Fringe review: ‘I Have Griefances’ is a funny, sarcastic, heartfelt monologue

posted in: All news | 0

Worth Considering

In his enthusiastic and endearing performance, Wells Farnham’s monologue “I Have Griefances” toes the line between hilarious and devastating. Moving abruptly between stories of his childhood as a begrudged little brother and his adult life processing grief, he has created a suspenseful, funny and bittersweet show. What Farnham lacks in natural stage presence, he makes up for in sheer enthusiastic force of will, making his solo monologue deeply entertaining. The whiplash between goofy stories and the crescendoing grief ultimately delivers a lasting message: that comedy, humor and joy are necessary parts of experiencing loss.

Presented by Wells Farnham at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance; 4 p.m. Aug. 2, 2:30 p.m. Aug. 3, 5:30 p.m. Aug. 4, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 6

Still trying to decide what to see? Check out all the 2025 Fringe reviews at twincities.com/tag/fringe-festival, with each show rated on a scale of Must See, Worth Considering, Could Be Worse or You Can Skip It.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is presenting nearly 100 hourlong stage acts from July 31 through Aug. 10 around Minneapolis. Visit MinnesotaFringe.org for ticket and show information.

Related Articles


Fringe review: ‘Songs Without Words’ is an eloquent masterpiece of solo performance


Fringe review: Jon Bennett outgrows juvenile humor with ‘American’t’


Fringe review: Opera goes nuclear in ‘All Your Shimmering Gold’


Fringe review: In ‘Jewelry Power Elite,’ jewelry takes on new meanings


Fringe review: In ‘Romeo and Juliet: Lottery Style,’ who played it best?

Judge pauses Trump administration’s push to expand fast-track deportations

posted in: All news | 0

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed on Friday to temporarily block the Trump administration’s efforts to expand fast-track deportations of immigrants who legally entered the U.S. under a process known as humanitarian parole — a ruling that could benefit hundreds of thousands of people.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Department of Homeland Security exceeded its statutory authority in its effort to expand “expedited removal” for many immigrants. The judge said those immigrants are facing perils that outweigh any harm from “pressing pause” on the administration’s plans.

The case “presents a question of fair play” for people fleeing oppression and violence in their home countries, Cobb said in her 84-page order.

“In a world of bad options, they played by the rules,” she wrote. “Now, the Government has not only closed off those pathways for new arrivals but changed the game for parolees already here, restricting their ability to seek immigration relief and subjecting them to summary removal despite statutory law prohibiting the Executive Branch from doing so.”

Related Articles


AMA and other medical associations are kicked out of CDC vaccine workgroups


Veteran federal judge T.S. Ellis III, who presided over trial of Trump aide Paul Manafort, has died


Senate delays August recess for now as Trump presses for more confirmations


Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report


Democrats launching summer blitz to press Republicans on Trump spending plan

Fast-track deportations allow immigration officers to remove somebody from the U.S. without seeing a judge first. In immigration cases, parole allows somebody applying for admission to the U.S. to enter the country without being held in detention.

Immigrants’ advocacy groups sued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to challenge three recent DHS agency actions that expanded expedited removal. A surge of arrests at immigration courts highlights the lawsuit’s high stakes.

The judge’s ruling applies to any non-citizen who has entered the U.S. through the parole process at a port of entry. She suspended the challenged DHS actions until the case’s conclusion.

Cobb said the case’s “underlying question” is whether people who escaped oppression will have the chance to “plead their case within a system of rules.”

“Or, alternatively, will they be summarily removed from a country that — as they are swept up at checkpoints and outside courtrooms, often by plainclothes officers without explanation or charges — may look to them more and more like the countries from which they tried to escape?” she added.

A plaintiffs’ attorney, Justice Action Center legal director Esther Sung, described the ruling as a “huge win” for hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their families. Sung said many people are afraid to attend routine immigration hearings out of fear of getting arrested.

“Hopefully this decision will alleviate that fear,” Sung said.

