The Queerest Minnesota Fringe Possible: A Guide

Minnesota Fringe Festival is back again this year, and we all know what that means: some of the most innovate, hilarious, unsettling, and thought-provoking theater of the year is just around the corner. The Fringe Festival is known for including genres of all kinds, its occasional irreverence, and its often low-budget, high-creativity content. Whether it’s one person shows, short form interpretations of classic theater, puppets, dance, or silly musicals, you’re sure to strike metaphorical gold at most (if not all) Fringe performances. And honestly, you might leave some a little disturbed or confused or even unimpressed. That’s the fun of Fringe.

We here at Lavender have a goal of experiencing the queerest possible Minnesota Fringe Festival this year and we figured that some of our readers might be similarly inclined. In that spirit, sorted in alphabetical order by venue, we have created a roundup of every production that includes LGBTQ themes just for you.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival runs from August 1-11 at theaters (and other interesting venues) across Minneapolis. For more information on showtimes, tickets, passes, and the rest of the shows at Minnesota Fringe this year go to their website, listed below.  

Here’s hoping that we run into each other at a show or three!

American School of Storytelling

More Better Stories (American School of Storytelling)

9 nights/ 18 engaging stories from 5 exceptional raconteurs – Marie Cooney, Howard Lieberman, Loren Niemi, Leslie Polk and Sufian Zhemukhov – in the American School of Storytelling’s 1762 Hennepin Ave theater.

Barbara Barker Center for Dance

Antistrophe to an Andro-Sapphic Tragedy (Greta Mae Geiser)

A poetic Neo-Greek tragedy that is at the same time enormous and intimate — a reflection on female sexuality, bodily autonomy, and all the things we hold sacred in a world eager to strip us of our agency.

Bryant Lake Bowl

Open Tab (Communal Beverage)

A sketch show by a group of Chicago trained actors and comedians, about family dynamics, coming of age nightmares, and our absurd insecurities!

The Corner Bar – Underground

A Monster Scientist and a Tattooed Anarchist Walk into a Bar (Mermaid Productions) 

“Two of the twin cities finest solo performers share a stage – only it’s small so they have to alternate! 5 Monster Science shows! One Tattooed Anarchist in Covid Lockdown!”

Corner Coffee Uptown

Holy O (Lauren Hance of Out of Mind Productions)

Vera is contemplating becoming a nun, but can’t let go of her vibrators. Step into the role of “saint,” and help Vera make the biggest decisions of her life, starting with what shirt to wear.

HUGE Improv Theater

Becoming My Mother: The Other Origin Story (The Other Jeannie Retelle)

Scared of turning into your mother? Through drag & storytelling, this show examines intergenerational connections, breaking cycles & embracing the cycles you can’t break. Think Norman Bates, but make it funny.

Boy Soprano (Henry Golden-Starr)

A musical comedy revue by transgender actor, Henry Golden-Starr (BOOMBOX, 2017 Fringe) that explores gender, creativity, the human voice, and childhood through the lens of a children’s television show.

Kaleidoscope (Black and Foxy Co)

Mixed Blood Theatre

5 Episodes of Minnesota Tonight; 4 Minnesota Fring3, it’s Minnesota 2Night’s 1st Time at Minnesota Fringe (Denzel Belin Presents)

Minnesota Tonight brings music, comedy, sketch, interviews, games and more to the table! Highlighting and celebrating Minnesota and the talent and excellence that is here, there is five unique shows to see!

Transition: A Story of Two Trans People Becoming Themselves (Emily Boyajian)               

Open Eye Theatre

Beanie Baby Divorce Play (Melancholics Anonymous)

At the peak of the Beanie Baby craze, a family’s messy divorce case is turned upside down when an ancient, hungry entity known as the Beanie Thing appears…

I Favor My Daddy: A Tale of Two Sissies (Jamie Brickhouse)

A gay, alcoholic son uncovers the truth about his martini and bikini loving conservative father in this darkly comic, intimate, enthralling show that shines new meaning on the old question: “Who’s your daddy?”

Secrets Under the Christmas Tree: A Deedee Wallaby Mystery (Deft Pictures)

A typical Christmas party descends into mayhem when mysterious gifts appear that threaten to reveal secrets for all in attendance. But have no fear for Deedee Wallaby is on the case! 

VILE (Francesca Montanile Lyons)

Pizza, Disaster, Butthole! VILE is a funny, surprising, disgusting, and tender clown-and-buffon-driven exploration of muddling through depression, surviving rape culture, and drowning in modernity.

Phoenix Theater

Close Call: A How-Not-To Guide to Being a POS (Navel Gaze Productions) 

A one-man show exploring the paths not taken, and the darkness that they could have led to. Why did we become what we are, when it would be so easy to be something else?

Francis Grey and the Case of His Dead Boyfriend: a One-Man Whodunnit (nayXnay productions)

Francis Grey & the Case of His Dead Boyfriend is a one-man whodunnit that explores the concepts of family, love, justice, and revenge. How far will he go to get justice for someone he loves?

The Ribs of Humanity at Campbell Plaza

The Wind Phone (Broken Wing Productions)

Set in a quiet Minnesota park, characters use a broken phone, not connected to any earthly system, to “call” their loved ones in hopes of finding the peace and solitude grievers need to work through their pain. These are the stories the wind will carry to those they love who have gone ahead. 

The Southern Theater

How to Train a Queen (A Shakespeare Playground)

This play-in-a-play explores the youthful Queen Margaret d’Anjou at the dawn of the Wars of the Roses. Tavern guests at The Wife of Bath Inn step into characters, led by a traveling falconer who knew her well. 

PARTS (Mikala Bierma) 

Hot off a sold-out run at Bryant Lake Bowl, PARTS is a triumphant celebration of being a parent, person, and performer. It’s 60 minutes of legitimately hilarious material created by a powerhouse comic. 

Strike Theater

“Cli-Mate ‘Just’-Us”: Renewable Comedy Meets Gay Love Adventure (Clear Power Vision)

Intelligent humor that culminates in a gay erotic fiction scene constructed solely from climate & clean energy terms, piecing profound connections between both social movements into a quilt of nonstop laughs.

A Material Boy Living In A Madonna World! (Jason Schommer)

Life lessons of a pop icon through the eyes of a super fan!

Stroke of Genius: Pantomime Masturbation Throughout Performing Arts History (Boiled Horse Productions)

Theatre in the Round

Juliet & Juliet: Improvised Shakespeare (Juliet & Juliet)

Juliet & Juliet improvise eloquent, oddball, feminist Shakespeare. They love language. They love murdering one another. They definitely love empowering female characters more than Will did.

Minnesota Fringe Festival
August 1-11, 2024
Select theaters across Minneapolis
minnesotafringe.org