Fringe Festival Turns Student Theatre Upside Down: Review

Theatre and dance students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point showcased their talents on Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17 at the annual Fringe Festival.

The two-hour performance, which included six student written, directed and performed plays and two student choreographed and performed dances was put on by the UWSP Players Student Artistic Alliance.

Every year, the festival has a different theme. This year, the theme was “Upside Down.” The performances in the show all revolved around this theme.

The opening act, “Pure One Imports,” centered around a couple accusing an interior designer of hanging their bathroom mirror upside down. Right after the flustered designer stormed out, the girlfriend realized the mirror was hung correctly, after discovering it was from Pure One Imports.

This humorous scene was followed by “Sound of Horns,” a heartwarming exchange between a father and daughter. Reluctant at first to allow his daughter to go off to war, the father soon realized his daughter’s undeniable devotion to fighting for her country’s freedom. The play was heartwarming and empowering, as the daughter defied the gender roles of the time.

The final play of the act, “Something,” was an emotional scene between two brothers as they tried to figure out what to do with their drug-abusing mother after her ex-boyfriend had left prison and beat her. The first act ended with a dance piece entitled “A Dash of Pink.”

The second act opened with “The Breakup Game,” a hilarious game show where three male contestants attempted to woo a beautiful blonde with their breakup tactics. This was followed by “Symptoms,” a hair-raising play about a woman’s boyfriend denying their apartment was haunted and blaming his girlfriend’s anxiety for what she was seeing and hearing. The boyfriend was in for quite a fright. This was followed by a dance performance entitled “Convalescence,” which was followed by the final play of the night, “Ability.” In this play, a husband was faced with a difficult decision of whether to get risky treatment in Russia for his MS, or to let it deteriorate his body. The audience was left questioning if he took the treatment.

Overall, the Fringe Festival had something for everyone. Each play and dance performance was unique and beautifully produced and performed. The Fringe Festival is a wonderful event to showcase the talents of UWSP students. Congratulations for your achievements, fellow Pointers!

 

Shannon Columb
Reporter
shannon.t.columb@uwsp.edu

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