The Pre-Fringe Battle Plan

So, if you're just tuning in for the first time, or if you need a bit of a refresher, let me share this with you... I do not have any control over what I see in the Fringe Festival. I go to randomly determined shows as set by a bunch of charts and the roll of a 20-sided die. It's a lot of fun, and sometimes I get to see brilliant things that never would have crossed my radar otherwise. It's also a scheme that allows me to avoid the political pitfalls of having to choose one show over another (but, more on that in another column entry).

Well, as a writer, I often enjoy a little bit of control over what I write, so last year I devised a plan. A simple plan, but a plan nevertheless. I would feature 4 plays and follow their development pre-Fringe. All the way up to opening. Once the festival was open, I didn't cover them again, unless the roll of the dice let me. But, I got to know a lot about those four shows, and I got to share that with you all.

So... I've opted to do that same thing again. Only, this year, I've upped the number to 6 productions that I'll be covering. That means that every few days you'll get an update about a show and how it is making the journey to Fringedom. Here's the list of shows that I'll be featuring:

-- "The Cat Came Back" by Zealots & Mystics

-- "The Depths of the Ocean" by Perpetual Motion Thearte Company

-- "Screwed to the Sticking Place" by Commedia Beauregard

-- "Monsters in America" by Chameleon Theatre Circle

-- "Baggage" by PNT Theater Company

-- "Dancing Rats & Vampire Moms: Tales of Dangerous Love" by Hardcover Theatre

So... There's the list. These ones will get weekly coverage from me (let's be honest: I'm shooting for weekly, but my schedule will get pretty full, so it'll reallly be every-other-week in all likelihood). I'll also do some one-shot stories on plays that pique my interest prior to the festival. After that, I'm back to the good ol' random determination thing.

I'm starting the feature articles tomorrow, so look back then for a bit about The Cat Came Back.

Now for some short snippets from nowhere about nothing in particular:

I went to The Vagina Monologues this past weekend. It is normally done for the sake of fundraising on behalf of an organization that helps prevent violence against women. This year's beneficiaries are a group of folks called "Comfort Women." To learn more about them... go here

"If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient." -- A line from a wall hanging in my room...from Children Learn What They Live By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

Ready to learn and think about a bit of normally useless knowledge?! Let's hear it for Hooked on Facts = "Pierce Brosnan once worked with the circus as a fire eater!" -- One of the women in The Women (Opening this weekend at the 4th Street Theatre in St. Paul), has fire eating listed as a Special Skill on her resume. I've got to ask her more about that. I have no idea how one even gets started with such a thing. I recently started juggling, and all I had to do was pick up three balls and start tossing them around. Does a novice fire eater merely find a burning object and place it in their mouth?

It's time to do laundry!

My Spring term is coming to a close at UNO. A few people have asked me about the program that I'm in recently, so here's a link: UNO Low-Res MFA

"Unswallow" has got to be the most disgusting euphemism for vomitting I've ever heard. Yuck!

I'm Henry the 8th, I am!