerville, MA

About This Show

A chronically-single guy takes a trip around the world hoping to change his luck with love. The show offers an unflinching look at how men feel about sex, love, marriage, and massage parlors. Adult situations, adult language, and more adult situations including a visit to a body spa named The Curious Finger.

“Fun to watch. Four stars” (review from Winnipeg fringe festival)

“Literary” “Funny” “Raw” (from DC fringe festival)

“Sharply funny… a quality solo show” (from Edinburgh fringe festival)

Find out more here:  http://chicagofringe.org/shows/the-chronic-singles-handbook/

REVIEW: Fringing on Theatre- 3 shows in 1 night!

As I mentioned in my preview of the Chicago Fringe, the best way to Fringe is to see a lot of shows.  I did just that on the first day and saw 3 shows, all at the same venue.  Here are my reviews of the shows I've seen so far.

 I'm going out of town for Labor Day, so am coming back next week, and my plan is to see 7 or 8 more shows as I can.  I'll try to review them all, both because I want to support the Fringe concept and because it's important for artists to get reviews of their work.

PLEASE NOTE: As with many of the theatre shows I review on this site, I did receive free entry to the shows with the hope that I would write about them.  My opinions remain my own, uninfluenced by the price.  I take my integrity seriously, and so should you.

(and if you want to read some of my other reviews of the Fringe, here they are:) Preview of Chicago Fringe 2017 Chicago Fringe Day 1:  Just Add Gravity, Underneath the Lintel, Mark Toland Mind reader. Chicago Fringe Day 2:  Mistero Buffo, Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth, LoFi Dance Records Chicago Fringe Day 3: That's Weird Grandma, Murmurations, Melody Superhero Ballet

BRIAN MALOW: JUST ADD GRAVITY

The first show I saw was Brian Malow's Just Add Gravity.  Brian hails from North Carolina by way of Texas, and bills himself as "The Science Comedian."  I have to admit that I came into the show with a false notion.  Between the word Gravity in the title and the billing science comedian, I immediately assumed he was a juggler.

Word to the wise:  Brian is not a juggler!

Brian is, true to his billing, a science comedian. He tells jokes and stories about science, about his life growing up and how that relates to science, and other stuff as he thinks of it. (At one point he makes a point that I have been making since #drumpf got elected:  That it would be super ironic for a Jew like himself (or like me) to have to flee to Germany to escape the Nazis.  Full Circle!)

He made some great observations about the sun and about gravity. (The sun, by the way, a medium sized star at best, is 1,000,000 times larger than the size of the earth, which is mind-bogglingly huge. ) And that the sun's energy encompasses everything.  Your poop is sunshine, your voice is sunshine, everything in the world is there because of sunshine!  And gravity, according to Malow, is an attractive force that keeps us all together.  He also mentions birds and dinosaurs, and how on some level, Thanksgiving is an ode to eating dinosaurs.  Some great and pertinent and comic observations.

He also did a little banter with the audience (there happened to be a retired organic chemist in the audience and a music teacher, and they both asked some questions during the Question and answer period. ) After the show, he and an audience member started geeking out about stereo photography on Instagram.  Brian walks the walk and talks the talk.

Hello, Chicago! Hyperstereo from above. - #parallelview #stereopic #stereopair #stereoscopic #stereoscopy #3D #3Dphotography #stereophotography #parallel #3DCamera #insta3d #hyperstereo #hyperstereoscopy #hyperstereo3d #chicago #illinois #airplane #aerial

A post shared by Brian Malow (@sciencecomedian) on Aug 31, 2017 at 9:52am PDT

 The jokes in the show mostly hit their marks, and Brian has a likable persona. As he admits during the show, the show is not quite ready for prime time, but he is.  He had a music stand ready with notes about the show, and went into the bits, but occasionally lost his place, or missed the smooth transition into the next thing.  He's got five shows at the Fringe, and this was the first, and I'm guessing by #5 his show will be really smooth.  But go see him before that!  It will be worth your time!

Brian Malow has 4 shows left at the Fringe: Dates, Times, and Tickets
You can also find Brian online at http://www.sciencecomedian.com/

UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL PERFORMED BY PAT O'BRIEN

Underneath the Lintel is a play written by Glen Berger.  It's a tragicomedy about a dogged and OCD Librarian from somewhere in Holland who discovers a 123 year old overdue book and then risks his staid life to go out and follow the ensuing clues to solve this mystery.  Along the way we visit London, China, Germany, the United States, and a few other places with our fussy librarian, and learn a bit about his life, and the missed opportunities he's had.  Other things that figure strongly into the story are a dog named Zebrina, some very rotten clothes, true love, and the myth of the Wandering Jew.

