AT THE FRINGE - WE ARE THE WHOLE CAST

Late post. I got an early Covid booster yesterday since we’re traveling abroad soon and it knocked me out.  Anyway, another favorite show. Carmen Guynn and Ieshah Edwards presented a series of poignant scenes, each with a different character. 

They include: a formerly enslaved woman who channels resilience through a Bomba dance; a warm-hearted waitress; a Bible-toting and liquor flask carrying neighborhood matron; a broom-carrying sass machine; a 16 year old with an intellectual disability who  finds pride and joy in her work and love of beans; a former Broadway star who receives a lifetime achievement award; and an unapologetic woman of the night who uses humor and grit to confront judgment and survive.

Sorry  for the streakiness. Digital projectors and digital cameras don’t play well together. 

                      

AT THE FRINGE - MIDSUMMER NIGHT: A TALE OF PUCK

Potosi, Missouri, is a small town 72 miles / 116 km southwest of St. Louis. It was the center of a lead mining region and has fallen on hard times. Nevertheless, there is a wonderful organization called Sonder Performance Company that gives local girls an opportunity to participate in sophisticated music and dance productions and take the shows on tour. This show was derived from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, centered on Puck finding her identity. It was the most charming thing I’ve seen in a long time and I could not resist the temptation to show several pictures.

AT THE FRINGE - MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME

Yes, just like the line in the Beatles song. In fact, someone comes out before the play starts with a guitar and sings Let It Be. The one act drama is a staged reading, with the actors sitting, scripts in hand, and reciting their parts. Only the woman in the center wears something like a costume. Her name is Abby (get it?), she is a bit deranged, considers the Blessed Mother to be her mentor and occasionally kills people by whacking them on the head with the statue. Well, it’s experimental.                 

AT THE FRINGE - NEWSAM AERIAL DANCE

One of my favorite acts at the Fringe is Martha Newsam and her aerial dance troupe.  The grace and peacefulness are almost indescribable. Here, Martha herself begins the recital, with her accomplished students soon to follow.             

AT THE FRINGE - RHINESTONES AND FRINGE, QUEENS OF COUNTRY

 

Singer Toni Finch returned this year with a country music review featuring the songs of Dolly Parton and another female star whom I didn’t know and whose name I can’t remember. (Sorry. I don’t go too far with Country & Western, being more Urban & Eastern. My western roots are that I was born on the West Side of Manhattan.) Lots  of the audience wore cowboy hats and boots, and stood up and cheered.         

AT THE FRINGE - CAM BURNS

 

Cam Burnes is a talented singer-songwriter from Kansas City, now studying songwriting and sound recording at Webster University in STL. This is his second year performing at The Fringe. Listen to some  of his work at the link. There was a bit of drama in his show.                  

AT THE FRINGE: THERE’S SOMETHING I MUST TELL YOU

A play set in the State Hospital For The Insane in Jamestown, North Dakota. A young writer, expecting a child, visits a mental hospital established in the 19th Century on the lonely prairie. She is researching the lives of the early patients, many filled with tragedy. Working into the night, the writer is visited by their spirits, including her own great grandmother.