News release
Returning for a fifth year, the Fringe of the Woods Festival will again be held Aug. 8-10 at the Mile High Theater in Lake of the Woods, Frazier Park.
Each evening will feature completely different entertainment, hosted by emcee Erin-Kate Whitcomb.
Friday night, Aug. 8, features Genny Lim, the ninth San Francisco poet laureate, a recipient of two lifetime achievement awards from PEN Oakland and city of Berkeley and a former San Francisco jazz poet laureate. She is the author of five poetry collections and “Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island,” winner of the American Book Award.
Lim’s play, “Paper Angels,” was the first Asian American play aired on PBS’ American Playhouse in 1985 and has been performed throughout the U.S., Canada and China. She has worked with past jazz legends including Max Roach and Herbie Lewis, and local musicians Jon Jang, John Santos, Destiny Muhammad, Marcus Shelby and Francis Wong.
Sebastian Boswell III returns to the Fringe of the Woods with an all-new show featuring demonstrations of ESP, clairvoyance and seemingly impossible physical feats practiced by mystics throughout history. In “The Ineffable Experience of Impossible Achievements,” Boswell III intends to leave the audience awed and inspired.
Boswell III emphatically insists he is not a magician, but possesses his extraordinary powers as a result of a lifetime of travel and study.
On the bill for Saturday night, Aug. 9, will be an original play written and performed by a duo drawing from local history. “Promise of a Lake” tells the true story of a pioneer family and their dream of building a lake in the mountains. “Boldly reimagined and fueled by original, toe-tapping tunes, the show delivers its resonant tale of the California frontier with the customary zeal and mischievous sense of fun for which lesser mortals is best known,” said a news release from the festival.
Also on the bill will be Amanda Moody, performing Samuel Beckett’s: “Not I,” directed by Octavio Solis. Moody performed the role of Mouth in “Not I,” in the Ashland Beckett Shorts Festival, directed by Solis, and she said she feels honored to bring her interpretation to the Fringe of the Woods Festival.
Saturday evening’s performances also include Laural Meade as Sophie Tucker in “Ms. Tucker Will See You Now.”
“This tour de force performance serves up the extraordinary life and music of vaudeville legend Sophie Tucker, a comedienne that super fan Bette Midler called ‘a true vulgarian, a completely charming big-hearted broad,’” the release said.
Combining the pizazz of Tucker’s risqué songs with raucous audience interaction, writer-performer Laural Meade channels Tucker’s irreverent wit and sexed-up spirit, with charming sidekick Fred Cassidy at the keys, the release said.
The lineup on Sunday, Aug. 10, leans into local performances by Melissa Michels, singer, actress and recording artist.
The Mile High Players will perform “Hot Flashes,” a witty, sexy and heartwarming radio play adaptation about four women rediscovering their power, friendship and sensuality in the face of aging and menopause, the release said. When longtime friends reunite, they decide to form a band — the Hot Flashes — celebrating life’s changes with humor, music and a bit of mischief.
“SF 82,” written and performed by Geoff Shields, is the latest chapter of Shields’ one-man show, “JunkDrawer.” The action moves back and forth between his teen years in San Francisco (1982-1992) and the mad New Jersey/New York City upbringing that prepared him to be in that place at that time.
The finale for the weekend will be Don Bajema in “Before you knew me.” The novelist, screenwriter, actor and performer is the author of two collections of short stories. He has shared the spoken word stage with the likes of Hubert Selby, Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins and Jim Carroll. Bajema will hold a writer’s workshop on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information and to purchase tickets ($20 online, $35 at the door), visit fringeofthewoods.com.
