by Terrance McArthur
The Rogue Festival is here! It is taking place March 1-9 in the Tower District of Fresno. Here are 3 more Rogue show reviews, with many more to come over the next few days! You will be able to find all of our reviews, and our performer preview articles, and our article about Rogue 2024 in our Rogue Festival section here at KRL, and you can find more Rogue Festival information on our Rogue event page over on KRL News! There you will find press releases and extra info! You can also go to the Rogue Festival website for more info and to purchase tickets.
The Latehomecomer
Review by Terrance McArthur
In last year’s Fresno Rogue Performance Festival, Jasmine Vang immersed us in a class for teaching the Hmong language, which became a study of assimilation and finding what ethnic heritage means. This year, Vang brings an adaptation of Kao Kalia Yang’s The Latehomecomer, a memoir of the journey from the refugee camps of Thailand to the wilds of urban Minnesota.
Vang is petite and spunky. She becomes a bouncy, twirly child in a difficult world surrounded by armed soldiers, a wise grandmother filled with stories of babies in the clouds being enticed to come to earth, a worried mother moving into a house of mold and stink, an older sister, and a growing teen afraid of the strange sounds a new language makes. All of this happens in the pocket-size theatre of the LAByrinth Art Collective at 1470 N. Van Ness Ave., Fresno.
The Hmong people of the Highlands of Laos, brought into the Vietnam Secret War to help American troops, were attacked, slaughtered, and forced to flee. Packed into camps in a country that didn’t want them, thousands wound up in Minnesota and California. The Latehomecomer is a tale of that journey.
Many people in Fresno County became familiar with Yang’s story the year when the book was chosen by the Fresno County Public Library for The Big Read programs that brought the author to talk in the Valley. This Literature to Life version, adapted by Aurea Tomeski and Elise Thoron, directed by Tomeski, is by turns gripping, tender, engrossing, and uplifting, thanks to the intensity of Vang’s performance.
See this show!
Remaining performances at LAByrinth Art Collective at 1470 N. Van Ness Ave., Fresno are March 3 at 6:30 pm, March 8 at 7 pm, and March 9 at 5 pm.
Blood Harmony
Review by Terrance McArthur
It’s a mother and three daughters. It’s teachers and a nurse. It’s Fresno and Bakersfield. It’s that amazing Blood Harmony that the Murray Girls make, the blending of sounds that family members can have, like the Everly Brothers or the Pointer Sisters. For the nineteenth time, the Murray Girls are singing their hearts and DNA out at the Rogue.
The Murray Girls
You’ll tap your toes. You’ll crack a smile. You’ll close your eyes and bathe in the sweet sounds of the music…and you’ll have a good time.
Blood Harmony is performing on the patio behind Veni Vidi Vici with heaters and canopies to protect you from the cold and rain. Remaining shows are March 3 at 5 pm, March 7 at 7 pm, and March 9 at 3:30 pm, at 1116 N. Fulton St., Fresno.
We Are the Flowers
Review by Terrance McArthur
The Spectrum Gallery is transformed into a flower garden when Megan Martinez reads her children’s book, We Are the Flowers, at the Spectrum Art Gallery.
The Spectrum Gallery becomes a garden place when Megan Martinez reads her book “We Are Flowers”
Martinez is gentle, kind, and excited to share her love of flowers. Conriquez is shy, but sharing her art brings a vibrance to her eyes and face.
This entry in the Rogue Performance Festival is more immersive and interactive than most. Pastel panels, projected pictures from the book, and floral displays surround the audience. Coloring pages beckon to be filled with pictures of favorite flowers. Cut flowers are available to gather and tie with ribbon into bouquets of natural beauty. Copies of the book and artwork are there for the purchasing. It’s a wonderland in miniature, and it isn’t only for children. The young-in-heart will find enchantment, too.
Remaining performances of We Are the Flowers are March 3 at 8 pm, March 8 at 7 pm, and March 9 at 2 pm. The Spectrum Art Gallery is located at 608 E. Olive Ave. The experience is free for little kids under 2 years of age.
If you love theatre, be sure to check out Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, which features mysteries read by local actors. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and also on podbean.
Check out more theatre reviews & other local entertainment articles in our Arts & Entertainment section. You can also find more theatre coming up on KRL’s Local Theatre event page.
This festival sounds like a blast. I lived in the Twin Cities when the Latehomecomer came out and I heard Kao Kalia Yang speak about it. I would love to see this play. I would love to hear the Murray Girls sing since I’m Irish. And the immersive flower experience sounds like a delightful way to nourish my soul. I wish I could attend.