MY FIRST MIRACLE Comes to San Francisco Fringe This Month

My First Miracle, adventures in bipolar disorder, comes to San Francisco Fringe Festival.

Bennet Caffee brings the audience on a manic ride-along including: traveling through space by jumping out windows, hopping on a plane to ask a woman he'd known only a few days to marry him, and multiple stays in psychiatric hospitals, including the one that he escaped from to tell a reporter he was the New Messiah. Caffee's performance mostly features the "fun part" of bipolar disorder, the outrageous highs, but also touches briefly on his depressions which he describes as "flat, dull, and boring". No self-harm trigger warnings needed. Audience members with bipolar disorder have described Caffee's depiction of mania as "eerily accurate" while others have said his performance has given them a better understanding of bipolar disorder.

Performance times are Sept.10 at 5 p.m., Sept. 13 at 8:30 p.m., Sept 15 at 7 p.m., Sept 17 at 3;30 p.m. at the EXIT Theater Mainstage, 156 Eddy Street, San Francisco. Tickets are $15.

Bennet Caffee began doing solo performance 10 years ago in classes at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco under David Ford's direction. He'd only recently recovered from a manic episode and although he accepted that he needed to commit to treatment, he still felt an attachment to his bipolar highs. Performing was a way of celebrating the "fun part" of bipolar disorder, outrageous experiences that audiences could never know on their own. But as he delved deeper, he began including the darker side of his condition, stories that before he'd never shared. Eventually he adapted his performances into his full length show, "My First Miracle," which he has performed to critical acclaim at the Orlando, Boulder, Rogue, Tampa and Nanaimo Fringe Festivals.

As Lorie Lewis Ham of Kings River Life Magazine endorsed: "If you are looking for a show that while it has funny moments, also makes you think, this one is for you. I applaud Bennet for being willing to share so openly about his own struggles and that he can do so in an entertaining story."

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