Robert Frosty Theatre Company at Elgin Fringe Festival

Nobody works so hard at something so #EFFing ridiculous as the Robert Frosty Theatre Company, whose one-act play "Frostvengers: Insanity War" unites Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Pope Francis, Tomahawk Peterson the Social Justice Warrior, and President Andrew Jackson 2.0 in an epic battle against a Schaumburg mayoral candidate.

Lathered and gasping from physical combat after almost every eye-popping scene, the cast splatters a melting pot of American pop culture references across the huge open floor of the Elgin Art Showcase, never looking back on their trail of mayhem.

The action is a heavy metal medley of The Three Stooges, Bruce Lee, and Wrestlemania, performed with excellent craft and powered by childlike exuberance. You'll need more than one Kleenex and possibly a diaper to contain your joy.

Catch your breath during the Guns 'n' Roses Kum-ba-yah moment. You'll need all your strength for what comes next.

Robert Frosty Theatre Co. at Elgin Fringe Festival

Don't be fooled by the makeshift set, exaggerated stage combat and ridiculous premise. "Andrew Jackson: American Maniac" stands as proof that the actors of Robert Frosty Theatre Company actually know what they're doing.

Part history, part fantasy, lots of comedy — Frosty has created its own genre of theatre, based on plots filled with famous personalities, shameless use of pop culture references, and fluid timelines fraught with anachronisms. It simply can't be judged by the standards of legitimate theatre.

Yet these skilled actors can project their lines without shouting, take full control of their performance space, and handle any degree of full-body physical action that the script requires. Did we mention the script?

Robert Frosty Theatre Co. at Elgin Fringe Festival.

"Jackson" chronicles the past, present and future life of America's seventh President, the temperamental Father of the Democratic Party, famous for the Indian Removal Act and his zest for dueling. According to Frosty, he also plays a mean guitar and sports a bionic arm.

You'll spend half the show laughing and the other half holding your breath, as you watch a great cast doing what they love to do, in their own way, on their own terms. That's when artists are at their best.

Robert Frosty Theatre Company at Elgin Fringe Festival

Big targets are the easiest to hit, but enough well-placed shots can bring down a giant. That's the idea behind the sword-swinging political send-up entitled "Capitalism: A Fighting Cabaret Musical" by Robert Frosty Theatre Company.

Robert Frosty Theatre Company at Elgin Fringe Festival.

In a rapid-fire series of sketches, we see snapshots of capitalist atrocities from the past, present and future, accompanied two Dickens-era American businessmen. Wherever something can be bought and sold for a profit, the Capitalists move in and take control. Mineral rights, the media, pharmaceuticals, child labor, real estate and the democratic process are but a few of the assets they acquire with contracts, laws and paper money.

Caricatures of political figures, CEOs, Mark Twain, the Pope and even Jesus put a face on the forces of good and evil as Frosty sees them, and when you least expect it, a band of bloodthirsty Vikings enters and slaughters the cast.

It's a fully transparent theatrical agenda overflowing with zany humor, wigs, musical interludes and lots and lots of swords, leading to the unexpected conclusion that perhaps the only thing guaranteed to satisfy any group of people is random, senseless acts of violence.

This performance repeats Sunday, Sept. 18th at 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm.