Filling in the gaps 08/11/2013 - 2:43am

The last time I was at Intermedia Arts, I had biked over from St. Paul along the Greenway and gotten horrifically lost since I was exhausted from working a full day mulching and planting, had no smart phone or map, and several exits were inexplicably closed. Funnily enough, it was for the Fringe Festival itself: my very own volunteer orientation in 2012. But hey, this is a pretty good gig too (thanks, Alan). I was pleased to find that this time, having bussed over, I enjoyed the space a lot more. A stroke of good luck and some amazing coordination between Ann Erickson of the Fringe and the House Manager at Intermedia saved a ticket under my name (sort of: “Lisa Who”) for yet another sold-out performance of To Mars with Tesla or The Interplanetary Machinations of Evil Thomas Edison. The entire lobby was packed. The line circled around every wall, snaking around to the house door. Anticipation was high for this one and I was psyched to be a part of it all. Walking in close to the end of the line, I scrambled for a seat near the back. Clearly over 100 people, yet only two people of color--including this one herself. Curious. Not sure what to expect, scared I stumbled into a crowd of scientist types--I mean, these folks were willingly spending their Friday nights here seeing some show on Tesla? Yikes. My former computer science professor godfather might be better suited for this performance than myself. And the show is off and running. The silent film stylized cue cards, the jaunty and familiar music, the physicality and clarity of these performers elevated this silent performance into a truly remarkable and unbelievably hilarious piece. The audience never stopped laughing, never broke from this world, and never gave up on the show. That is the sheer beauty of movement-based work: you do not allow the audience to disengage. You hook them and they have to soak in the performance with every sense together to enjoy and understand and gobble up the world laid before them. You feed them just enough to keep them interested and not overwhelmed. What brilliant work. I do not want to give away a thing but suffice it to say that this show has won the Audience Pick for a reason: GET TICKETS NOW. You will laugh and be surprised and this strong cast will win you over instantly with their humor, slapstick, and relatability. Go, go, go!