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Home > Arts > FRINGE FILE #17: INTERVIEW – Dawn Bentley on <em>The Quiet Piggy</em> and Helming Fringe

FRINGE FILE #17: INTERVIEW – Dawn Bentley on The Quiet Piggy and Helming Fringe

by Basil Considine -

A promotional image for The Quiet Piggy, one of 104 shows at the 2026 Minnesota Fringe Festival, which launches Thursday.

It would be nigh on impossible to accuse Dawn Bentley, Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, of lacking in talents. Over the years, she’s checked off a biochemistry degree, bodybuilding, playing the violin, running the Art Shanty Projects, marathoning, an MBA, and more – all before taking the helm of Minnesota’s largest performing arts festival in 2017.

Last year, Bentley even took to the stage at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, appearing in the cast of Special When Lit’s 2025 production Fangs and Bangs and Sangs. This year, she’s upping the ante by producing and performing in her own Fringe show, The Quiet Piggy, which runs at the Strike Theater in Northeast Minneapolis from August 8-16.

Show Description
Minnesota Fringe Executive Director and theatre virgin Dawn Bentley makes her first (and only?) fringe show. A personal, political, and playful storytelling experience fantasizing about how IT finally happens.

Dawn Bentley took a moment out of preparing to launch a live festival with 103 other shows to speak with the Arts Reader’s Basil Considine.

You’ve helmed the Minnesota Fringe Festival for almost a decade since starting in 2017. Was there a specific point or event where you thought, “I should do my own Fringe show!”?

ABSOLUTELY NOT. I am not a theater person at all. I have never done theater before (other than playing in the pit orchestra) and I have never enjoyed being ‘center stage’ – which is why you see artists hosting previews and lottery, along with guests hosting our annual Five Fifths fundraiser. My performance experience has primarily been in orchestras where I’m happy to wear black, blend in with the stage, and concentrate on making my bow go in the same direction as everyone else.

You’ve recruited a team of collaborators for this show – co-directors Rita Boersma and Jen Scott, dramaturg Heather Meyer, and clown Lucas Fanning. How did you first meet and then decide to team up with this all-star group?

These are all folks I have seen on stages over the years, mostly at the Fringe Festival, and occasionally in other productions. I respect their work and admire their sense of comedic timing (Rita), audience playfulness (Jen), brilliance with words (Heather), and clowning / improv capabilities (Lucas).

Dawn Bentley’s inaugural season as the Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe in 2017 was covered in a featured article in the Star Tribune.

You’re from Mankato – has your schedule given you a lot of freedom on visiting your hometown, or kept you in the Twin Cities more?

I don’t get home as much as I used to, but I have lived in / around Saint Paul for over 35 years, so I consider the Twin Cities my adopted hometown. My parents and much of my extended family live in Mankato, which gives me reason to visit on holidays and special occasions. As an avid traveler, I prefer being close to an airport for the quick exit when the opportunity arises.

What have been some of the most surprising things about your job as Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival?

I had always been a fan of the performing arts, and art in general, but I think I’m surprised by how much I fell in love with the nuances of theater, the discovery of genres new to me, and the bravery of those who are willing to share their stories on stage.

What was your process for getting into the festival – pulling rank, entering the general lottery, or…?

I had shared with several people my idea for a show and everyone encouraged me to put a ball in the lottery. I waited until the last possible moment because the original play idea kept haunting my thoughts. Unfortunately, I was not chosen, so I had to make a decision about whether I wanted to register my show through our Independent Producer program.

I was daunted by the idea of securing a venue, managing the tech, and creating the show. It is a giant risk, but what I wanted to create is so connected to the moment we are living in right now that it didn’t make sense to try again next year.

While the process hasn’t been easy, I have appreciated the learning curve and am grateful for the opportunity to achieve stretch goals for myself. Despite enjoying the process, this is probably a ‘one and done’ for me.

You do a great deal of public speaking on the job, and are also a graduate of Hamline University’s MBA/Master of Nonprofit Administration program. Did you receive formal training in public speaking (dramatically or otherwise) in your professional journey, or is something that you picked up along the way?

I have never received any formal public speaking training. However, when it comes to talking about things I care about, like Minnesota Fringe and its mission to support adventurous artists, I can speak passionately from the heart at great length. I am, after, my father’s daughter, and his nick-name growing up was “Gabby” because he is also a passionate speaker.

Minnesota Fringe Festival Executive Director Dawn Bentley speaking about the festival on KSTP News. Watch the interview.

What’s a favorite moment in your show, and why?

With the encouragement of my cohort, I have allowed myself to get pretty vulnerable during this show (which has certainly morphed from my original idea where I hadn’t planned to be on stage at all) and I talk about things that I think some Fringe fans may be surprised to learn about me. Experiences I may drop in a casual conversation to accentuate a point, but I don’t make it front and center at work.

My show plays out multiple fantasies about the day IT finally happens and my favorite one is when “Piggy” perishes under the weight of the accomplishments of a woman, specifically mine. Lucas plays it out deftly.

Your show, The Quiet Piggy, participates in the Bring a Friend to Fringe program where ticket buyers can make an advance purchase with a Buy-One-Get-Another-Ticket-to-the-Same-Performance-Free deal. (Say that five times fast.) Besides your own show, what are some Fringe shows this year that you’d especially like to bring a buddy to, and why?

As the executive director of the festival, I don’t pick favorites in the festival, but rather encourage folks to enter our gateway to the performing arts with an open heart and adventurous spirit and simply try something new.

Never been to a dance show? Intimidated by audience participation? Don’t know what physical theater is? Not sure about clowning? Try it with a friend, talk about it with them after it’s over (maybe while getting a drink or snack using our Button Deals). I’ll bet you’ll learn something new about yourself!

What’s up for you after Fringe closes, the artists are paid out, and all the signs and supplies are put away?

First, I’m competing in a bodybuilding contest at the end of the month for the first time in nearly 15 years. I’ve placed 4 times in the past and was sure that I had hung this up for good in my 40s – but here I am.

As SOON as THAT is over, I’m going to my second favorite festival – the State Fair – to eat all the things I have been denied for the 6 months I have been training.

I also have several concerts coming up in September (Sugar, Weezer, Foo Fighters) that I’m pretty excited to see.

I’ll probably run the Twin Cities Marathon, take a couple trips, and spend more time with my grandson this Fall. And, of course, begin planning the 2027 Festival.

Basil Considine
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