The show is brilliantly acted by Pat O'Brien, a seasoned film and television actor with over 22 years of movie and television experience.  (He was Mr. Dewey on Saved By the Bell)   Pat moved 6 years ago to Minneapolis, and has been working in lots of theatrical shows since.  He's a marvelous character actor, and brings us along with him every step of the way.  There's also some really profound moments of theatre during the show.

The set is simple, and uses slides as a way to set the mood, and show us the world beyond, but because the lighting of the show is minimal at best, they are difficult to see.   He has other props that he uses to MUCH better effect.  If it were up to me, I'd cut the slides (which don't add much) and continue to add pieces of "lovely evidences" as the character calls them to solve the mounting mystery.

The play was originally scheduled to be performed on September 18, 2001 in New York, at the SoHo playhouse, but the events of September 11 made that rather difficult.  It did get a performance a day later on the 19nth.  The script has a lot in it and has an interesting if eccentric story arc.  I don't think the script 100% hung together, but the acting in the show made it work.  Pat's been touring this show for the last 5 years or so, and has won numerous Best of Fringe awards in various other fringes, and I think all of that hangs on the impressive character acting of Pat.

This show was the least attended of the shows, with about 15-20 people in the audience.

Pat has 4 more performances:  Dates, Times, Tickets
Find out more about the show at http://patobrientheatrics.com/

MARK TOLAND: MIND READER

The last show of the night was Mark Toland's mind reading show.  Mark is a personable, engaging and high energy performer.  He does most of his work in the corporate setting, and over the last year or so he's been branching out into more theatrical shows.  His show is full of audience interaction, and a lot of bringing the audience up on stage.  (I got singled out multiple times, and went up on stage once.)

He asked specifically for audience members not to reveal what went on during the show, to preserve the "mystery", and so I will honor that request.  I will say that like a lot of mentalist acts that I've seen, he seems to know stuff that shouldn't be possible for him to know.  Stuff that is not google-able.

I've seen other mentalists do many similar tricks, but (as he should) Mark does each of these tricks with his own style. More than one person was left amazed as he consistently was able to read his or her mind. How does he do it?  I have an inkling, but I'm not telling. Is he making educated guesses? Does he have a confederate? Is it really magic? Does he have extra sensory powers?   I am sure that the latter is not true, but the others, well, that's the mystery.  You will have to see the show for yourself to decide.

The show is fun and engaging.  In addition to the tricks, Mark is funny and he puts the show in context with several personal stories. His show has had a number of sold out shows at the Orlando Fringe and the Frigid Festival in New York, and is  polished, and well worth seeing.

Mark's got a ton of videos on his website showing his work.  I think one that is very indicative of the theatrical aspect of what he does is his TEDX talk. (found on his website in the videos section)



Mark has 6 more shows at the Fringe: Dates, Times, and Tickets
Find out more about Mark on his website:  http://www.marktoland.com/

After the show I hung out at the designated late night bar. The Windsor Tavern (4530 N. Milwaukee).  There was a small but friendly Fringe contingent. There I met the chief trustee of the church which houses two of the five venues for this year's fringe, the executive director of the festival, and a couple of performers, including Mark and his friend Justin, another magician who isn't in the Fringe this year.  Beers were drunk, stories were told, friendships were made.  This is what the Fringe is all about!

Would love to hear your stories and reviews of the Chicago Fringe.  Please post links or reviews in the comments!

How Do you Fringe? Chicago Fringe starts this weekend!

The Chicago Fringe starts its 8th annual festival this weekend!

If you don't know about the Fringe movement, you should!  Fringe is an international movement that started close to 50 years ago in Edinburgh, and has since spread across Canada and the United States.

Fringe festivals are great ways for independent artists to tour their shows across the world.  The festival takes care of all the pesky details (having a tech person, renting a theatre, etc) and the artists typically get 100% of the door (artists pay a producing fee up front)  In Chicago, audiences also pay for  a one time $5 membership button that helps support the festival, and then all box office revenues go to the artists.

During the 10 days of its operation, the festival will present over 50 artists from around the country (and right here in Chicago also!) in over 200 performances using 5 venues in the Jefferson Park area.  That's a lot of shows!


