Moline’s Black Box Theatre to hold first QC Fringe Festival
Burnishing its reputation for offering contemporary productions and theater most other venues in the region don’t, The Black Box Theatre in Moline is hosting its first Solo Fringe Festival (showcasing solo artists) at the end of this month.
The project – the first Fringe Festival in the Quad Cities — is being funded in part by Quad City Arts. There are roughly 300 Fringe fests around the world (led by the massive Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland), focusing on experimental and independent works, including in Chicago and Elgin, Ill. Admission for the BBT weekend fest is “Pay What It’s Worth” at the end of each performance.
Richard Roberts Jr.
The schedule of performances will be:
Friday, August 29 –
- Jeff Adamson – “Twisted Tales of the Quad Cities,” with Adamson relating fantastic stories, from a misplaced river to our local connection to the JFK assassination, these are stories you have probably never heard. Show Time – 3 p.m.
Jeff Adamson’s “Twisted Tales of the Quad Cities”
- “Rag Doll on a Bomb Site” —created and performed by Shelley Cooper (Augustana College associate professor of musical theatre), this is an original solo musical with dance, which has been performed at Hollywood Fringe Festival. A Hollywood Reporter review gave it a rave, saying it “weaves a poetic spell.” It’s opening night of The Threepenny Opera in Berlin, 1928, when Kurt Weill steps into Lotte Lenya’s dressing room and drops a bombshell that her name is not in the program. Absolutely furious, Kurt demands they cancel the opening night performance. Lenya laughs in his face. She has been through far worse than this in her traumatic past. Lotte Lenya grew up in a slum, beaten repeatedly by a cruel father, endured hunger and crushing poverty, rape, and repeatedly found herself in morally compromising positions as she struggled to survive and advance herself, according to a synopsis. She’s come so far, and now that she has her dream role, Kurt must allow her to go on stage. But will he? Nominated at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for “Best Dance and Physical Theatre Show,” infusing a new contemporary score composed by two-time off-Broadway award winner Cooper, and contemporary choreography, this solo musical dance show takes a gritty look at a woman who fled her abusive home, and survived adversity. Show time – 7:30 p.m.
Shelley Cooper’s “Rag Doll on a Bomb Site”
Saturday, August 30 –
- Ballet Quad Cities “Dance Me A Story” — Join Ballet Quad Cities and they read and dance to Shel Silverstein’s “Danny O’Dare, the dancin’ bear/Ran away from the County Fair/Ran right up to my back stair/And thought he’d do some dancin’ there.” Bring your children and experience Danny O’Dare with Emily Kate Long. Show Time – 3 p.m.
Ballet Quad Cities’ “Dance Me a Story”
- Paxton Sherbeyn– Join Paxton, a Quad Cities-based musician playing old blues, country, and soul tunes you haven’t heard for a while, as well as original compositions. Show time – 5 p.m.
Paxton Sherbeyn
- “American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace” —performed by Tom Mulligan, this is a one-act play about Wallace, the agricultural innovator and founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred seed corn company, who became U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and later Vice President and Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin Roosevelt. Named “the most influential Iowan of the 20th Century,” Wallace’s legacy includes accomplishments in science, journalism, business, academics, politics and humanitarian efforts. Show time – 7:30 p.m.
Tom Mulligan
Sunday, August 31 –
- Dan Haughey “EA POE: Edgar Allan Poe’s Imagination!” – Haughey, a Black Hawk College theatre professor emeritus, becomes a modern critic for a prominent metropolitan newspaper as he reflects on and illuminates — through the art of oral interpretation — the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe. Some of Poe’s greatest poems, short stories, and a satire or two, will be featured as Haughey both expresses the emotion of Poe’s works, and criticizes them in the guise of a skeptical rock and roll music critic. Show time – 3 p.m.
- Richard Roberts Jr. – Roberts is a Davenport-based writer and performer of original tunes in the genres of Americana/Folk/Country/Blues. Show time – 5 p.m.
Dan Haughey
- “Ro” — a one-women show by Elissa Dynes (an Annawan, Ill., native and 2023 University of Dubuque grad) exploring the complex gender dynamics and economic pressures that shape many relationships today. The story follows Ro, a 28-year-old woman, as she navigates emotional and financial hardships of being in a relationship, ultimately leading Ro to confront what she must do to put herself first, according to a synopsis. “Ro” is a contemporary adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s one-woman play, Before Breakfast. Developed as part of Dynes’ independent research project for her MFA in International Theatre Practice and Performance at Rose Bruford College (London), this adaptation reimagines O’Neill’s classic within a modern context.
Content warnings: This production includes references to mental illness, drugs, nude photos, and opioids. Show time — 7:30 p.m.
Seating will be open 15 minutes before each performance, and refreshments will be available for donations to The Black Box Theatre, 1623 5th Ave., Moline. For more information on the BBT, click HERE.
Elissa Dynes
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