A Queer Director’s Perspective on “boom” / A Regional Premiere at Minnesota Fringe Festival

A Craigslist listing for “Sex to Change the Course of the World” is the jumping-off point of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s play, boom. When a journalism student answers the vortex itself seems to shift. Sara Marsh, the actress known for her sparkling performances in gay playwright Adam Bock’s comedies for Dark and Stormy plays alongside Daniel Flohr and Sadie Plendl under the direction of Melanie “Mel” Day.

Day shares that “as a queer director, I tend to gravitate towards telling stories with queer themes and characters. When I stumbled upon this play, I found myself laughing out loud–quite rare for me especially with LGBTQ stories which tend to be macabre. As I researched, I was shocked to learn that no one had produced this play yet here in the Twin Cities, and I wanted audiences here to experience this important and vibrant story. Mr. Nachtrieb uses brilliantly timed dialogue to pose some serious questions about the purpose of our existence: what would we be willing to do save our own lives? Our species? Why? I love stories that use humor to make me think critically, and I wanted to share this one about the essence of our humanity.”

boom
through Aug. 10
Playwrights Center, 2301 E. Franklin Av., Mpls.
www.fringefestival.org