The shows in Chicago are chosen by lottery, so it's a little bit of mixed bag of what will be performing.  With 50 shows though, there's usually something for everyone, and this year is no different.

Tickets are $8-10 each, depending on if you buy a multipack.  You can also buy an all access pass for $175.  Please remember you also need to purchase a membership button for $5 to gain admission to all the shows.  You buy the membership button once, and it's good for the entire festival.

The best way to Fringe 

• Devote a couple of days to the festival.  Buy a multi-pack of shows, which will bring your price down.  
• Go with friends or family.  It's great to experience 4 or 5 shows together.  It will give you a shared vocabulary like nothing else.  
• Go to as many different shows as you can.  Some will be great, some will be less than great.  All of them will be supporting individual artists doing their work, and that's a good thing. 
• Don't be discouraged.  Some of the shows will be (to be polite) not your cup of tea. Do your best to select stuff you will like, but be adventurous.  That's where the reward lies.
• Hang out at Fringe Central.  My best memories of Fringe festivals have been meeting potential audience members, other artists, and having a drink or a meal with a bunch of strangers brought together by their love of theatre.

I'm profiling a few shows from this year's festival that strike me as great for families and kids, and I'll also preview a couple of shows that are more for adults.  I haven't seen these shows (yet) but I've performed in a number of Fringe festivals, and seen hundreds of Fringe shows, so I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.  But I also like to be surprised!

GREAT FOR FAMILIES

KIDS FRINGE The Chicago Fringe is for all ages, but is doing a pretty good job of trying to aim for the family set as well.  For kids under 12, they are producing a series of Kid Fringes, with workshops, arts and crafts, games and small performances.  Expect a lot of storytelling and some fun workshops for kids. There are 5 different afternoons of activities: Click here to find out more and purchase tickets.

MELODY Is an original superhero ballet with live music.  Presented by Tiffany Lawson Dance (from right here in Chicago), the show features a superhero who fights crime through the sound waves of her dancing  shoes. But watch out when her evil twin enters the arena and threatens a family reunion. Click here to find out more and purchase tickets

MURMURATIONS Five friends in a support group gather together to talk about their quirks, and use circus, puppetry, dance, and physical theatre to work and bond together.  Produced by Semi-Circus, a Chicago company of interdisciplinary circus artists. Click here to find out more and purchase tickets

EAST OF THE SUN WEST OF THE MOON This Scandinavian folk tale uses layered vocals to weave story, song, and poetry to bathe the audience in the winds and magic of ancient Norway.  Produced by the Hnossa Project of Brooklyn NY, it has had sold out runs and great reviews in New York City and Rochester NY. Click here to find out more and purchase tickets

EDNA THE STOMPER Edna The Stomper is an all ages musical about a  7 year old kid who stomps everywhere she goes and drives her family crazy! Features songs, stomps, and some puny monster puppets.  This is the world premiere, written by Chicago local Laura Toffenetti and directed and produced by Sarah Sutliff of New York's Rebel Playhouse. Click here to find out more and purchase tickets

GREAT FOR ADULTS

DANDY DARKLY MYTH MOUTH I'm friends with Dandy Darkly on facebook, and he's a legend in New York City as kind of an alt-cabaret R-Rated clown/storyteller. This will be his first show at the Chicago fringe, and it will explore religion, addiction and social media obsession via satiric tales concerning a heroin-chic Persephone, Cosmopup Laika, virtual reality revelations and humanity’s premiere popinjay, Cha-Cha the Caveman, all set to an original musical score. Don't miss this (and don't bring the kids!) Click here to find out more and purchase tickets

MISTERO BUFFO This show from New York won the 2016 Best Physical Theater Show at the United Solo Theater Festival and the Encore Producer's Award 2017 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Based on stories of the Bible re-told by Nobel Prize winning clown Dario Fo, this looks like another definite don't miss!  It says it is good for all ages, but the ideas in the show are pretty radical, if they are staying true to Dario Fo. Click here to find out more and purchase tickets

There are many other shows, that I'd like to feature, including Mark Toland's mind-reading show (back for the third time to the Fringe!), Underneath the Lintel by television actor Pat O'Brien, and With the Weight of the World on her Shoulders, a mythological play by the Chicago Iowa Theatre Collective.  

But I've run out of space and time.  Go check out the Fringe site for yourself, and Fringe Fringe Fringe!