"Helen" by Ten Thousand Things at The Capri Theater

Six years after taking over as Artistic Director of Ten Thousand Things from founder Michelle Hensley, Marcela Lorca is directing her final show with the company before moving on. For this, she returns to one of her favorites - Greek tragedy. Specifically, she worked with playwrights John Barton and Kenneth Cavander on their adaptation of Euripides' Helen, a different retelling of the tragedy of the Trojan War than we usually hear. This adaptation, Marcela's direction and choreography, and this uber talented cast make this two thousand year old play feel refreshingly modern and relevant. And don't let the word tragedy fool you; this Helen is full of lightness and humor and music, albeit tinged with tragedy, specifically around the senselessness and destruction of war. My theater blogger friend asked me if this was a must see, and I said - of course it is, it's Ten Thousand Things! Marcela Lorca is concluding her tenure at TTT on a high note, and I look forward to how this uniquely special company created by Michelle Hensley continues into the future. In the meantime, you can see Helen at The Capri Theater, Open Book, United Methodist Church, or various locations around the community through November 10.

"Shane" at the Guthrie Theater

"The farmer and the cowman should be friends," says the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! But in the classic American novel Shane, now with a brilliant new adaptation on the Guthrie stage, the farmer and the cowman most certainly are not friends. This Shane tells the story of a Mexican-American family trying to eke out a living on their farm in Wyoming, being threatened by a big time rancher, who wants to drive all of the farmers off the land and raise cattle. A lot of cattle. Enter Shane, a Black cowboy with a dark and mysterious past and a dangerous streak, who helps the family keep their land. But of course, the land used to be occupied by the Indigenous peoples of this land, who were previously driven off by the US government (using settlers like these). In the same way that the recent revival of Oklahoma! brought out all of the complexities of the origins of America, particularly the American West, that were always in the script, Karen Zacarías' adaptation of the 1949 novel by Jack Schaefer pulls in more voices and more stories to show a truer picture of the history of America, the people of color who were always there but often not seen in classic representations. But yet, it remains true to the spirit of the original story, and it's still a wildly entertaining and gorgeously told tale of the mythical American West, just a little more diverse and authentic. This new play (which the Guthrie co-commissioned and co-produced with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park) is a dynamic conclusion to a truly excellent 60th season at the Guthrie Theater.

"Misery" at Yellow Tree Theatre

If you're looking for an on-stage delicious thriller, that's creepy but also funny at times, and beautifully acted, look no further than Misery currently playing at Yellow Tree Theatre's cozy Osseo theater. Stephen King's 1987 novel was adapted into the popular 1990 movie, for which Kathy Bates won an Oscar. It was adapted into a play (by original screenwriter William Goldman) just ten years ago or so. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie and I don't think I ever read the book, but I knew the general gist of the story. Still, I was delightfully surprised at some of the twists and turns in the play. The tension in Yellow Tree's intimate space is palpable, and the excellent cast and creative team handily take us on this terrifying (but also fun) journey. 

"The Tempest" at the Guthrie Theater

The Guthrie's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, which opened last month and continues through April 16, is "such stuff as dreams are made on." Former Artistic Director Joe Dowling returns to the Guthrie to direct this piece, the first time since he left in 2015. I became a subscriber and fell in love with the Guthrie (and through it, the local theater community) during the Joe Dowling era, so this production feels very familiar and comforting to me, like going home. That big blue beautiful building on the Mississippi (which Joe Dowling shepherded into existence) truly is one of my happy places. And this Tempest is a joyful celebration of the magic we call theater, one that's especially heart-warming after the very long intermission of the last two years. This is the first fully new production of the Guthrie's 2021-2022 pandemic-shortened season (they hosted the touring production of What the Constitution Means to Me last fall, and put a new spin on their 40+ year annual tradition The Christmas Carol), and they've just announced an exciting new 60th anniversary season (my 19th as a subscriber). It feels so good to come home to the Guthrie again.

"The White Card" at Penumbra Theatre

"Perhaps this play might seem an odd choice, with such a [mostly white] cast, during Black History Month. But for me it is exactly the point. Rather than spend the month extolling the accomplishments of African Americans, it seems critical at this juncture of American history that we instead task white people with the fight against rising racism and bigotry in this country. That fight must be waged in living rooms and dining rooms as well as the Senate and the streets. That fight begins with critical self-examination." So notes Penumbra Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy in a note in the program for The White Card, which does exactly as she describes. The difficult conversations that arise when a black artist has dinner with white patrons of black art, who think that they're helping the cause of racial equality and justice but don't fully comprehend the problems or their place in them, are exactly the kinds of difficult conversations we need to be having right now. This is a play that white people need to see to gain some perspective and further that process of critical self-examination. It's very smartly and succinctly written, and sharply brought to life by the team at Penumbra.

"Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story" at History Theatre

This winter, History Theatre is bringing back their original play with music based on the life of local rock and roll legend Bobby Vee. You would be forgiven for not recognizing the name (especially if you didn't live through the '60s), but you would surely recognize some of his hits (e.g., "Devil or Angel," "Take Good Care of My Baby," "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes"). And that's why we have the History Theatre, to bring us edutainment about parts of our local history that we maybe don't know as much about as we should. Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story premiered in 2016, and the creators collaborated with Bobby's sons Jeff and Tommy. Bobby Vee died from complications of Alzheimer's during that first run of the show, bringing an extra poignancy to it. On second viewing, Teen Idol really feels like a Jeff and Tommy's love letter to their parents - a clean-cut Midwestern boy who for a short time was one of the biggest music stars in the world, and the woman who loved him but didn't sacrifice herself for his career. The play has been tweaked a little, with three new songs added, and by my count about two-thirds of the 24-person cast are new to the show. But it's mostly the same as last time: a play that transcends the jukebox musical to tell the story of how one star survived his rise to and fall from fame with grace and dignity intact, thanks in part to his family.

"The Royal Family" at the Guthrie Theater

If you know me, you know that I'm a morning person who loves a 90-minute no intermission show - short, succinct, and to the point. The Royal Family, now playing at the Guthrie, is not that show. With its three acts and two intermissions, the show is pushing three hours. The good news is it doesn't feel nearly that long. In fact it's quite a delight to spend three hours with the wacky and extremely theatrical Cavendish family (as long as they're not your own). This 1927 Broadway play is a spoof of the real life Barrymore family of actors, a hilarious family comedy in addition to being an exploration of the sacrifices made by those in the theater. Directed by Rachel Chavkin (who also directed the new musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, currently on Broadway*), the strong 15-person cast, made up of mostly local favorites with some national talent thrown in for extra spice, is a joy to watch. Continuing through March 19, The Royal Family provides plenty of laughter and a much needed escape.

"Finding Fish" at Illusion Theater

Did you know that there's a fishing crisis in New England? Being a vegetarian who never really liked to eat or catch fish, living in land-locked Minnesota, I've never heard about this issue. I've never even thought about how environmental issues affect those making their living off the sea. But I'm thinking about it now, thanks to Carlyle Brown's new play Finding Fish, now receiving its world premiere at Illusion Theater. Rather than just being a boring recitation of facts (like "from 1991 to 2003 the cod catch fell 99%," as noted in the thick program that has tons of information and resources about environmental issues, particularly those related to water), Finding Fish combines the realism of family drama with fantastical elements to create a story that's both thought-provoking and entertaining.

"The Hothouse" by Dark and Stormy Productions at the Artspace Grain Belt Bottling House

I admit it - I don't get Pinter. Dark and Stormy's production of The Hothouse is the third play I've seen by English playwright Harold Pinter, and the third time I've left the theater (or in this case the bottling house) with a feeling of "what just happened?" Pinter plays are absurd, don't spell things out clearly, and are open to interpretation. But that's not a bad thing. In fact in this case it's a good thing. Dark and Stormy's production of this bizarre and funny little play is entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking. And like all of their work (this is just the 5th play they've done over the past few years), it's brilliantly cast with some of the Twin Cities' top talent, and presented in a unique nontraditional location.

The title refers to an institution where the play takes place. It's called a "rest home," in contrast to a "convalescent home," but the details of how patients come to be in the institution and what kind of treatment (or punishment) they receive is unclear. What we do know is that there's a clueless boss (an absolutely delightful Robert Dorfman, making the most of every moment), a seemingly sycophantic but secretly ambitious second-in-command (Mark Benninghofen), another employee who seems to be his rival for the boss' attention (Bill McCallum), a new and eager employee (John Catron), the lone woman on the staff who seems to be in a relationship with several of the men (Artistic Director Sara Marsh), and a lower level employee who walks around turning off lights and moving furniture (Bruce Bohne). The play takes place on Christmas Day, which is neither here nor there, but what is noteworthy is that one patient has recently died and another has given birth. The staff tries to get to the bottom of this, but seems to be more concerned with their own place in the institution. The newbie becomes the scapegoat, which makes me wonder if he's actually a patient and just thinks he's an employee.

the cast in rehearsal in the Grain Belt Bottling House

The location of this play is truly unique - a large open atrium in the Arthouse Grain Belt Bottling House. It very much feels like a cold institution - cement floor and gray walls, with doors around the perimeter on both levels. Sparse office furniture populates the set, with four rows of chairs on one side for the small audience. Sound escapes and echos in this sort of a space, so the solution Dark and Stormy came up with is mics on the actors and headphones for the audience. It's a very odd and cool way to experience theater, one completely new to me, with the sound right in your ears even though the actors may be whispering in a far corner of the space. This allows for subtlety in delivery that can be heard in full detail, while the echos in the larger space can still be heard through the headphones. It all makes for an innovative and fascinating theatrical experience (sound design by C. Andrew Mayer).

The Hothouse continues through January 4. Check it out for a truly unique experience of this bizarrely funny and inexplicable Pinter play. UPDATE: The Hothouse has been extended through January 10.

