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2026 Audience Reviews
Member Reviews
The following reviews were submitted by Fringe Member: Cubby Steven
Company: Hey Rube!
Show: So Bright, the Night
Venue: The Southern Theater
Well done, really builds the tension
How Bright the Night tells a simple but wrenching story, with a few plot twists that grabbed me by the throat. Excellent performances all around, and really good use of the confined space to build up the suspense. I have to say, I don't think the ending was wholly believable, almost a little too easy a way out of what was otherwise a great show.
Company: Third Space Theater
Show: BE NOT AFRAID
Venue: The Southern Theater
I thought it lost its way
Reading the other reviews, I have to wonder if I was watching the same play. The notion of a play using a mythic framework to address the tension between the vultures of the Dakota oil fields and those trying to be custodians of the land, and an agrarian way of life ... good impulse, but the story totally lost me. Some good performances helped, but whole "savior" thing never made a stitch of sense. Sorry.
Company: Combustible Company
Show: Machinal
Venue: The Southern Theater
This HAS to be one of the Fringe's best!
Machinal tells a compelling and still timely story using beautifully choreographed stagecraft, with marvelous musical elements and potent performance by lead actor Sara Pladson. It is amazing that Renee Hatton created this adaptation of Sophie Tredwell's classic play, and also directed it - in her directorial debut. It is staged with wit, efficiency, and an eye for stunning stage imagery. Try not to miss it.
Company: Deanne McDonald / The Traveling Players
Show: Sisters on Stage: An elder millennial’s exploration of Shakespeare’s sisters
Venue: Mixed Blood
Sisters on Stage reveals a wonderful talent
For the show’s forty-five minutes, MacDonald shares anecdotes regarding those family relationships, using them as the springboard to the next couple of excerpts from Shakespeare. The transitions are accompanied by pop music from the 1990s, and early 2000s, with such artists as Joan Jett, Brittney Spears, Spice Girls and Taylor Swift. This seems meant to bring us back to MacDonald’s adolescent, teen, and young adult years, the time frame in which her family stories are set – and she is openly enjoying herself, boogying to the tunes while changing into costumes hung from the coat trees on either side of the stage. Those family stories are told in the open-handed tone of a couple of friends exchanging stories from their past. These are endearing, but not particularly moving, nor do they develop a pattern that offers any kind of overarching thesis on the nature of sibling relationships. However, the excerpts from Shakespeare’s works are wonderfully enacted, as McDonald transforms into about a dozen different characters. Sisters on Stage is a wholly enjoyable introduction to the range of sisters Shakespeare has created. I have considered his characters grouped as heroes and villains, or as parents and children, or as lovers, or as fools, but not given much notice to the many siblings in his catalogue. So many sisters … brothers too (The Tempest, A Comedy of Errors, and let’s not get started on the history plays) but that would be a different show. The play also opens a window upon Deanne McDonald’s marvelous talent. I would happily see her play any of those roles in a full production of the plays from which they spring. If one purpose of the Fringe Festival is to showcase unsung talent in our theater community – and I believe it is -- Sisters on Stage handily passes muster as a substantial Fringe success story.