You Are Cordially Invited to the Life and Death of Edward Lear was created for the 2019 Minnesota Fringe Festival (August 2019),
performed on the Crane Theater stage.
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performed on the Crane Theater stage.
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YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE LIFE AND DEATH OF EDWARD LEAR: POET, ILLUSTRATOR, COMPOSER AND MELANCHOLY HYPOCHONDRIAC OR WHAT IS A RUNCIBLE SPOON: AN ABSURDIST EULOGY AND EXISTENTIAL CRISIS ON THE STAGE ~ Amber Bjork Kayla Dvorak Feld Kristina Fjellman Sam Landman Dan Linden Boo Segersin and Derek Lee Miller as Edward Lear ~ Direction by Amber Bjork Stage Management, Grand Assistance, and Trombone Magic by André Johnson, Jr |
Photo by Debbie Tallen. Courtesy of Minnesota Fringe
Production photos by DEBBIE TALLEN, courtesy of minnesota fringe
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critical praise
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You Are Cordially Invited to the Life and Death of Edward Lear earned two Golden Lanyard Awards from Minnesota Fringe including Venue Pick (Crane Theater) and Fringe with Benefits Members Pick.
~ Cherry And Spoon names ...Edward Lear as one of her favorite shows of the festival "This show has everything, and the ending is indescribably beautiful." ~ Jay Gabler of CityPages Reviews ...Edward Lear "a show that celebrates the transient beauty of theater, and of life" " witty scripting, haunting music, and some of the most beautiful props and costumes" ~ Selected Fringe Audience comments: "This is a must see show." "Moving, informative, imaginative, sincere, and phenomenally goofy." "Brilliant!" "The Winding Sheet Outfit company has done it again." "I was heartbroken at the end of the show, but in the best possible way." "One of the best fringe shows I have ever seen." "Touching, pure whimsy, and a loving tribute!" "Transcendent." "And holy cow the bird calls are on point." You can read more Fringe Audience reviews here. ~ "This is a beautiful piece of theater and you are going to regret everything if you miss it. Everything about it is gold." - Phillip Schramm 
Kinchinjunga from Darjeeling painting by Edward Lear
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more information and references |
A new work from the award-winning creators of
Blood Nocturne (MN Fringe 2018) and The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox (MN Fringe 2017). Full title: You Are Cordially Invited to the Life and Death of Edward Lear: Poet, Illustrator, Composer, and Melancholy Hypochondriac OR What is a Runcible Spoon: An Absurdist Eulogy and Existential Crisis on the Stage. That pretty much sums it up. And doesn't really cover it at all. 
This is our friend, Edward.
A.K.A: Mr Abebika kratoponoko Prizzikalo Kattefello Ablegorabalus Ableborinto phashyph or Chakonoton the Cozovex Dossi Fossi Sini Tomentilla Coronilla Polentilla Battledore & Shuttlecock Derry down Derry Dumps. (His invention, not ours.) Spoiler: He is dead. Interested to learn more about Edward Lear? Here's some of our research material! A gallery of Edward's best paintings at ArtUK Mr. Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense by Jenny Uglow Inventing Edward Lear by Sarah Lodge (and its aural companion site, edwardlearsmusic.com) And, of course, Edward's very own, never out of print Book of Nonsense. THANK YOU:
Kim Lysne, Mandi Johnson, Megan Campbell Lagas. And to the cast--Andre, Boo, Dan, Derek, Kayla, Kristina, Sam--for not only working so hard on this show, but also for contributing costume pieces and prop building, ice cream and raspberries, and social media and emotional support to all involved. To our Fringe technicians, volunteers, staff, and to YOU! |
bios
Hedgehog painting by Edward Lear.