"Drunken City" by Dark & Stormy Productions at the Lyric at Carleton Place

New theater company Dark & Stormy Productions is really hitting their stride; they've become one of those theater companies that I rely on to never let me down. Their fourth production in just under two years continues their tradition of short, intense, real, small-cast, smartly written plays in unusual locations. Drunken City (written by Adam Bock, the same playwright as their last show, the hilarious dark comedy The Receptionist) introduces us to three recently engaged girlfriends out for a wild night in the city. The seemingly innocent good time turns into more as the three women, and the men that they meet, ponder life and relationships, and whether or not they are where they want to be in both. Spend 75 minutes with this fantastic cast (directed by Associate Artistic Director Bill McCallum, who's more often seen on stage) for a fun, entertaining, and surprisingly deep night at the theater.

As they explain to the audience in the opening scene of the play, Marnie (Sara Marsh, founder and Artistic Director), Linda (Tracey Maloney), and Melissa (Adelin Phelps) have all recently gotten engaged. They have a history of destructive nights of drinking "in the city" (Linda drinks too much), but that doesn't stop them from going back again to celebrate Marnie's bachelorette party. They predictably drink too much (Linda couldn't resist the pretty pink drinks) and run into a couple of guys from their town, Eddie (Paul de Cordova) and Frank (Kris L. Nelson). Marnie promptly begins kissing Frank, much to her friends' dismay. Marnie's not sure she wants to get married after all, and Melissa and Linda have their own reasons for insisting that she does, reasons that are more about them and their insecurities than they are about Marnie and what's right for her. The girls call their reliable friend Bob (Benjamin McGovern) to come and help them get Marnie home and away from Frank. As the six characters wander through the streets of the drunken city, we learn a little about each of them in conversations and short monologues. This is where the surprisingly deep part comes in, as their hopes, fears, and dreams about their lives and relationships echo our own.

a drunken night in the city (photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp)

It's truly a joy to watch this cast perform this smart and funny play, playing characters that seem familiar from our own lives. They're all so wonderful and funny, partly because most of them play drunk for most of the play, and do it well. But also because they bring depth to these characters and make them more than what they first appear - Sara as the runaway bride in over her head, Tracey as the woman who drinks too much to mask her deep fears about life, Adelin as the tough-talking friend who insists that Marnie's marriage work out because hers didn't, Kris as the sad-sack Frank who so sweetly listens to Marnie, Paul as Frank's hilariously mumbling friend Eddie, and Benjamin as everyone's best friend who opens up and learns a thing or two about love. All of these characters are changed by this one drunken night, for better or worse.

The play takes place in a cool, modern, brightly-colored theater space in the Lyric at Carleton Place, a new apartment complex on University in St. Paul (with free parking across the street). Make a date to spend a night with these six friends before the party ends on June 7 (drunkenness optional).

"The Receptionist" by Dark & Stormy Productions at The Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art

Dark & Stormy Productions continues their tradition of short, smart, sharply written plays performed by excellent small casts in non-traditional spaces with The Receptionist, a dark comedy about life in a not-so-typical office. Walking into the space above the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art in the shadow of Target Field, it feels a little like going into the office. The receptionist desk, calendar, coffee maker, copy machine, and those cheesy motivational posters on the wall feel all too familiar. But the good news is when you walk into this particular office, instead of working you get to watch four actors at the top of their craft telling a familiar but wacky story. It's a short, crisp 75 minutes of theatrical entertainment.

The "Northeast Office" seems like a typical office that will feel familiar to anyone who's ever worked in an office environment. Beverly the receptionist (Sally Wingert) and employee Lorraine (Sara Marsh) participate in normal daily activities like making copies, drinking coffee, answering phones, filing papers, bickering over office supplies, and chatting about family and relationships. The boss, Mr. Raymond (Harry Waters, Jr.), is noticeably absent when a Mr. Dart (Bill McCallum) shows up from the Central Office looking for him. It slowly becomes apparent just what the business of this office is, and it's not as typical (or as pleasant) as it seems.

Bill McCallum, Sara Marsh, Sally Wingert,
and Harry Waters, Jr.

This four-person cast is top-notch, as directed by Benjamin McGovern (also credited designing with this very real space). First and foremost is Guthrie favorite Sally Wingert as the titular receptionist. I would watch her in anything, she is always such a delight, completely immersed in her character. And in this case that character is a stereotypical receptionist, answering phones, gossiping, keeping a close eye on the office supplies, and in general at the center of everyone's business. Also wonderful are Dark & Stormy's Artistic Director Sara Marsh as the co-worker with relationship issues, Bill McCallum (another Guthrie favorite) as the mysterious Mr. Dart, and Harry Waters, Jr. as the boss who's become disillusioned by his work, with disastrous consequences.

