A Reading of "Eat, Slay, Leave" by the Playwright Cabal at the Phoenix Theatre

The Playwright Cabal is "an ambitious group of female-identified professional playwrights who promote the development of new scripted plays in the Twin Cities and one another’s success." This fall, they're presenting a series of readings of new works by each the five members (Katherine Glover, Gemma Irish, Alayna Jacqueline, Heather Meyer, and Rachel Teagle). This program, entitled New Leaf, is free to attend, and includes pre- and post-show happy hour as well as a post-show discussion of the work presented. All readings are at the Phoenix Theatre in Uptown, and it's a really great way to see what our local female playwrights are up to.

"A Lie of the Mind" by Theatre Pro Rata at nimubs theatre

An all too real depiction of the real-life hanging of a circus elephant. A disturbing adaptation of a well-known dystopian novel. A devastating and thought-provoking portrait of a child molester. And now a deep dive into an abusive relationship. Theatre Pro Rata doesn't shy away from the tough stuff. After a brief trip to the lighter side with The Illusion at Park Square this summer, Pro Rata returns to the dark side with a sobering look at abusive and dysfunctional families in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. This dark fable of a modern day Western offers little hope, but once again Pro Rata offers a beautiful, well-acted and -directed, and disturbing evening of theater.

The play begins shortly after Jake (a frighteningly good Nate Cheeseman) has beaten his wife Beth (a frail yet strong Amy Pirkl) so badly that she ends up in the hospital with brain damage, and has to relearn how to walk and talk. This is not the first time this has happened, and Beth's brother Mike (Bear Brummel) and parents (Don Maloney and Delta Rae Giordano) take her home to recover in Montana where she grew up. Similarly, Jake's sister (Joy Dolo) and bitter mother (Kit Bix) take him in while his brother Frankie (Gabriel Murphy) travels to Montana to check on Beth and make sure she's not dead, as Jake feared. What follows is an exploration of three dysfunctional families. Beth's father is the stereotypical head of the household, spending all his time in the hunting shack and ordering his wife to apply oil to his dry and cracking feet. Jake's mother has never recovered from her husband leaving and his tragic death. And we know how Jake and Beth ended up.

Nate Cheeseman and Amy Pirkl
as the not so happy couple
(photo by Charles Gorrill)

This is one of those plays that makes one happy to be single. What's the point of getting married if all you do is make each other miserable, and raise miserable children who go out to make other people miserable? None of these characters are particularly likeable, but all are beautifully brought to life by the strong cast under the direction of Carin Bratlie Wethern. Perhaps the least hateful of these miserable people is Beth, who, like many so-called simple-minded characters, speaks simple and eloquent truth in her blunt and mixed up speech. And Frankie seems like a good guy, trying to make up for his brother's sins. But maybe looking for good guys isn't the point of the play. Maybe it's to recognize the bad guys within all of us. And then hopefully not marry one.

The starkly beautiful West of Sam Shepard's imagination is well represented on nimbus' intimate stage by scenic designer Ursula Bowden. The stage elegantly and seamlessly combines three very different sets - a hotel, hospital room, and childhood basement bedroom - with a painted Western backdrop tying them together. The former two sets are replaced by the Montana living room, which shares some of the same space with the basement bedroom. In fact they almost seem to exist in the same space, even though they're presumably hundreds of miles apart, as Jake and Beth can almost seem to see each other across the distance.

The last Shepard play I saw was only an hour long, so I was expecting this one to be short as well. It's not, coming in at almost three hours with intermission. That's a long time to spend with these miserable people in their miserable lives, but it's a compelling and engaging play despite the misery. A Lie of the Mind continues through September 27.

"The Underpants" at Theatre in the Round

A German farce adapted by legendary funny man Steve Martin and directed by our own funny woman Shanan Custer? Count me in! This combination promises much hilarity, and Theatre in the Round's production of The Underpants delivers solidly on that promise. This brisk 90 minutes of crazy hijinks that ensue after a woman's underpants fall to her ankles in public is actually quite a brilliant satire of societal gender norms and sexual mores of the time; Carl Sternheim's script was banned shortly after it premiered in 1910. The six-person cast is excellent in line delivery and physical flourishes. Shanan's zany and flustered yet real and grounded comedy style is all over this piece, and makes for a highly entertaining afternoon (or evening) at the theater.

Louise Maske is innocently watching the King's parade when, by some fluke, her underpants (or what we might today call bloomers) fall to her ankles. It causes quite a stir in the town, and her husband Theo much embarrassment. He's a respected clerk of the King, he can't have people looking at him and thinking about what's under his wife's skirt! Two men who saw the underpants incident are completely taken by it, and decide to rent a room in the Maske home. A gentleman poet by the name of Versati falls instantly in love, and Louise, with the help of upstairs neighbor Gertrude, decides to have an affair with him. Unfortunately he's more in love with love and poetry than he is with Louise. The sickly barber Cohen loves Louise too, and blissfully unaware Theo takes him under his wing, vowing to fatten him up and return him to health. When a stern and stooped older gentleman named Klinglehoff also wants to rent a room, Louise assumes he's after the same thing. Finally even the King stops by to pay a visit. The underpants have caused quite a stir in the Maskes' life.

Louise (Amy Pirkl) with her suitors
(photo by Richard Fleishman)

The show is perfectly cast, with each member bringing life to their character and the fast and funny dialogue: John T. Zeiler reveling in the selfish and sexist husband, Amy Pirkl charming and likeable as the bored wife looking for more, Jean Wolff stealing scenes as the nosy neighbor, Nic Delcambre polished and smooth as the flowerly and elegant Versati, David Schlosser adorably awkward as the nebbishy Cohen, and Eric Marinus Nelson with brief hilarious entrances as Klinglehoff. As usual, great use is made of the round stage space with seats on all sides, not a bad view among them. The floor is checkered with dingy red and white tiles (reminding me of the kitchen at my Grandpa's old farmhouse) spiraling to the center, with vintage kitchen equipment along one side and a few benches and chairs around the circle (set design by Gabriel Gomez).

The Underpants is the first show in Theatre in the Round's 63rd season (BTW they're the oldest theater company in town), and continues weekends through the end of the month. Check it out for a sharp, fun, witty, wacky romp.