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Sunday, August 11, 2024

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "That Woman - The Monologue Show"

Day:
 9

Show: 31


Category: Drama / Historical content / Political content

By: Tennessee Playwrights Studio

Created by: Molly Breen & Angela Gimlin

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: Monologues by six women involved with President John F. Kennedy, including his wife Jackie.

Highlights: I finished my 2024 Fringe-going on a high note. We've all heard about JFK's infidelity, but have we heard the women's stories? In this show, five (alleged) mistresses get the chance to tell their story in monologue form, each one introduced by Jackie (Emma Bucknam), who gets the last word, and asks us not to define her by the short time in her life when she was Mrs. Kennedy. We also get to hear from German spy Ellen Rometch (Emma Kessler), who vows to take her secret to her grave; Mimi Alford (Molly Breen), a White House intern who had an 18-month affair with the President and kept it secret for 40 years; burlesque performer Blaze Starr (Haley McCormick-Jenkins) who had a brief encounter with the President, and other powerful men; Mary Pinchot Meyer (Alison Anderson), the ex-wife of a CIA agent who enjoyed having the President's ear (and paid the price for it); and Judith Exner (Simone Reno), the first woman to come out as a mistress of JFK. All of the monologues are well written and well delivered by the cast, sitting in the single chair on stage or walking around the stage. A great concept for a show, well executed, with a final performance today at 4.


Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.