I may not be The Playbill Collector, but I do have scrapbooks full of them and enjoy the artistry of them. Dark & Stormy is very clever in their playbill design. For their last show, Speed-the-Plow, set in the movie industry, the playbill was fashioned as a typewritten movie script held together by brass fasteners. For this show the playbill is constructed as an office memo, complete with rigid margins, bullet points, and a confidentiality note ("For Northeast Office Use Only"), held together with a single staple in the corner. Nice attention to detail and continuing the office theme.

Part of Dark & Stormy's mission is to bring more young people (age 18-35) to the theater, and looking around the audience I'm not sure how successful they are in that, but they are very successful at creating smart, entertaining, intimate, all around high quality theater that anyone can enjoy. The Receptionist continues through January 4. One visit to this office will make your own office seem not so bad after all!

"Skiing on Broken Glass" at the Guthrie Theater

A hit 2010 Minnesota Fringe show is currently being remounted in a full production in the Guthrie's Dowling Studio Theater. The Guthrie's Artistic Director Joe Dowling* saw Skiing on Broken Glass at the Fringe and has worked with writer David Goldstein over the last few years to develop it into this expanded version, adding characters and developing relationships. The result is a tragically beautiful love story between two very different people who need each other. With a fantastic four-person cast of three Guthrie veterans and one welcome newcomer, this is a wonderful production of a great new play.

In the first scene of the play, we meet Mark (Michael Booth), a successful writer in his 40s still grieving the loss of his partner 12 years ago. He has "accidentally" brought home a young prostitute named Todd (David Darrow), and the two develop a relationship that progresses over the next several years (with the time displayed on the wall at the beginning of each scene). Mark offers Todd kindness when he's in trouble, and the two eventually discover that they love and need each other. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that Todd continues to work as a prostitute despite Mark's suggestion that he go back to school, as well as Mark's discomfort in introducing his new young boyfriend to his successful established friends. His good friend Edith (Michelle O'Neill, who directed the Fringe production) visits from London and tells Mark exactly what she thinks of Todd - that he's taking advantage of him and it can't possibly be love. She introduces her fiance Thomas (Bill McCallum) to Mark and Todd, which adds another layer of complication and tragedy. Even though none of their friends quite understand, these are two lonely and broken souls who need something the other can give. Even though they may not be able to stay together, they've changed each other's lives for good, and I think, for the better.

Mark and Todd in a happy moment (Michael Booth and
David Darrow, photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp)

Michelle gives a wonderful performance as the woman concerned for her friend, as does Bill as the stuffy Englishman who turns into something more sinister. But the play belongs to Michael and David as they beautifully portray this complicated relationship. Michael reveals layers of Mark as he tries to see in Todd what he wants to see, and slowly accepts who he is. The highlight of the show for me is an incredibly emotional and raw performance from David Darrow. He's a true talent, and now that he's made his debut at the Guthrie I think we'll be seeing a lot more of him on the Guthrie stages (the shirtless scenes are a great audition for the role of Spike!).

The black box studio is set up in my favorite arrangement and the one that feels the most intimate, with audience on three sides of the square stage, mimicking the Guthrie's thrust stage. I think this is my favorite of the five Michael Hoover sets I've seen in the last month - a gorgeous Frank Lloyd Wright-esque home, with a living room I'd like to live in and stairs to a second floor with multiple doors.

Skiing on Broken Glass continues through November 17 in the Guthrie studio. I really loved this play; I think it's so beautiful and heart-breaking, well-written with strong acting from the four-person cast. The playwright says it best in a note in the playbill:

Skiing on Broken Glass is about following your heart though others may judge you harshly. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the people we love and the relationships we pursue. And it's about the bounds of friendship and the responsibilities that come with it. 

At its most basic level, Skiing on Broken Glass is about the universal need to give and receive love, to have profound and selfless feelings for another person in the deepest recesses of our hearts. It is about love in all its forms: healing and hurting. Lost and mourned, Bought and sold. Vulnerable and irrational. Selfish and unconditional. Love as a weapon. Love as salvation.

*Read this interview with Joe Dowling for more about the development process and casting.

"Clybourne Park" at the Guthrie Theater

The Tony Awards will be presented this weekend in New York City. But if you want to catch last year's winner for best play, Minneapolis is the place to be. Bruce Norris wrote Clybourne Park as a follow-up to one of the most important American plays of the 20th century, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (which I saw four years ago, a co-production with Penumbra Theatre also in the Guthrie's Proscenium Theater). The 1959 play about an African American family buying a house in an all-white neighborhood deals with issues of racism and desegregation. In Norris' follow-up, we see how things have changed since then, and how they haven't. The first act of the play is set in 1959, in the very house that A Raisin in the Sun's Younger family buys, as we see the other side of the story that play told. We follow the one white character in Raisin, a neighborhood representative named Karl who tries to buy the family out, as he talks to the homeowners and tries to convince them not to sell to the Youngers. Act II jumps forward in time 50 years but the place remains the same. The house has become run-down, the neighborhood working class and mostly black. The tables are turned as a white couple meets opposition from neighborhood residents to the changes they want to make to this house in a neighborhood that is undergoing gentrification. Clybourne Park is a really well-written and well-constructed play, funny and smart and sharp, and the dream cast includes some of the best actors in town. In other words - it's a definite must-see.