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Amber Bjork
Orator / Director Amber started The Winding Sheet Outfit, and she'll tell you she's very proud of it. Blood Nocturne and more, Fox Sisters of yore, and Clandestines all make up the Outfit. Amber is the founding member of The Winding Sheet Outfit. A Twin Cities-based director and actor, she most recently directed Theatre Unbound's production of Iphigenia and Other Daughters. Past Fringe credits include direction for TWSO's Blood Nocturne, The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox, and Sandbox Theatre's Marie-Jeanne Valet Who Defeated la Bete du Gevaudan, as well as performance in Transatlantic Love Affair's 105 Proof and her co-created piece with Theo Langason in Fringe Orphans 2 The Sound...of Food. Kayla Dvorak Feld Gussie/Victoria/ Ensemble There once was a red head with curls. Who really enjoyed small, cute turtles. She liked Winding Sheet, And had bread loaf-like feet, She was quite the rare little pearl. Kayla is a theatre artist in the Twin Cities. She is also a fine poet, obviously. This is Kayla's fifth year of Fringe Fun Times and was previously seen in The Winding Sheet Outfit's Blood Nocturne, and The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox, Tedious Brief's Mead Hall, and Tempests. She has also performed locally with companies such as Daleko Arts, Theatre Pro Rata, Hero Now Theatre, Chameleon Theatre Circle, Theatre Unbound, Yellow Tree Theatre, among others. Kristina Fjellman Anne/Ensemble / Designer There once was a gal who loved to create, who's hunger for art she could not satiate. Theatre and fiber, the weirder the finer, would compel that gal to fabricate. Kristina is a visual artist and performer and is drawn to creative projects that will combine both of these passions. She has exhibited her sculpture in venues around the Midwest and Twin Cities and was a recipient of a Jerome Fiber Art Project Grant for 2010-2011 at the MN Textile Center. She is a graduate of St. Catherine University with a MAED in Art and Theater Education, the co-founding member of The Winding Sheet Outfit, and an ensemble member of Sandbox Theatre. When not creating visual art or devised theater, she also creates colorful jewelry and paper goods under the shop “Handmade by Kristina.” André Johnson, Jr Stage Management and Grand Assistance Returning is André the Stage Manager, Who longs to be a living wage matador. To dance with the bulls, Though he knows he never could, Always dreaming was Andre the Stage Manager. Sam Landman Giorgio/Ensemble There once was a guy named Sam Landman, who was exceedingly bad at limericks. He was crappy at rhyming, but nobody noticed, since he tended to stop before they found out just how crappy he really was at the whole thing (not that most people generally read past the part about being bad at limericks). This is Sam's very first Winding Sheet Outfit show. He's been in a bunch of other MN Fringe shows over the years and written a few, too (A Sad Carousel, Pretty Girls Make Graves and SmashHammer). He's also bored people to death with the fact that he once wrote 52 one-act plays within the span of a year (read them all at oneactaweek.tumblr.com). His on-again/off-again company (LandmanLand) has created storytelling pieces and shows for Wayward Theatre, Strike Theater and the Twin Cities Horror Festival. Sam also hosts 2 different podcasts: Aging Poorly (an anti-nostalgia show about geeky, childhood pop culture) and The Bazzness (focusing on the Twin Cities acting community). Oh, and sometimes he's an actor. Dan Linden Frank/Ensemble Dan probably wouldn’t have bothered, had there not been such efforts from others. But since limericks were written, in trying to fit in, here as you see is another. This is Dan’s first outing with The Winding Sheet Outfit and his first attempt at capital T theater in a long while. It’s a real hoot! His most recent Fringe credit was as writer/director/performer in The Sexiest Man Alive vs The Robot Horde. He is generally found performing improv around the twin cities and is a founding member of the hyperjubilant chaos collective known as Guts & Teeth, currently playing Saturdays at HUGE Theater through the month of August. He can also be found on the internet at your leisure as the loudest co-host of movie and memory podcast Totes Recall. Derek Lee Miller Edward Lear Derek is an actor, writer, puppeteer, designer, builder and musician. This is his 15th year in the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Past Fringe shows include Sandbox Theatre's June of Arc and Marie-Jeanne Valet, Who Defeated La Bete du Gevaudan; Transatlantic Love Affair's Ballad of the Pale Fisherman, Red Resurrected, Ashland, These Old Shoes and 105 Proof; Perpetual Motion Theatre Company's The Depth of the Ocean; and his own one-man shows Know Your B-Movie Actors and The Banana Wars. This is his second Winding Sheet Outfit show, after last year's Blood Nocturne. Derek is also a founding ensemble member of Transatlantic Love Affair, a writer for Minnesota Playlist, and the illustrator of the recent children's book, The Princess in the Clouds. To see all of the things that he gets up to, please visit derekleemiller.com. Boo Segersin Emily Tennyson/Ensemble There once was an actor named Boo. To Winding Sheet she was not new. You've seen her before in Blood Nocturne and more, that strange little actor named Boo. This is Boo's 5th Fringe Festival! You may have seen her the last two years with The Winding Sheet Outfit's productions of Blood Nocturne and The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox. Outside of Fringe she keeps on performing. Here is a list of some of the other awesome companies she has performed with: Nimbus Theater, Stages Theatre Company, Theatre Unbound, Fearless Comedy Productions, Impossible Salt, Really Spicy Opera, Swandive Theatre, SteppingStone Theatre, Six Elements Theatre, Ghoulish Delights, Sod House Theater, Cross Community Players, Lyric Arts, Children's Theatre Company, History Theatre and the Minnesota Opera. Woot! |