Since May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have positioned themselves in hallways to arrest people after judges accept government requests to dismiss deportation cases. After being arrested, the government renews deportation proceedings but under fast-track authority.

President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing an asylum claim, people may be unaware of that right and, even if they are, can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening.

“Expedited removal” was created under a 1996 law and has been used widely for people stopped at the border since 2004. Trump attempted to expand those powers nationwide to anyone in the country less than two years in 2019 but was held up in court. His latest efforts amount to a second try.

ICE exercised its expanded authority sparingly at first during Trump’s second term but has since relied on it for aggressive enforcement in immigration courts and in “workplace raids,” according to plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Spagat reported from San Diego.

Fringe review: ‘Songs Without Words’ is an eloquent masterpiece of solo performance

posted in: All news | 0

Must See

Jennifer Vosters has composed a masterpiece with this deeply involving one-woman show about the profound bond between two extraordinarily gifted musicians, 19th-century German composer Felix Mendelssohn and his older sister, Fanny, whose genius struggled against the constraints of sexist conventions. Vosters is consistently compelling as she portrays both siblings in what is both a meticulously well-researched history play and an exquisitely eloquent evocation of the artistic process and the ties that can bind siblings, for better or worse. As an admirer of the art of solo performance, I find that “Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play)” might be the most powerful example I’ve experienced in decades of Fringing.

Presented by Jennifer Vosters at Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre; 4 p.m. Aug. 2, 5:30 p.m. Aug. 5, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 7 p.m. Aug. 10

Still trying to decide what to see? Check out all the 2025 Fringe reviews at twincities.com/tag/fringe-festival, with each show rated on a scale of Must See, Worth Considering, Could Be Worse or You Can Skip It.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is presenting nearly 100 hourlong stage acts from July 31 through Aug. 10 around Minneapolis. Visit MinnesotaFringe.org for ticket and show information.

Related Articles


Fringe review: Post-apocalyptic ‘Neon Breeze’ is quite choppy


Fringe review: ‘A Good Cancer to Have’ is witty, self-aware triumph


Fringe review: ‘The Abortion Chronicles’ tells powerful true stories, mostly well


Fringe review: Smart, farcical ‘The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club’ brings the pain


2025 Minnesota Fringe Festival: Your guide to an eclectic 11 days of performing arts

Fringe review: Jon Bennett outgrows juvenile humor with ‘American’t’

posted in: All news | 0

Worth considering

Australian storyteller Jon Bennett is such a Fringe veteran that he regards the road as home. But, among his 158(!) festival appearances, he’s only visited the Minnesota Fringe once… until now. It’s good to see that a solo artist whose most popular previous show was built around penis jokes has matured a bit, and the fruits of his accrued wisdom prove (eventually) quite rewarding in “American’t.” Bennett’s a hyperactive, digression-prone raconteur who sometimes inspires sighs of “Where is this going?” but he has a passionate delivery as he regales audiences with his experiences of his transformative 2020s.

Presented by 2Hoots Productions at Barbara Barker Center for Dance; 1 p.m. Aug. 2, 10 p.m. Aug. 7, 7 p.m. Aug. 8, 5:30 p.m. Aug. 10

Still trying to decide what to see? Check out all the 2025 Fringe reviews at twincities.com/tag/fringe-festival, with each show rated on a scale of Must See, Worth Considering, Could Be Worse or You Can Skip It.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is presenting nearly 100 hourlong stage acts from July 31 through Aug. 10 around Minneapolis. Visit MinnesotaFringe.org for ticket and show information.

Related Articles


Fringe review: Post-apocalyptic ‘Neon Breeze’ is quite choppy


Fringe review: ‘A Good Cancer to Have’ is witty, self-aware triumph


Fringe review: ‘The Abortion Chronicles’ tells powerful true stories, mostly well


Fringe review: Smart, farcical ‘The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club’ brings the pain


2025 Minnesota Fringe Festival: Your guide to an eclectic 11 days of performing arts