1959 (photo by Michael Brosilow)

The house in question is owned by Bev and Russ. Or rather, was, as they're selling to move to a new location and a better life. Bev is busy packing boxes with the help of her black housekeeper Francine, while Russ sits by eating ice cream and reading a magazine. They've had sorrow in this house, the specifics of which unfold throughout the first act. The couple is visited by a few friends, including Pastor Jim, and Karl and his deaf wife Betsy. Karl pleads with Bev and Russ not to sell to a "colored family," as his patient wife sits by not following much of the conversation. He pulls Francine and her husband into the discussion, who politely refuse to take part and make their exit. Things get heated as Karl won't give up and Russ won't give in. The house is sold, and 50 years later, we see the same cast inhabiting different, although sometimes slightly similar, characters. A white couple has bought the house and is planning to make significant changes. They are meeting with an African American couple who lives in the neighborhood and has brought a petition against them. Both couples have brought their lawyers and are trying to work through the petition, which never seems to happen as other discussions take place. The discussion soon devolves into a trading of racist jokes, reminding me of the satiric song from Avenue Q ("Ethnic jokes may be uncouth but you laugh because they're based on truth. Don't take them as personal attacks, everyone enjoys them, so relax"). Both acts feature awkward, uncomfortable, and down-right ugly conversations about race, and it's fascinating to observe the differences and similarities between the two time periods. The way that the sexes and the races interact with each other differs greatly between 1959 and 2009, and the language they use is different, but many of the underlying themes are the same.

2009 (photo by Michael Brosilow)

I just can't say enough about this cast, most of whom portray two different characters in two different time periods. Jim Lichtsheidl is the bad guy in both stories, but even when he's bad he's good! He's the same character but different manifestations of him appropriate to the time, and he manages to give each of them a specific way of moving and talking. Playing his wife in both acts is Emily Gunyou Halaas, who clearly delineates the 1950s submissive wife (who's deaf and relies on her husband to translate for her) from the modern wife who's an equal partner and not afraid of telling her husband he's an idiot. Bill McCallum has the most diverse characters - the 1950s depressed husband and father much different from the sweaty unsophisticated construction worker - and wrings the most life out of both. Kathryn Meisle is sympathetic as the concerned and nagging wife, and hilarious as a modern-day lawyer who has to make everything about her. She absolutely cracked me up with her every word, every look, every gesture. Peter Hansen, another favorite, plays a sort of peacekeeper role in both acts - Pastor Jim who tries to smooth things out between his friends, and one of the lawyers trying to facilitate the discussion. Shá Cage easily transforms from the 1959 polite but knowing housekeeper into 2009's strong woman standing up for her neighborhood. Ansa Akyea is her supportive husband in both, the same but different. All of these actors (and a late appearance by talented young actor Steven Lee Johnson) work so well together; it's just a joy to watch them dig into this meaty material.

The set, designed by Rachel Hauck, is truly incredible in the way it is transformed from the beautiful home in the first act to the run-down wreck in the second. The bones are the same but the surface shows wear - peeling wallpaper, dirty and stained walls, doors and fixtures no longer where they were. I would love to watch that transformation take place behind the curtain!

Clybourne Park is the kind of play that I love - smart, funny, and well-written, it made me laugh, and feel, and think, and squirm in my seat a little. It takes a big bite out of current issues without offering pat answers, but gets the audience thinking. What more can you ask of a play? I know I like pretty much everything (I'm a bit of a stamp tramp like Marshall on How I Met Your Mother), but this is the best play I've seen in months, maybe even all year. I hope this play is a smash hit this summer, it deserves to be. I hope people go see it and then have those uncomfortable conversations, it's the only way we can hope to move past them. Clybourne Park officially opens this weekend and runs through August 4 - put this play first on your list of things to do this summer.

"Speed-the-Plow" by Dark & Stormy Productions at the Miller Bag Building

the playbill for Speed-the-Plow, constructed
as a movie script with typewriter font
and brass fasteners holding it together

Today is Oscar Sunday, the day when we celebrate the best that Hollywood has to offer. It's entirely appropriate, then, that last night I saw the David Mamet play Speed-the-Plow*, about the inner workings of a Hollywood studio and how one movie gets made instead of another. It's a rather cynical look at the movie business; the characters care most about making money. Judging from what's playing at my local cineplex, it's not entirely inaccurate. But with such small indie films as Amour and Beasts of the Southern Wild on the Best Picture list alongside blockbusters Django Unchained and Lincoln, it seems there is a way for smaller (radiation) films to get made and appreciated. But not in the world of Speed-the-Plow, where a newly promoted studio executive has to decide between a sure money-maker, pitched by his longtime coworker and friend, and an artsy book about the end of the world, brought to him by a naive young woman who may have ulterior motives. It's smart, funny, and fast, and a great choice for Oscar weekend.

