“How many times have I told this story?” Erika MacDonald asks this question repeatedly in her Rogue Festival show The Barn Identity. Each time she tells it, another tiny piece of the story falls into place. Is it about swirling leaves? Barns falling down? Going to a movie? An old woman in a bed? Losing identity? Architecture? Poetry?
Ladies—when a man with no home or job moves into your life in exchange for sex, you have a problem. Leigh Ratliff chronicles that problem in her Rogue Festival show Hobosexuals: How to Avoid.
Do you speak French? if you do, you will enjoy Confessions of a French Interpreter, because Natacha Ruck is French. If you do not speak French, you will enjoy Confessions of a French Interpreter, because Natacha Ruck is a French interpreter. She travels far and wide, translating questions from reporters to French filmmakers, and translating answers.
What if William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in the 1990s? And some of the actors were drinking on the job? It would probably look like The Fools Collaborative Presents S’Will: The Emo Prince of Denmark.
2025’s Fresno Rogue Performance Festival is a Magician’s Wonderland. No less than four magic acts entertain the masses this year. Magic of Eric led off my tour of tricksters. A good old-fashioned performer with a pack of new tricks, Eric Hiett ties knots that transform ropes into rings that link and change shape at his command.
Tim is a solo performer but he is never completely alone onstage as he transforms, over a very short period of time, into a multitude of characters without the use of props or obvious costumes. It’s just vocal inflection, movement and attitude that provide the individuality. The twist is, he doesn’t rely on cartoonish caricatures to get the point across.
Totally by chance, I ended up picking mostly local shows to review this year. One of those was The Trimmings by Marc Gonzalez, local actor, writer and sometimes reviewer, who I have known for a while now. I very much enjoyed his playwriting and solo Rogue show debut in 2020, Merely a Player, so I was looking forward to seeing what he had to offer this year.
Totally by chance, I ended up picking mostly local shows to review this year. One of those was The Trimmings by Marc Gonzalez, local actor, writer and sometimes reviewer, who I have known for a while now. I very much enjoyed his playwriting and solo Rogue show debut in 2020, Merely a Player, so I was looking forward to seeing what he had to offer this year.
I know I say this every year, but you do not want to miss Martin Dockery’s show! I also say every year that Martin could read the phone book and make it riveting—and that is not an exaggeration! But of course, that’s not what he does; he always crafts an interesting and brilliantly performed show, and this year is no exception.
Jaguar Bennett calls himself Fresno’s Most Offensive Comedian. His latest show is called Why You Suck, and it lives up to its name, as that really is the focus of the show. However, he not only tells the audience why they suck, he also turns that on himself.
