"The Wanderers" at Six Points Theater

Fresh from a successful Off-Broadway run, the new play The Wanderers by Anna Ziegler opened at Six Points Theater last weekend. The compelling story of two seemingly different couples is well told by this cast and creative team. The thought-provoking and relatable play explores themes of marriage, the parent/child relationship, identity, and legacy. The Wanderers continues at Six Points Theater's home in the Highland Park Community Center in St. Paul through May 14.

"Two Jews Walk Into a War..." by Six Points Theater at Highland Park Community Center

Two Jews walk into a war. No, that's not the set-up to a joke, it's the title of a play. But it is funny, as much as a play about the beleaguered nation of Afghanistan and the millennia-long story of the persecution of the Jews can be funny. Seth Rozin's play is a fictionalized account of the last two Jews in Kabul, who hated each other but were forced to work together. He uses the humor of this cantankerous relationship to delve into some pretty deep issues of faith, community, tradition, identity, and the meaning of home. See this sweet, funny, heart-breaking little play at Six Points Theater through May 22.

"Operation: Immigration" streaming from Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company

One of the hits of last year's Minnesota Fringe Festival was #TCTheater artist Avi Aharoni's solo show Operation: Immigration, which was the highest selling Fringe show at Mixed Blood. Now, Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company (where Avi has frequently performed) is offering an updated and filmed remount of the show as part of their 2020-2021 season, entitled "Theater Six Feet Apart." Avi and the creative team (including director Robert Dorfman, cinematographer Ryan Melling, sound designer Reid Rejsa, and lighting designer Todd M. Reemtsma) have done a great job transferring the on-stage show to a filmed production. One of the great things about the Fringe show is that Avi played very well off of the live audience, which of course is gone here. But he's still very personable as he tells the story of his twice-immigrant father, an Iranian Jew, and how delving into this story has influenced his own identity. One thing that remains true about this updated version of the show is this, that I wrote in my review last year: "This is a fascinating and inspiring immigrant story, about a man who sacrificed his whole life for his family's safety and security. But even more than that, it's a love letter from a son to a father, one that it was a privilege to witness."

"The Norwegians" by Dark and Stormy Productions at Grain Belt Warehouse

Seven years after their debut, during which time they've brought us a couple of dark and stormy little plays every year, Dark and Stormy Productions is doing their first remount. If you're going to remount a show, the hilarious and very Minnesotan dark comedy The Norwegians, first presented in 2016, is a great choice. This story of two Southern women so beaten down by Minnesota winters and bad relationships that they hire Norwegian gangsters to kill their exes is worth seeing again. In 2016 I called the play "a cross between a Prairie Home Companion sketch and an episode of Fargo, with more edge than the former but without the latter's ominous cloud of despair." They've reunited most of the original cast and creative team, with a few new faces, for what is once again is a very funny, entertaining, and intimate anti-holiday* #TCTheater choice.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "Operation: Immigration"

Day: 9

Show: 29

Title: Operation: Immigration

Category: COMEDY / DRAMA / SOLO SHOW / SPOKEN WORD / STORYTELLING / HISTORICAL CONTENT / RELIGIOUS CONTENT

By: Wandering Jew Productions

Created by: Avi Aharoni

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A solo show by #TCTheater artist Avi Aharoni about his father, a two-time immigrant.

Highlights: This lovely show was deservedly the highest selling show at Mixed Blood. Avi is so charming and disarming as he tells his father's story, and really his own story as the son of a Minnesota woman and a man who immigrated from Iran to Israel, and later to America. It's a scripted show, but he's very loose and playful with the audience, asking questions, and reacting to their reactions, which makes the show feel even more warm and personal. It's funny and poignant and relatable (because the more specific something is, the more universal it is), with great use of the space, well-chosen sound cues, and even a little rap. Director Robert Dorfman inserts himself into the action with comments, hilarious facial expressions, and the turning of the sign from one section to the next. This is a fascinating and inspiring immigrant story, about a man who sacrificed his whole life for his family's safety and security. But even more than that, it's a love letter from a son to a father, one that it was a privilege to witness, and a perfect ending to my 2019 Minnesota Fringe Festival experience.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"Shul" by Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at Highland Park Center Theatre

On a weekend when there was yet another deadly attack on a synagogue, I can think of no better reaction to the devastating news than to go to our local Jewish theater and support Jewish artists, Jewish stories, Jewish culture. Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company's world premiere new play Shul, another word for synagogue, is especially appropriate as it deals with an inner city synagogue in danger of closing, and even references a bullet hole in the window. It's a beautiful, funny, poignant story about a group of people trying to keep their culture, traditions, and community alive in the face of ever-changing modern times.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Summers in Prague"

Day: 10

Show: 35

Title: Summers in Prague

Category: Comedy / Drama

By: Sidecar Theatre

Directed by: Kimberly Miller

Location: Rarig Center Arena

Summary: An American woman living in Berlin travels to Prague once a year to hire a prostitute.

