By Aiden Sims
Camp Loretto by Jack Fogle & the River Rat Puppet Collective, Cincinnati, OH
This sophomore Fringe show from Jack Fogle & the River Rat Puppet Collective (previous credit Strong Bear in 2024) casts you as a 9-year-old summer camp attendee. We are introduced to Camp Counselor, Jimmy, whose demeanor suggests that adulthood is wearing on him. He still manages to be an informative and engaging teacher, if a bit clumsy and awkward. Throughout our stay in Camp Loretto (pronounced “Loretta” with the proper Kentucky twang), we learn about opossums, are treated to a delightfully silly firefly show, and exactly fail to follow the camp rules.
Camp Loretto truly embodies the spirit of the Fringe by making great use of minimalist sets and props, audience interaction, puppets, live sound effects, a whimsical team of performers (Jack Fogle, Max Fogle, Alaysha Weldishofer, and Milo Whitson), and subversion of expectation to create a heartfelt, funny show that will rekindle your childlike wonder. Don’t miss your chance to visit Camp Loretto!
OVERALL: You’ll want a seat around this campfire, but you might take your exit pursued by a bear!
Me, Myself, and Other by Diana Romero & Maggie Whittum, Los Angeles, LA
Traveling all the way from LA, Diana Romero (star) & Maggie Whittum (Director) bring us a funny and earnest tale of identity and acceptance. Diana, not Dina or Dana, is a first generation American with Colombian ancestry, who wrestled with otherness growing up. Ostracized for her heritage, her religious preferences, her accent, for living in a state psychological institution with her whole family (long story), Diana manages to thrive until the day she feels a strange shock, “like ghosts were invading her personal space.” Diana must now continue her journey of self-discovery navigating the legacy of “ugly laws” in a country still not inclusive of those who live with Disability and at odds with its history.
On her minimalist set, outfitted with the Colombian and American flags, a laptop, and a rehearsal block, Diana is charisma on wheels as she assumes the role of flight attendant, guiding us along the scenes of her life, even when we visit her despair. Her story is a reminder that perseverance is not a destination, but the pathway itself, made more bearable by motherly love, advocating for yourself, and allyship. Me, Myself, and Other is a provocative call to action and reflection on our shared reality; Disability is the marginalized group least selective about membership.
OVERALL: “F*ck embarrassment. F*ck the shame. I choose life”- Diana Romero
Somewhere Over the Holler by Pones from Cincinnati, OH and Northern KY
Pones returns for another dance focused show with a social awareness, this time highlighting rural queer stories particularly from Appalachia. Through vignettes, voice overs, and videos we explore the need to be your truest self and the struggle to become self-actualized due to cultural confines like the church, isolation, and societal expectations.
Holler also pays homage to the victims of the Van Lear Mine Disaster of 1935 and how our ancestors influence who we are now. Exceptional excerpts from the show include the poem “Creek” from Gay Poems for Red States, by Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. and “Missy the Lesbian in the Kitchen” from Small Town Gay by Logan Lee which truly embody the voice of queer Appalachia. Featuring Hillary Hahn (as a guitarist, vocalist, and dancer), Sawyer Pardo, Hattie Clark (in both voice over and a stunning burlesque routine), Jensen O’Dell, Sarah Spurling, Ayauna Goodwin (in a notable praise dance of self-discovery), Marrow Kretzer, Courtney Duncan, Abby Hager, Jillian Kreimer, Scarlett Rustemeyer, Leah Hayworth, Timothy Forsgren (as a musician and dancer), Kim Popa, and you!
OVERALL: A hoedown celebrating queer authenticity
Updated: 9/9/25
WINNING: Winning by Gordon Neill’s Sweet Action Theatre Company from Toronto, ON
Taking the stage in a blue, wrestling singlet complete with a giant plastic Elizabethan dog collar to driving, techno fanfare, Gordon Neil is poised to take on his greatest challenge, himself. WINNING: Winning feels like a derivative of Infinite Jest. Gordon Neil is addicted to the pursuit of happiness while being ill-equipped to achieve it by societal standards. He is absolutely abused by “Tony Robbins” in a series of self-help vignettes, while effectively using the art and philosophy of clowning and mime to create a very meta portrait of a man at odds with himself.
Through self-deprecating humor and awkward audience participation, Neil silently tries to become the life of the party, navigate dating, believe in his dreams, and fly like a falcon! This very Fringe-y, solo show fresh from Edmonton, explores themes of trial and error, expectation, addiction, and self-acceptance. Poignant, intimate, honest, and lovably cringe, WINNING:Winning is a show built from the absurdity of life.