The new theater company Dark & Stormy Productions is again staging a theater production in a non-traditional setting, i.e., not an actual theater. Last summer they staged Outside Providence, a trio of short plays, in an office building in downtown Minneapolis. The location for this production is a building in Northeast Minneapolis. It looks like a cool office space, entirely appropriate for this play that takes place in a movie studio office. Also like Outside Providence, there are multiple staging areas, with the action moving to a new location in the space for the second act, and the audience following along. It's a fun change of pace from the usual theater where you sit in your seat in the dark for two hours. I also appreciated the high stools in the second row which provided a great view without having to see around someone's head.

Karen (Sara Marsh) makes her pitch
to Bobby (Bill McCallum)

The play begins in the office of Bobby Gould, sitting at a desk filled with movie scripts (the playbill itself looks like a movie script, a nice touch). In walks Charlie Fox to hand him a sure blockbuster with a big movie star. The two agree to share producing credits, a huge career boost for Charlie. Bobby will pitch it to the studio head (a mere formality, he assures), but can't get a meeting until tomorrow, which makes Charlie nervous. In the meantime, for a little misogynist fun, the two make a bet that Bobby can have "anything but a professional relationship" with temp secretary Karen. Bobby gives her a book to read as an excuse to get her to come to his house. But what he doesn't expect is that she takes the assignment seriously, and is so moved by the book (an end-of-the-world tale where all the world's radiation was sent by God to end life as we know it, or something like that) that she earnestly tries to convince Bobby to back the film. He has a decision to make, and in doing so rethinks his entire life and career.

Charlie (Kris L. Nelson) makes his pitch
to Bobby (Bill McCallum)

The dialogue is fast and funny, with characters speaking the way real people do, not always smooth and polished, but hesitating and talking over each other. The quick banter is well-executed by the three-person cast which includes a couple of Guthrie regulars, Bill McCallum and Kris L. Nelson, alongside Dark & Stormy Artistic Director Sara Marsh (add in frequent Guthrie director Benjamin McGovern, and you have a pretty high caliber of talent for a fledgling theater company). Sara is believable as the sweet and innocent Karen, who just wants to make a good movie out of this book she is so moved by (or does she?). Bill portrays Bobby as a typical greedy and confident studio exec, but with a little self-doubt creeping in when he's unexpectedly challenged by this woman he's just met. Last but not least, Kris is fantastic as Charlie, in a very physical performance that has him jittery and excited in the first act, and working himself into a frenzy in the third act when Bobby threatens to not back his film.

The mission of Dark & Stormy is to develop the 18-35-year-old theater audience, something they say is lacking. I'm slightly outside of that age range, but looking around at the theater I often find I'm one of the youngest people there (especially at certain theaters or on a Sunday matinee), so I think they have a point. The audience had a good laugh when Sara talked about the mission before the show, as we looked around to see that very few of the 30 or so people in the audience fit into this age range. The ideas are great - cool space, a small audience leading to an intimate experience, inexpensive ticket prices, relatively short run times - so hopefully the young audience will find them. But whatever your age, this is a great play by one of the best known American playwrights/screenwriters, with a great cast, in an interesting non-traditional space, which makes for a unique and entertaining evening at the theater, even for us old folks.



*Wikipedia tells me that the playwright explains the perplexing title thusly: "I remembered the saying that you see on a lot of old plates and mugs: 'Industry produces wealth, God speed the plow.' This, I knew, was a play about work and about the end of the world, so 'Speed-the-Plow' was perfect because not only did it mean work, it meant having to plow under and start over again."

"Tales from Hollywood" at the Guthrie Theater

To complete the Christopher Hampton trilogy that is the beginning of the Guthrie's 50th anniversary season, I saw Tales from Hollywood last night. And it is perhaps my favorite of the three plays, which also include the historical drama Appomattox and the small but intense relationship drama Embers. It's funny and clever, yet sad and moving, with staging that turns the Thrust stage into a Hollywood studio.

Like Appomattox, Tales from Hollywood is based on true events in American history. The time is the 1930s and 1940s, the place is Hollywood. The narrator and main character is real-life Austro-Hungarian writer Ödön von Horváth. The play begins by telling us that Ödön died when a tree branch fell on his head in 1938, and then goes on to re-imagine his life if he had lived and followed many of his fellow European writers to Hollywood to make a living writing for the movies. German writers Bertolt Brecht and brothers Heinrich and Thomas Mann are among those writers who were forced to leave their native country at a time when the Nazis were burning books (and, of course, committing many more awful crimes). Ödön leads us through the experience of writing "scenarios" for movie studios when he could barely speak English, adjusting to life in a different culture, and dealing with being German (or Communist?) in post-WWII America.