Highlights: I attended the final sold-out performance of this top-selling show in the Arena, and I can see why it was such a hit. Sweet, funny, awkward, sexy, and a premise we don't usually see - a woman hiring a male prostitute instead of the other way around. But really it's a character study of these two people who find themselves together under unusual circumstances, and the unique relationship they form over five summers in Prague. Mara is nervous and awkward at their first meeting, and can't stop apologizing. But we see her grow more comfortable and more confident over time. Vaclav is smooth and suave from the start, but you get the sense he's playing a role. Eventually he begins to reveal more of his true self as their relationship becomes deeper. Samantha V. Papke and Avi Aharoni have great chemistry and both give vulnerable and assured performances (and kudos to Avi for mastering the Czech accent) as they navigate the awkwardness of the situation and all the stages of the relationship (and here's hoping they had an Intimacy Choreographer). Beautifully written by Milwaukee-based playwright Deanna Strasse and well directed by Kimberly Miller, this play is an unexpected delight.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"Natasha and the Coat" by Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at Highland Park Center Theatre

For the final show of their 23rd season, Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company is bringing us the world premiere of a new play. LA-based playwright (and Playwrights' Center affiliated writer) Deborah Stein's Natasha and the Coat is an engaging look at a Hasidic Jewish family in the neighborhood of Williamsburg in early 21st Century Brooklyn, as well as the garment industry in that neighborhood. It touches on themes of immigration, gentrification, and how to maintain one's culture and traditions while still functioning in modern American society. While it could use a little tightening up (it's lacking in momentum in parts, and feels too long at 2.5+ hours), the likable and believable cast make it worthwhile.

"mONSTER" by Swandive Theatre at the Southern Theater

You'd think that with as much theater as I see (over 250 shows last year), I've seen every theater company in town (an ever-growing list currently at about 75 per this year's Iveys). But I'd never seen a show by Swandive Theatre before last night, when I attended opening night of their original play mONSTER (by Sam Graber) with the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers. In my defense, although they've been around since 2005, they typically only do one show a year. But I'm happy to have finally made their acquaintance (thanks to my colleague Gina at the most awesomely titled #TCTheater blog The Room Where It Happens) with this original, thought-provoking, beautifully designed play.

"Promise Land" by Transatlantic Love Affair at Guthrie Theater

Twin Cities Theater Bloggers' favorite theater of 2016, the charmingly named Transatlantic Love Affair, is making their Guthrie Theater debut as part of the Guthrie's new Level Nine Series. This series makes theater more accessible (all tickets for shows in the Dowling Studio are just $9), and also endeavors to engage theater-goers with what they call "community engagement activities," which often include post-show discussions or displays in the golden lobby. Hopefully TLA's participation in this series will allow people who don't know that TCTB knows about them to get on board with this truly unique and special physical theater company.

"Tartuffe" by Wayward Theatre Company at the James J Hill House

I love seeing theater in non-traditional theater spaces; it shakes me out of the usual and allows me to see theater in a different way. These days, it's becoming a necessity for the many nomadic theater companies in town to look outside the box when planning to mount a show (see also Frank Theatre's Good Person of Setzuan in an abandoned Rainbow Foods). Happily, the James J. Hill House seems to be quite amenable to hosting theatrical events; I've seen three plays there in the last six months. It's a gorgeous and historic building, and lends itself quite well to a variety of projects, from a comic opera like Marriage of Figaro, to a creepy horror tale like Bluebeard's Dollhouse, to a 17th Century French comedy. The latter can currently be seen in the grand surroundings on St. Paul's Summit Avenue (once the home of more millionaires than any other street in the country), in the form of new-to-me Wayward Theatre Company's innovatively imagined and well-executed Tartuffe. I can't help thinking the Hill family would be thrilled to know people are experiencing wonderful theater in their home.

Fringe Festival 2016: "Celebrity Book Club"

Day: 4

Show: 18

Title: Celebrity Book Club

Category: Comedy

By: Outlandish Productions

Written by: Jimmy LeDuc, Dan Hetzel, and Sulia Rose Altenberg

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A mock TV show in which a host, producer, and assistant talk about books written by celebrities, with a different theme and special guest panel (comprised of Fringe favorites) at every performance.

Highlights: Funny people reading ridiculous books that probably only got published because the author is a celebrity. Simple premise, but it works, especially with the creative team of Jimmy LeDuc (the producer keeping the show going), Dan Hetzel (the genial and slightly smarmy host), and Sulia Rose Altenberg (the helpful and sometimes hostile assistant). I attended on "Celebrity Fiction or Poetry" night, so I enjoyed the poems of Jewel read by Avi Aharoni, Ally Sheedy's poems (some of which were written during her stint at Hazeldon) read by Joshua English Scrimshaw, Pamela Anderson's novel Star Struck, read by Jen Scott, and finally, selections from Touch Me: The Poems Suzanne Sommers, read by Eric Webster. It's a fun and informal show, kind of like a late-night talk show recurring skit, with the audience given the vote on each book whether to "shelve it" or "trash it." The thin premise succeeds because of the talent, humor, and charm of the regulars and special guests.