OVERALL: “All the world loves a clown…” except Tony Robbins!
Every Good Story Ends With One by Martin Dockery, Brooklyn, NY
Very casual in a black shirt and jeans, Martin Dockery imparts the growing pains of becoming a consummate Fringe story-teller with a near manic exuberance, his gravely baritone intermittently becoming a tenor for emphasis. With a gift for creating pictures with words and gestures that perfectly punctuate, Martin recounts an adverse run at the Adelaide Fringe Festival (the second largest in the world with 11,000 shows over the course of a month!) early in his career. Competing with barkers promoting other shows, audiences that just want a show “in service of getting people drunk”, and performing in a circus tent, Martin is brought to the edge of despair until he receives a letter from an admirer giving him a reason to go on with his show. He manages to embark on a two-way, parasocial relationship with Erin, who just might be the most romantic person in the world!
At home in its Coffee Emporium venue, this mystery reveals why Oreos are a barometer for catastrophe, that Fringe frenemies exist, and what will get Martin in a dress. It flows with a pace that is almost hypnotic as it winds its way to its “happy ending.”
OVERALL: Wait for the big finish!
Yoga for Falling Apart by Feminist Commune Theatre Collective, Wooster, OH
Yoga for Falling Apart sits in a very mindful venue; the Miami University Center For Community Engagement at 1300 Vine Street, if not the most demure. It adds a meta element to this play exploring radical acceptance and self-awareness, in its imperfection. It’s like a Western-style yoga studio in progress, the studio a young teaching artist and yogi can afford.
You walk in and take a seat at one of the five yoga mats surrounding the centermost one, or at one of the chairs lined-up behind them, after asking yourself how available you are to participate (don’t forget your yoga pants, if you choose to take a mat!). In walks your yogi, Kerstin Vaughn; harried, hurried, ”late”, and pleading for forgiveness. “I’m in an interesting place in my life,” she confesses between sips from a Jersey Mike’s cup, no Stanleys here. She then guides you through a series of asanas while almost breathlessly oversharing her life.
Kerstin is relatably adorkable as she shifts from poses and anecdotes, sometimes forgetting how long a pose is held or to repeat it on the other side. Her practice belies deep insight, self-reflection, and true appreciation for the philosophies of yoga. This one is especially for the theatre kids turned theatre adults trying to traverse the difficulty of pursuing their passions amid capitalistic demands. It reminds you that you can “be here now” despite the chaos within and without.
OVERALL: This play is yoga!
Stuck by Wicked Cat Productions, Brooklyn, NY
With an R(17+) rating (Simulated Sex Acts, Adult Language (Sex, Illegal Drugs, or Profanity), Brief Full Male Nudity) Wicked Cat Productions from Brooklyn, NY pushes the boundaries of what has appeared on a Cincy Fringe stage recently. In Stuck we find a purple satin bed set dominating stage-right of the Gabriel’s Corner venue, indiscreetly reiterating this show’s central theme, intimacy. Effectively using the space, Director Patrick O’Connell (they/them) has Dale (Royce Thomas Johnson (he/him)) enter from the back of the house and cross through the rear of the audience, immediately pulling us into the dynamics between these childhood friends. Dale drunkenly stumbles back into Drew’s (JJ Ivey (they/them)) life in this two-hander, and their reunion is a night of confession, tension, and passion.
Initially, Drew and Dale are almost too laidback to believe they’re really friends, perhaps leaning into the default distance people inculcated as masculine are conditioned. There are also lines taken out to the audience that seem too candid to be shared beyond the fourth wall. Ivey also seems uncertain of themself at times, in a way that felt like they weren’t anchored in the scene. The physical intimacy is well coordinated and believable, the nudity censored by silhouette.
Body insecurity, bisexuality, gay culture, religious trauma, marriage, parenthood, generational abuse, gendered roles all come up in conversation between increasingly sexual touches as the bottle of whiskey they share empties. Stuck undresses the need for, and complications of, intimacy independent of one’s presentation. It also teases the potential hazard of seeking physical intimacy in place of emotional intimacy.
OVERALL: A case for the “in between moments”
Tickets for the Cincy Summer Theatre Party
For tickets and more information about Cincinnati’s Summer Theatre Party in Over the Rhine, click on this LINK.
