Must see

In January 2021, playwright Jennie Ward suffered a cardiac arrest, the cause of which she still does not know. She wrote the play ‘Defibrillator’ in honor of how her friends felt. “I missed it. I was in a coma for seven to eight days. They just had to wait and be terrified,” Ward recounts. The trauma-informed play intersperses panic and anxiety faced by Ward and her friends through dance and dialogue, along with explanations of the heart’s function aided by a heart-shaped puppet.

Presented by Jennie Ward and the Justice Theatre Consortium at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance; 10 p.m. Aug. 4, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 6, 7 p.m. Aug. 8, 4 p.m. Aug. 10

Still trying to decide what to see? Check out all our Fringe reviews at twincities.com/tag/fringe-festival, with each show rated on a scale of Must See, Worth Considering, Could Be Worse or You Can Skip.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is presenting more than 100 hourlong stage acts from Aug. 1–11 around Minneapolis. Visit MinnesotaFringe.org for ticket and show information.

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