Hey there SU-pies*

​We just got back from a fantastic Fringe Festival and boy are our arms tired! We had so much fun playing with you guys and hope you had a blast running around a park, following our merry band of actors. In fact, maybe in between swatting mosquitoes and being intriguingly horrified by Gayle's very-special-spit-take you thought "Wouldn't it be fun to take part in that merry band?"    

While the king is away we put on a play! Odysseus has been missing for over 10 years, but that doesn't mean we can't PAR-TAY. Join Penelope and watch as her motley crew of suitors try to scheme, perform, and race their way into her heart: 

​Penelope is the best hostess. Ever since her husband left (she's still not technically for sure single, though) she's been throwing parties left and right for all her suitors and maidens. She loves cantaloupe, champagne, her son, and putting off decision-making. 

With only a week to go until PENELOPE opens, we're getting mighty excited about the Minnesota Fringe Festival!

If you're unacquainted with the festival, here's the deal: Minnesota Fringe is a totally unique festival in the local performing arts scene because its lineup is completely unjuried: there is no selection panel that decides who deserves to perform, only a lottery. Producers ranging from seasoned theater vets to people who are brand new to the scene. And with over 160 shows in the festival, you have your work cut out for you deciding just what to see! 

New to the Fringe this year are wristbands, which serve as your pass to any show in the festival on a given day. Wristbands are $16 on weekdays; $22 on weekends. You can also reserve tickets to any show online. It's a good idea to brush up on their box office policies; you can read all about them here. 

​Okay. Ready to see some theater? Want some hints on where to start? Luckily, here at Savage Umbrella, we have a great group of company and cast members who were willing to bestow some of their top Fringe picks upon you, dear reader!  Be sure to check out:  
​

Know Your B-Movie Actors by The Miller Conspiracy

Derek Lee Miller (with the help of his personal bartender) brings you the weird lives of the working stiffs of Hollywood. They weren't famous, but they were there. A different collection of bios every night!

Because Derek Lee Miller is funny and smart as hell.
- Emily Dussault

Yeah. - Allison Witham

Catch it: Thu, 8/4 @ 8:30pm, Sat, 8/6 @ 7:00pm, Tue, 8/9 @ 10:00pm, Fri, 8/12 @ 8:30pm, Sat, 8/13 @ 10:00pm
Reserve your tickets

If you didn't notice, it's about a BAZILLION degrees out this week in the Twin Cities. 

And if you didn't know, we're currently rehearsing an OUTDOOR SHOW in Matthews Park called Penelope, as part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival August 4-14th

We did it once, and now we're doing it again - visiting the year 2066, in this second workshop presentation of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY this Friday. Slip back into this spinning world where natural resources are scarce, water is rationed, and souls are transferred, sliding between consciousnesses and bodies.

We’re halfway through our workshops for Intellectual Property, and so far, all I can say is it this show is about a heck of a lot of things. Power. Revolution. Leadership.  Water Scarcity. Betrayal. The FUTURE.  And most importantly, a future where Soul Transfer is possible. You wake up one day, and you’re you…. but you’re in another body.

​In our future world, there’s no magic soul switching à la Freaky Friday. There are physical consequences and moral betrayals attached to the procedure. And who benefits from it and who is exploited by it, personally and globally, is an ongoing question.
 
Soul Transfer is heady stuff. Like, this shit is literally metaphysical. ​It’s hard to talk too much about it without feeling like you’re on some existential trip.