Bedlam Theatre

A self-proclaimed genius performs odd plays in his grandparents’ garage. Interlopers disrupt his plans; rampant peculiarities ensue. From the folks who brought you ’06 Encore hit “Love in a Time of Rinderpest.”

Bedlam returns to the Minnesota Fringe Festival this year, once again collaborating with playwright Josef Evans. The last Fringe pairing of these two very fringe artistic visions gave Festival audiences one of the year’s most popular productions, resulting in an appearance in the Fringe Encore at the Guthrie.

FEATURING A COMEDY ALL-STAR CAST with CHRISTOPHER ALLEN, PAIGE COLLETTE, ELISE LANGER, TOM LLOYD, GEORGE MCCONNELL, MAREN WARD, CARLY WICKS, JASON VOGEN and INTRODUCING….FORREST ZOLL!!!

For Superlatives of Excellence: A festival of breviloquent masterworks by Josef Evans, local playwright Josef Evans presents himself in alter ego form, as “Josef Evans,” a self-proclaimed genius who lives in his grandparents’ garage and performs festivals of his (mercifully) brief oddball comedies for anyone unfortunate enough to pass through its massive 2-car door. Having spent his meager budget on an irritated and incompetent wedding band, he is forced to employ garage detritus as actors in a desperate attempt to bring his vision to life. A parade of interlopers further disrupts the show and finds itself drawn into Josef’s singularly ridiculous universe.

This show brings back many of the most popular short plays Evans has presented at Bedlam over the years. Highlights include What God Said on Tuesday, which recasts God as a demented old apartment-dweller tormenting his downstairs neighbor Satan with endless renditions of off-key banjo numbers, and Modern Library Situations, an epic battle to save the Marcy-Holmes community library from ninja astronaut feminists in search of Catholic romance novels. The style is in keeping with the bizarre hilarity that has been a Bedlam/Evans trademark, from 2006′s Fringe Encore hit Love in a Time of Rinderpest to The Turducken, an adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull as a Christmas musical spectacular.
What the press have said about past Bedlam/Josef Evans work:

On Turducken:
“Josef Evans’ script was packed with so many hilarious turns of phrase I shrieked and whinnied my way through the entire first act.”  –Christy DeSmith, Minnpost.com

On Love in a Time of Rinderpest:
“An absurdist, deconstructionist, meta-theatrical tale of love… must see.”  –Dominic Papatola, Pioneer Press

“Extraordinarily funny.”  –Quinton Skinner, City Pages

“Cream of the crop — one of the top shows at the Fringe.”  –Star Tribune

On Million Dollar Museum:
“(Rinderpest and Turducken) were rampantly absurdist comedies, full of twitchy wordplay and populated with characters in various states of alarmed delusion. Both were fine matches for Bedlam’s experimental, go-for-broke company aesthetic.”  –Quinton Skinner, City Pages

“The show feels like a roadside attraction itself, an eccentric piece of outsider art created by people with very deep, very strange convictions… very clever.”  –Jay Gabler, Twin Cities Daily Planet

AND DON’T MISS “ANIGA ADIGA” by C.R.A.Z.Y. – Bedlam’s Cedar-Riverside youth program!  Also at Mixed Blood Theatre for The Fringe Fest! — bedlamtheatre.org/2010/07/aniga-adiga-bedlams-c-r-a-z-y-fringe-show-at-mixed-blood/