Freshwater returns with double bill

Image courtesy Freshwater Theatre Company

​After debuting last fall with a pair of remounts from the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the Freshwater Theatre Company is going back to the repertory well with its latest shows, Desperation Panties and the Festival of Awkward Moments.

Between them, the shows will feature more than 60 local theater artists, says company co-founder Ben Layne. The idea originates from last fall's Fringe Remounts XXL.

"The two shows working in tandem seemed to come as close as we thought anyone possibly could to providing a little something for everyone in the audience. We have a large core company with lots of diverse skills, so we knew we could manage two shows at once, and it gets more artists involved in a way we simply couldn't if we were only doing one show," he says.

In Desperation Panties, audiences will find a show about restarting in Minneapolis after a ruined relationship. Between her mother doing her laundry and her car being towed to the impound lot, poor Adele is down to her "desperation panties."

"It's an adventure about the small discoveries you make that actually turn into life changing events: going to the laundromat, riding the bus for the first time. It's about being forced outside your comfort zone, and the real connections you make with people when you do so," Layne says.

The piece was written by co-artistic director (and Layne's wife) Ruth Virkus and directed by Claire Avitabile (from 20% Theatre Company) with Nicole Mellas.



The Festival of Awkward Moments features 14 "very short" plays crafted by local and national playwrights. The idea was sparked by an experience that company member Neil Schneider had one day. "He came along two muffins sitting in the gutter on Lyndale Avenue. They were sitting there so perfectly, he didn't know whether someone was keeping them there for some reason or if it was litter and he should pick them up, so he was just standing there, staring at these muffins as people were walking by, and it was just very...awkward. So we kind of ran with that idea," Layne says. 


"The plays run the gamut, from an awkward moment on Christmas Eve to all the crazy things people say to pregnant women to overprotective pets to an awkward pick-up attempt at a bar. It's all there. Some of the plays are funny, some are thought-provoking, some are very uncomfortable, but all are very true in their own way and thus, like Desperation Panties, very easy to relate to on many levels," he says.

Desperation Panties and The Festival of Awkward Moments run through May 22 at the Gremlin Theatre.