by Terrance McArthur
The Rogue Festival is here! It is taking place March 1-9 in the Tower District of Fresno. Here are more Rogue show reviews, with possibly still a few more to come! 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.
Martys Turn
Marty was a character in search of his own play, and Marty’s Turn is that play. Marc Gonzalez created Marty as a minor character for another script, but he was so loved by readers and actors that he gets his own chance to be the focus in the Fresno Rogue Performance Festival’s Hart’s Haven.
It’s the last day for the Anderson Family Toy Store, after 47 years. The big chains and the online stores have won. Marty Anderson (Billy Jack Anderson), surrounded by what’s left of his inventory, is sad but upbeat. He talks to the audience/customer, sharing his love for toys, his family, the three-generation store, and the waitress at the restaurant down the street.
Billy sports a beatific smile, a far cry from his role of a peculiar, smarmy janitor/handyman in last year’s The Bad Seed at the Good Company Players’ 2nd Space. He’s kind, generous, and a person who deserves good things in life, even though many of his dreams and plans have been thwarted by his devotion to the family store.
Gonzalez’s script is gentle, warm, cuddly, bittersweet, and will make you smile. Go and see Marty’s Turn if you need a smile, and take someone else who needs a smile, too.
Hart’s Haven is at 950 N. Van Ness Ave. Remaining performances of Marty’s Turn are March 8 at 5:30 pm and March 9 at 3:30 pm.
99 Dreams
A small-time band, reduced from opening for major acts to playing covers in a pirate-themed bar in the San Joaquin Valley, bears all the signs of self-destruction in 99 Dreams, A Play with Live Music by Kate McKnight (from a concept by McKnight and Sarah McKnight Serafimidis), playing the Fresno Rogue Performance Festival at the VISTA Theater.
Their drummer broke up with the lead singer/keyboardist (Kate) and left the band, so they have to play recorded drum tracks. The lead guitar (Casey Bryant) wants to break out and play r-e-a-l rock licks. The bass player (Alexis Holladay) goes along with anything, but she would like to sing ma few solos. As for the rhythm guitarist/keyboardist’s-sister (Sarah), she has written a new song that gives each band member some of what they have been seeking.
Kate is at the top of her form as a woman dealing with a break-up in her love life while the seams are showing. She sings, she acts, she holds it all together. Casey looks like a rock-god-in-training, grumbling and smoldering. Alexis has a Zen quality, quietly doing her work when surrounded with chaos. Sarah is earnest, frustrated, and holds the key to progress for the band. They work together smoothly, especially when the characters are in conflict.
99 Dreams has a good beat. You can dance to it.
The VISTA Theater is at 1296 N. Wishon Ave., Fresno. Remaining performances of 99 Dreams are March 8 at 7:00 pm and March 9 at 3:30 pm.
Becoming a God for Fun and Profit
Nexus is free, and now she can tell you how to build a “club” (“cult” has so many negative associations) like the one she had that resulted in 37 deaths.
Becoming a God for Fun and Profit is a seminar on how to manipulate people to give yourself more power, performed at the Spectrum Art Gallery. In some ways, it is a companion piece to Jaguar Bennett’s How to Be Wicked, with similar concepts put into practice.
Nexus (as portrayed by Ruby Jane Castle) is tall, imposing, clad in black, with an all-knowing smirk that says “I’m smarter than you.” Her tips on building a personal sect include “Bide your time,” “Know your demographic,” “Be cautious with your doctrine.”
Nexus leads you through wormholes of thought, and you start wondering . . . Is this real? Did this happen? Why is this person allowed outside of a prison . . . or a mental asylum?
Be careful, friend. Nexus may want you.
The Spectrum Art Gallery is at 608 E. Olive Ave., Fresno. The last performance of Becoming a God for Fun and Profit is March 9 at 3:30 pm.
You’re Good for Nothing … I’ll Milk the Cow Myself
Natacha Ruck is French. She tells about her life, her mother’s life, and her grandmother’s life. She sings songs by Edith Piaf. She jumps up and down—up onto a wooden chest, down onto the floor. She makes people laugh. She makes people think. 
She likes chocolate—good chocolate—which is probably my favorite thing about her (She gave me part of her Tanzanian chocolate bar when I was hungry, and I said I would review her show). And the name of her Rogue Show at the Lotus Room is You’re Good for Nothing … I’ll Milk the Cow Myself.
Ruck goes from the election of Francois Mitterrand as President of France to moving to the USA. She wants to degender the French language, where every noun is masculine or feminine—one man in an auditorium full of women makes the group masculine. She knocks down bullies. She fights anti-Semitism. She loves love.
You’ll love Natacha Ruck.
The Lotus Room is at 626 E. Olive Ave., Fresno. Remaining performances are March 8 at 10:00 and March 9 at 6:30 pm.
How to Be Wicked
Jaguar Bennett knows how to push people’s buttons. He has billed himself as a “most offensive” comedian. He wants you to be uncomfortable. He wants you to squirm. He wants you to laugh . . . until you realize what you are laughing at.
The titles of some of his Rogue Festival stand-up comedy programs over the years: We’re Doomed, Jaguar Is a Liar, Mansplaining, B******t Is My Native Language, The Agony of Living, How to Be Wicked.
How to Be Wicked was Jaguar’s Rogue show of 2015 . . . and it’s ba-a-ack! No longer in the Veni Vidi Vici patio, Jaguar has taken over Dianna’s Dance Studio . . . so he can charge more for tickets.
How to Be Wicked is not about to perform in a musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz, wearing green makeup. Jaguar’s message is that being good is a scam, a way to keep the gullible under the control of religions and governments. The only way to succeed in this world is to be wicked, mean, opportunistic, and despicable.
When I reviewed the 2015 version of this show, I wrote “[Jaguar] lays this out in a logical, reasonable manner, insidiously worming past personal standards and concepts of fairness. It’s like a shark explaining the food chain before he eats you. Machiavelli was naïve, Hitler lacked ambition, and terrorists are short on style compared to Jaguar. He comes across as a genial sociopath, an agent provocateur for The Dark Side. He is crude, vile, foul, vulgar, and strangely persuasive.”
Today, I would say “Ditto.”
Dianna’s Studio of Dance is at 826 N, Fulton St., Fresno. Remaining performances of How to Be Wicked are March 8 at 5:30 pm and March 9 at 6:30 pm.
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.
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