Local artist Toni Finch performed a show based on the women's suffrage movement and modern feminism. It was such a hit at last year's festival that she returned for an encore. The music included Helen Reddy's I Am Woman, Lesley Gore's You Don't Own Me and Loretta Lynn's The Pill. It included a sing along about women's votes to the tune of Yankee Doodle. Beautiful singing, moving event.
My friend Kevin Bowman has a long history with the Fringe. He served as technical director for several years but had a story in him he wanted to get out. Our executive director, Matthew Kerns, urged him to put it to paper and thus Heretic came to be. Kevin was raised in an evangelical fundamentalist church and, being an excellent speaker, was steered into preaching. It became a career but with time, over-commitment, hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance destroyed his marriage and almost destroyed him. He left his past and started a new life. The story was told with tenderness and roaring humor..
I had never thought of areal dance as an art form, but it certainly is. Newsam Aerial Dance, https://newsamaerialdance.com/, featured amazingly strong and graceful women performing above the floor on the ring seen here, trapeze and large, flowing sheets of fabric. It was wonderful to see choreography unfolding in the air.
Humans of St. Louis, https://www.humansofstl.org/, is an organization that collects photographs and life stories to the people who live in our area. It's on social media and there is a book collecting the tales and images. Now there is a stage version that received its premier at The Fringe last night. Each player spoke for several characters, talking about the good and sometimes the bad of living here.
Last night was the opening of the St. Lou Fringe, https://www.stlfringe.org/ . Performing arts fringe festivals started in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1947 (https://www.edfringe.com/) and now have local versions around the world.
Our first performance was The Oreo Complex, a powerful one woman show by Lillian Brown about being Black, intelligent and sensitive in white American society. Oreo is a term that plays on the name of the popular cookie, black on the outside and white on the inside. It's a strong metaphor for the experience of many Americans.