The fabulous cast is mostly led by Guthrie newcomers, with many Guthrie favorites in the ensemble. Lee Sellers as Ödön is wonderfully sympathetic and a great guide throughout the story. He has no accent while narrating or talking to other Europeans, but speaks in accented and fragmented English while speaking to Americans. A nice touch, it always annoys me when, in American made movies, people in other countries are seen speaking English with an accent to each other when they should be speaking their native tongue. This works well to differentiate the fluency and comfort of speaking with one another from the awkwardness of trying to communicate in a second language. Another couple of Guthrie newcomers are standouts in the cast. Keir Dullea, as Ödön's mentor Heinrich Mann, conveys that lost feeling of an emigre who's not comfortable in this new life. Allison Daugherty is excellent as his tragic wife Nelly. Guthrie veteran Stephen Yoakam once again gives a dynamic performance as the slightly crazy Bertolt Brecht. And I had fun spotting some of my faves (Summer Hagen, Charity Jones, Bill McCallum, John Skelley, Anna Sundberg) in the background of the scenes, and wishing they had more to do.

The staging of this play is really unique, with lots of little movie tricks. The stage looks like a movie studio, with ensemble members directing huge spotlights. Some scenes are filmed by an old camera off the stage, with the image projected onto the backdrop of the stage, so you feel as if you're watching an old black and white movie. There's even someone doing sound effects just off-stage. Newsreel footage is also displayed on the backdrop, depicting the events being discussed. It's a pretty high-tech show, but in an inventive way that suits the Hollywood theme of the play.

Now that I've seen all three of the plays in the "Christopher Hampton Celebration," I was thinking about what they all have in common. The obvious answer is history. In Tales from Hollywood, it's the history of German emigres in the early days of Hollywood. In Appomattox, it's several centuries of history of the Civil Rights movement. In Embers, it's the personal history of one man who can't let go of the past. I may have some more ideas on that as I sit with it a bit, but for now I will just say that any of these three diverse plays is worth checking out, depending on what you're in the mood for.

"Time Stands Still" at the Guthrie Theater

Walking into the proscenium theater at the Guthrie last night was impressive.  On the stage is a very lifelike Brooklyn apartment, complete with a view of Manhattan through the huge windows, with gently falling snow. I could live in this beautiful apartment, with it's brick walls and exposed beams, just a short train ride away from my favorite city. Just gawking at that set provides entertainment, but fortunately the drama that goes on within it is equally captivating. Time Stands Still, written by Donald Margulies, was nominated for a Tony for best play a few years ago.  (Incidentally, two of the four plays nominated this year will be produced by the Guthrie next season, Clybourne Park and Other Desert Cities, they know how to pick 'em!)  The story centers on a couple who are journalists that travel to war-torn countries to report on the tragedies they see - James through words, and Sarah through photographs.  They're forced to re-evaluate their lives, both as individuals and as a couple, when he suffers a mental breakdown and she is almost killed in a roadside bomb.  The result is an entertaining, complex, at times joyful, at times devastating, all-around engrossing look at the lives of four friends living in a complicated world.

I love plays with small casts, especially when they're this good (and directed by Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling).  Bill McCallum and Sarah Agnew as James and Sarah create a very believable relationship; you can sense the level of comfort that comes from being together for nine years.  Just watching them watch each other throughout the action of the play is telling.  Yes they have issues, but they love and support each other.  The play begins as they return home after Sarah's six-week-long convalescence after her injury, James wanting to help and protect her as she struggles to regain her strength and independence.  They have very different reactions to what they've experienced.  James just wants to live a safe, comfortable, normal life, but Sarah is unwilling to give up her work, not knowing who she is without it.  Watching them come to this realization together is heart-breaking.  Like the play I saw a few days ago (the lovely Sea Marks at the Gremlin), these are two people who have to live in different worlds, despite their obvious and very real love for each other.  It reminded me of these words I had just read over dinner at the Level Five Cafe: "I wondered if the life that was right for one was ever right for two!"  (from My Antonia by Willa Cather, which I had to re-read after seeing Illusion Theater's beautiful adaptation a few months ago.)

In addition to this complex and interesting couple, the story also involves their good friend and editor Richard (Mark Benninghofen) and his pretty young girlfriend Mandy (Valeri Mudek), who turns out to be much more than a mid-life crisis.  James, Sarah, and Richard are jaded and world-weary because of the things they've seen in their work, but Mandy is naive and optimistic, choosing to focus on the joy in life, while the others are surrounded by pain.  She can't understand how James and Sarah can simply observe and report on the crises they see without helping.  But Sarah explains that she doesn't have the luxury of feeling, her job is to bear witness and show the world what's happening.

Time Stands Still is a fascinating look at the lives of war journalists, what they experience and what they sacrifice in order to bring truth to the world.  But it's also a very intimate story about four friends navigating life in this complicated world we live in, and figuring out how to live with each other while remaining true to who they are. There's not much action, just people sitting around a fabulous Brooklyn apartment talking.  I'd watch that any day, provided the words are this well-written and well-acted.

