Juvenilia and The Suffolk University Theatre Department Have Invited Local Companies Who Performed at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe to Present Their Offerings in the Modern Theatre

Boston, MA - 1942 U.S. government propaganda set to music! Family angst, parental abandonment, and near death experiences! Adoption woes and laughs, recovering from a devastating ***** injury, overcoming writer’s block and a personal look at Vietnam through photographs plus an intimate Ford Hall Forum! Welcome to JUVENILIA’S Mini Fringe: A Taste of Edinburgh! Sample a bite-size serving of some of the local offerings that performed at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Mini Fringe Festival is thrilled to announce the complete line up at Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre.

JUVENILIA and The Suffolk University Theatre Department will be hosting the following performances:

- Handbook of Civilian Defense (What Every Loyal American Can Do To Help The United States Win The War) [JUVENILIA] A word-for-word theatrical adaptation (with original music) of the 1942 government handbook published to prepare families for uncertainty and violence, then and now written by Wesley Savick. Handbook summons the anxiety, ignorance and hopefulness of an eighty-year-old public service announcement to awaken 21st century world citizenship. The cast is comprised of six Suffolk alumni: Adriana Alvarez [SU ‘19], Anastasia Taso Bolkwadze [SU ‘21], Andrew Bourque [SU ‘17], Liam Grimaldi [SU ‘20], Emma Hudd [SU ‘22], and Alex Pollock [SU ‘06] and includes additional Suffolk alumni Kevin J.P. Hanley [SU ‘17] (Production Supervisor), Kendyl Trott [SU ‘22] (Stage Manager) and Aisling Mehigan [SU ‘18] (Marketing/Promotions). Suffolk Professor Wesley Savick (Playwright, Music and Lyrics) will be directing with MIT Assistant Professor Sara Brown as Design Collaborator: Costume/Set and Bozkurt Karasu, Design Collaborator: Sound/Lights.

- Too Fat for China [Pheobe Potts] Pheobe returns to the Modern with her comedic theater performance charting her travails with infertility and the endless rounds of treatments and miscarriages she and her husband endured. Potts picks up the narrative with her quest for an international adoption. The story has a happy ending, but it twists and turns through fraught questions about family and race—subjects that feel particularly pertinent in our current political climate. Potts tackles it all, as she does life, with humor and irreverence.

- Trouble On Six [Piece of Tish Work] If you were conceived to fix your parent’s marriage, obsess over whether people like you, and have visited your dad in prison, then this show is for you! Left to raise himself by his swingin’, fun-lovin’, felonious parents, Larry disappeared. Finding his way back meant knowing when to let go and when to say no! Larry’s journey includes a chat with Captain Crunch, being chased off a golf course by Nazis and a guide to when to Garfunkel. "Tish is making a career of wielding wit to battle the dark side of humanity" (Boston Globe) "Simultaneously Funny and Disturbing!" Theatre Mirror ***** Five Stars

- A Thousand Words [C. Neil Parsons] In 1969, Chris Parsons served as a combat photographer in Vietnam. Combining his pictures with original music and dance, trombonist C. Neil Parsons recounts tales of danger, resilience, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.

- Brain Hemmingway [Erin Murray Quinlan & Evan Quinlan] A songwriter with severe writer’s block and a looming deadline battles the version of Ernest Hemingway that lives in her head.

- Potty Training With Joey Rinaldi [Joey Rinaldi] When Comedian Joey Rinaldi, was fourteen years old he did not expect to be in a hospital bed from a near-death ***** injury with three traumatic surgeries, two clumsy catheters and one overwhelming desire to wreak hormonal havoc. Over a decade later, Joey lives to share the outrageous and humiliating details of being the only kid at school who peed into a urine bag while battling the church, chasing after the love of his life and mending the relationship with tormented mother. Winner 2021 Best Stand Up Comedian (Canadian International Comedy Film Festival). Winner 2020 Best Comedy (Frigid New York Festival).

- Ford Hall Forum – An intimate conversation with Boston area Edinburgh Fringe playwrights and creatives.

Admission: Tickets are available online in advance at tinyurl.com/MiniFringeSuffolk and at the box office on the day of. $10 general admission per day/block. 2 shows Saturday and Sunday: 1pm block & *6pm block | $5 Suffolk Community (Suffolk ID req at the door) per day/block.

*Saturday evening block is sponsored by Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University and The Suffolk University Theatre Department; tickets are free. Reservations are encouraged.

Show dates are September 14-18. All shows will be at the Modern Theatre, 525 Washington St., Boston. Tickets are $10 per day/show block. $5 per day/show block Suffolk Community and StageSource members. (Suffolk ID or membership card required at the door) and can be purchased here: tinyurl.com/MiniFringeSuffolk

*Saturday evening is sponsored by Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University and The Suffolk University Theatre Department; admission is free, reservations are required.

Mini Fringe: A Taste of Edinburgh is presented and produced by JUVENILIA and The Suffolk University Theatre Department.

AT A GLANCE

MINI FRINGE

A Taste of Edinburgh @The Modern

PERFORMANCES INCLUDE:
- JUVENILIA’s Handbook of Civilian Defense (What Every Loyal American Can Do To Help The United States Win The War)
- Too Fat for China by Pheobe Potts
- Trouble On Six by Piece of Tish Work
- A Thousand Words by C. Neil Parsons
- Brain Hemmingway by Erin Murray Quinlan & Evan Quinlan
- Potty Training With Joey Rinaldi by Joey Rinaldi
- Ford Hall Forum: An intimate conversation with Boston area Edinburgh Fringe playwrights and creatives.

DATES AND SHOW TIMES:
Mini Fringe runs September 14-18, 2022 – the daily schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, September 14th at 7:00pm
Trouble on Six - Piece of Tish Work
Too Fat for China - Phoebe Potts

Thursday, September 15th at 7:00pm
A Thousand Words - C. Neil Parsons
Handbook of Civilian Defense - Juvenilia

Friday, September 16th at 7:00pm
Too Fat for China - Phoebe Potts
Handbook of Civilian Defense - Juvenilia

Saturday, September 17th at 1:00pm
Brain Hemingway - Erin Murray Quinlan & Evan Quinlan
Potty Training - Joey Rinaldi
A Thousand Words - C. Neil Parsons

Saturday, September 17th at 6:00pm*
Ford Hall Forum: An intimate conversation with Boston area Edinburgh Fringe playwrights and creatives.
Trouble on Six - Piece of Tish Work
Handbook of Civilian Defense - Juvenilia
*This evening is sponsored by Ford Hall Forum and The Suffolk University Theatre Department; tickets are free.
Reservations are encouraged.

Sunday, September 18th at 1:00pm
Handbook of Civilian Defense - Juvenilia
A Thousand Words - C. Neil Parsons
Trouble on Six - Piece of Tish Work

Sunday, September 18th at 6:00pm
Brain Hemingway - Erin Murray Quinlan & Evan Quinlan
Potty Training - Joey Rinaldi
Too Fat for China - Phoebe Potts

Where: Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston

Tickets: tinyurl.com/MiniFringeSuffolk
$10 per day/show block. $5 per day/show block Suffolk Community and StageSource members.
(Suffolk ID or membership card required at the door)

*Saturday evening is sponsored by Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University and The Suffolk University Theatre Department; admission is free, reservations are required.