Ministry of Cultural Warfare : Archives : The Last Cherry Pit

About the show

Tales and fables from Cold War-era Hungary, based upon some of István Örkény's ultra-short stories collected in One Minute Stories.

Performed as part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival 2000 at Acadia Café. Friday, July 28 at 10 p.m.; Saturday, July 29 at 4 p.m.; Sunday, July 30 at 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday, August 1 at 7 p.m.; and Friday, August 4 at 5:30 p.m.

Reviews and press

With comedy troupes sprouting in the Twin Cities like crabgrass, it is nice to see a group that tackles more that improv games and hastily assembled, yawning sketches. This first production offers a jolting, dreamlike look at the life of István Örkény, a Cold War-era Hungarian writer known for bitterly absurd short stories. The resulting production is disquieting and smart—a good thing for comedy to be.
—Max Sparber, City Pages

Cast and crew

Kasi Engler
The Florist, Schultzian Police Officer, Éva (formerly Sipos)

Matthew Gilman
The Inquisitor, Man in the Coffeeshop

Kara Greshwalk
Mrs. Rónai, Hard of Hearing Hungarian

Leigha Horton
Maja, Berta, The Waitress

Matthew Kessen
István Örkény

Carin Leonard
The Executioner's Wife, Woman in the Coffeeshop

Trevor Nelson
Hungarian Under Police Observation, Mr. Rónai, the Cabbie, Producer

Matthew Foster
Writer, director