FRINGE OPENS ITS 16TH SEASON WITH A PROVOCATIVE LESSON FROM HISTORY

Fringe Theater presents H*TLER’S TASTERS with Lela Griffin, Martha Hooten-Hattingh, Morgan Fraga Pierson, and Samantha Laskey, November 19-23. Photos Credit: Fringe Theater Key West

Fringe Theater Key West opens its 16th season of theater with a little known but true story of young women conscripted into service for the Third Reich. H*tler’s Tasters, a dark comedy, runs for five performances only, November 19-23 at 7pm at the Key West Armory at 600 White Street.

Though a glimpse into Germany at the end of World War II seems like an unlikely subject matter for a comedy, the play brilliantly walks the line between pathos and absurdity. This balance takes the audience on an historical journey while keeping the journey devastatingly relevant.

H*tler’s Tasters, written by Michelle Kholos Brooks, won the Susan Glaspell Playwrights Award in 2017 and was included in the Best of the (Edinburgh) Fringe in 2019.  The playwright, in an interview with Forbes magazine, said she considered changing her play’s title due to pushback over the name. But her father-in-law, Mel Brooks, convinced her to keep it.

What makes him an expert? He wrote “Springtime for Hitler” for the hit Broadway play The Producers. “Not only should we laugh about Hitler,” Mel Brooks famously said, “We must laugh about him.”

The play is directed by Rebecca Tomlinson and stars Martha Hooten-Hattingh, Morgan Fraga Pierson, Samantha Laskey, and Lela Griffin as the young German women ‘honored’ to be chosen to ensure the food for the Führer was not poisoned. Fringe’s creative/production team includes Aramis Ikatu, Kendall Cameron, Don Lynch, and Stephanie Miller with Fritzie Estimond on run crew.

H*tler’s Tasters runs for five nights only, from November 19th to 23rd.  Tickets are $45 and $60 and can be purchased online at www.keystix.com or by calling the KeysTix box office at 305-295-7676. Advanced ticket purchase is recommended. House opens at 6:30. Show begins at 7pm.

Fringe Theater Key West is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that creates unique opportunities for people

to see and do theater through workshops, readings, and mainstage productions. Fringe is a

vibrant and innovative theater company dedicated to creating engaging, thought-provoking, and

diverse theatrical experiences in Key West. More information about the Fringe Theater (or this production) can be found at www.fringetheater.org.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]