"God of Carnage" at the Guthrie

God of Carnage is a tightly wound, intense, darkly hilarious four-person play about what happens when our baser natures come to the surface.  Written by French playwright Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton, it won the Tony award for best play in 2009.  It starts out as a very civilized conversation between two sets of parents.  Annette and Alan's son hit Veronica and Michael's son with a stick, so they decide to meet and discuss the issue.  The polished surface very quickly wears away as the situation devolves into tears (and other bodily fluids) and violence (mostly verbal but some physical as well).  Sitting in the front row, I was afraid that someone or something would end up in my lap!  In fact I believe a tulip did fly over my head at one point.  So beware.

I can't imagine the Broadway cast being any better than this cast of fabulous local actors assembled by the Guthrie.  Tracey Maloney and Bill McCallum play Annette and Alan; Jennifer Blagen and Chris Carlson play Veronica and Michael.  (Three of the four actors - Tracey, Bill, and Chris - were in Circle Mirror Transformation at the Guthrie Studio last year, one of my favorite shows of the year.)  All four of them have their moments when they really get to break loose and go crazy.  Alan's a jerk from the beginning, continually answering his cell phone in the middle of the conversation to have loud business discussions, implying that he's better and more important than everyone else.  His wife Annette holds it all in, until she no longer can.  A little rum helps loosen everyone up to speak freely about their marriages and children.  Michael admits he's a "Neanderthal" (and hamster killer), while Veronica clings to the idea that there's still civilization and order in the world.  But even she breaks down by the end.

I kept wondering how this short one-act play was going to end, how they were going to resolve the situation.  But there is no resolution, no ending.  Everyone just collapses on the furniture in Veronica and Michael's once neat and precise living room, exhausted and defeated.  It no longer seems shocking that one 11-year-old boy hit another one in the face with a stick, considering the world they come from, the world we all come from.  The audience is left exhausted from laughter, and wondering what lies beneath the civilized surface of our own lives.

"The Winter's Tale" at the Guthrie Theater

I love it when the Guthrie sets a Shakespeare play in a specific time period of the last century, whether it's the psychedelic '60s version of As You Like It, or Two Gentleman of Verona reimagined as a televised play in the 1950s.  I sometimes have a hard time with Shakespeare and really have to concentrate on the words, and somehow setting it in a different time period makes it more enjoyable and understandable.  With The Winter's Tale, you get two for the price of one!  There are two distinct worlds in this production of one of Shakespeare's later plays: the elegant, refined Sicilia and the rustic, rural Bohemia.  It almost felt like two separate plays, and there was one I liked better.

The play begins with a party scene in Sicilia.  I walked into the theater a few minutes before the show started to find the dancing in full swing, accompanied by the lovely voice of Christina Baldwin, the women in gorgeous dresses and the men in tuxes.  The dancing ended and the action of the play began.  I had a little bit of a hard time following, but basically it's the case of a jealous husband seeing things that aren't there.  Leontes, the king of Sicilia, suspects that his wife Hermione and his best friend Polixenes, king of Bohemia, are having an affair.  Leontes asks one of his men, Camillo, to kill Polixenes.  Seeing that his king is crazy, Camillo instead warns Polixenes and flees with him to Bohemia.  Leontes imprisons his wife, who gives birth to a baby and dies from the stress of the trial.  Leontes banishes the baby, who is found and brought up by a shepherd in Bohemia.  The action of the play then shifts from the icy blue formality of Sicilia to the flower-filled hippie hoedown that is Bohemia.

The second act takes place sixteen years later, when the "shepherd's daughter" Perdita, who's really a princess, is all grown up and has fallen in love with King Polixenes' son Florizel.  The king dons a disguise (I love how in Shakespeare's play, all it takes is a wig and a costume for someone not to recognize someone they've known their whole lives) to spy on his son as he cavorts with the peasants.  Once he sees what's going on, he forbids his son to marry a mere shepherd's daughter.  At the urging of Camillo, Floizel brings his betrothed to Sicilia to visit his father's old friend.  It's soon discovered that Perdita is the king's daughter, and the king, having recovered his sanity and mourned his mistake for the past sixteen years, makes amends with his daughter and best friend.  They go to visit a statue of the deceased Hermione, only to find that the lifelike statue really is the woman herself, alive and in hiding all these years.  And they all live happily ever after.

As usual at the Guthrie, this is a stellar cast.  Relative newcomer Michael Hayden as the jealous king transforms from complete lunacy to quiet remorse.  Guthrie faves Bill McCallum and Michele O'Neill complete the love triangle as Polixenes and Hermione.  Michael Thomas Holmes steals every scene he's in as the singer/thief/traveling salesman Autolycus, as does John Catron as the shepherd's son (they also share a pair of hippie jeans in a sort of sisterhood of the traveling pants situation).  Christine Weber and Juan Rivera Lebron are sweet and sincere as the young couple in love.  The rest of the cast includes too many Guthrie faves to mention.

I enjoyed the hippie bluegrass hoedown Bohemia part of the play more than the icy elegant "winter" Sicilia, but they came together at the end in a satisfying way.  This is a long play (three hours including intermission), but entertaining and well done in the Guthrie tradition of big expansive "period" Shakespeare productions.