TigerLion Arts' THE COSMIC EQUATION & WHAT IF I'M DEAD? Begin at Minnesota Fringe

This summer, TigerLion Arts (TLA) has its paws in two shows to be produced as part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, tonight, August 1 - 11, 2013. THE COSMIC EQUATION = 2 Wives + 2 Husbands ÷ Adventure! is a collaboration with Adventurer Press in which two smart Wives escape from their two ignorant Husbands in search of adventure. What if I'm Dead?, produced by TigerLion Arts, is a highly physical solo show in which Red Nose Clown Bartholomew (New York comedian Alan Fessenden) stages his own funeral.

THE COSMIC EQUATION = 2 Wives + 2 Husbands ÷ Adventure!
Seeking adventure, the Two Wives abandon their number-obsessed Husbands. Soon, the Wives need to be rescued! If the jungle Witchdoctor can reinvigorate the Husbands' numbers, the two couples might reunite!

A highly physical and imaginative piece that draws from many different genres of theater (clown, language of gesture, buffante, puppetry, etc.), THE COSMIC EQUATION stars Tyson Forbes, Sara Richardson, Suzy Kohane, Alan Fessenden and Stephen B. Brooks under the direction of Jon Ferguson, with puppets by Michael Sommers and music by Geoff Freeman.

THE COSMIC EQUATION is the vision of Stephen B. Brooks, a writer and artist who was born and raised in Minneapolis, but has spent most of the last 30 years in Nova Scotia, Canada. He established Adventurer Press in 1996 as a platform for self-publishing his illustrated poetry, prose, and plays, as well as annual calendars, and his 'Imaginary Portraits' series. To date, Adventurer Press has designed and printed 16 original books by Stephen B. Brooks, including The Two Wives' Adventure in Mexico and The Two Husbands' Adventure, upon which the 2013 Fringe Festival show is primarily based.

Two years ago, Adventurer Press (the husband/wife team of Stephen B. Brooks and Rachel Martin) teamed up with TigerLion Arts (the husband/wife team of Markell Kiefer - Brooks' niece - and Tyson Forbes) to adapt the material for the stage. The creative team also includes family members Sky Brooks (Brooks' sister) and Geoff Freeman (Brooks' cousin).

The visuals and characters are over-the-top, outlandish, and cartoonish in style, inspired by Brooks' illustrations; while the harmonizing of masculine and feminine energies (yang and yin), both within oneself and our relationships, is the driving theme of the play. This harmonizing process is an age-old spiritual journey represented in the story as a wild adventure!

THE COSMIC EQUATION plays at Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis. Performances are tonight, Aug. 1 at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, Aug. 4 at 4:00 p.m.; Monday, Aug. 5 at 8:30 p.m.; Friday, Aug. 9 at 10:00 p.m.; and Saturday, Aug. 10 at 7:00 p.m. This show is appropriate for ages 12 and up. For more information, visit fringefestival.org

What if I'm Dead?
Life is strangely clearer from the inside of an urn. Birth. Loss of innocence. Mom. Donuts. Everything that's important swims into focus. In this solo show, one clown (Bartholomew) tries to stage his own funeral and accidentally saves the world.

What if I'm Dead?, created and performed by Alan Fessenden with direction by Markell Kiefer (Executive Artistic Director, TigerLion Arts), has been in development for over six years. Bartholomew (Fessenden's clown) was born in Minneapolis in a Red Nose clown workshop led by European clown master Giovanni Fusetti, and produced by Kiefer. Fessenden followed Giovanni to the Boulder International Clown School where, with a collaborative group called the Geniuses, What If I'm Dead? was first created and performed. Last year, the show debuted at the NY Clown Theatre Festival and has now been invited to return this year for an extended run. Kiefer directs Fessenden in the final leg of his creation process. Minnesotans may be familiar with Fessenden's repeated performance as the title role in "The Buddha Prince" a walking play about the life of the 14th Dalai Lama, also directed by Kiefer.

"Alan Fessenden as the loveable Bartholomew enters a bare stage with a single prop and suddenly an hour has slipped by and you realize your heart has been cracked wide-open and your belly is sore from laughter. 'What if I'm Dead?' is clown-theater at it's best. Go see this show!" - Audrey Crabtree, Director, NY Clown Theatre Festival

"What a wonderful clown. Never misses anything that happens, no matter how small." - Stanley Allan Sherman, Mask Arts Company Blog.

What if I'm Dead? plays at Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S 4th Street, Minneapolis. Performances are Saturday, Aug. 3 at 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 7:00 p.m.; Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 10:00 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 10, at 1:00 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 11, at 5:30 p.m. This show is appropriate for ages 12 and up. For more information, visit fringefestival.org.

Tickets to each show are $12 plus the one-time purchase of a $4 admission button; kids' tickets (12 and under) are $5 and don't require a button; multi-show passes are available. Tickets on sale from Ovation Tix at (866) 811-4111 or at fringefestival.org and at the box office 30 minutes before performance.

TigerLion Arts celebrates human wisdom and the spirit of nature through creative works that awaken, inform, and delight. For more information on TLA go to www.tigerlion.org.

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