"Romeo and Juliet" by Gray Mallard Theater Company at Sociable Cider Werks

You've heard of Shakespeare in the Park? Now we have Shakespeare in the Pub! Specifically, the parking lot of Sociable Cider Werks in Northeast Minneapolis. Now in their third year, I finally made it out to see Gray Mallard Theater Company, and it was a delight! There's really nothing better about Minnesota summer than sitting outside on a not-too-hot summer night, enjoying some Shakespeare, food, and local cider. (Well, maybe lakes are better - Shakespeare at the Lake?!) They said they've done a history and a comedy, so now it's time for a tragedy. Why not the most famous tragedy, the story of Juliet and her Romeo. By far the Shakespeare play I've seen the most often (more than a dozen times), but one that's always relevant and entertaining and frustratingly tragic (I always hope that somehow the Friar's message will get through to Romeo, but it never does). With an engaging cast, simple design, and the gorgeous night sky as backdrop, this Romeo and Juliet is your new must-do summer #TCTheater experience. Unfortunately I'm getting to this late (because summer is busy) and there are only two shows left. But if you're looking for something to do this weekend, see it before it closes on July 28!

"Bernhardt/Hamlet" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

These days, it's pretty common to see women playing traditionally male roles, especially in Shakespeare, in which most of the good roles, and roles in general, are male. This is partly due to the fact that women weren't allowed on stage in Shakespeare's time, and they are now (hooray!). But even though it's common, but people still sometimes put up a stink about it. French actor Sarah Bernhardt was doing it over a hundred years ago, so one can imagine the controversy and drama surrounding that. In the new play Bernhardt/Hamlet, currently receiving it's regional premiere by Theatre Pro Rata, playwright Theresa Rebeck imagines just that, telling the story of Bernhardt rehearsing to play Hamlet, and how her friends and colleagues reacted to it. As I said in this week's episode of the Twin Cities Theater Chat podcast, Theatre Pro Rata always brings us interesting choices of plays that we probably wouldn't otherwise see, and this is a prime example. Also as always, it's well-cast and well done, for an entertaining and thought-provoking evening of theater. This funny, dramatic, historical, romantic, and relevant play continues at the Crane Theater through October 13 only.

"Mary's Wondrous Body" by The Birth Play Project at Elision Playhouse

One of my favorite things about being a Twin Cities Theater Blogger is checking out a new theater company and immediately finding a new favorite (e.g. Transatlantic Love Affair, The Winding Sheet Outfit). That's what happened last night when I went to see the new original "dark comedy with music" Mary's Wondrous Body by The Birth Play Project. Led by 2020 U of M grad Madeline Wall, the company focuses on telling birth stories, which is definitely an untapped niche in theater, although something we have started to see more of lately (see Penumbra's recent play Weathering, and the MN Fringe hit Endometriosis the Musical, which wasn't about birth specifically but the larger topic of women's reproductive health). In addition to being a unique and necessary topic, their work, at least based on this one play, is thoughtful, innovative, and bold. A woman belting out songs about the joy and pain of childbirth and everything surrounding it on stage in front of an audience - yes, we need that. I've never given birth (thankfully so after seeing shows like this), but for those who have, I imagine it feels quite validating to see the experience depicted on stage with respect and raw honesty. The birthing process is a fundamental part of the human experience from the beginning of human history, so (like House of the Dragon's theme of "the childbed is our battlefield") let's get into it. (Click here for info about and to purchase tickets for Mary's Wondrous Body, continuing through December 18.)

"Hands on a Hardbody" by Minneapolis Musical Theatre at Luther Cadillac

"Rare Musicals. Well Done." That's Minneapolis Musical Theatre's motto, and one they live up to time and time again. In their first full production in over two years (they produced a series of ten-minute Minne-Musicals one weekend last fall), they're bringing us the regional premiere of the musical Hands on a Hardbody, based on the 1997 documentary of the same name about a Texas contest to win a truck. It only ran for a few months on Broadway in the spring of 2013, but has since become something of a cult hit. As MMT has shown before (see also High Fidelity), sometimes shows that don't work on a big Broadway stage work brilliantly in a more intimate and site-specific space. I was expecting a fun time, which I got, but I wasn't expecting to be moved to tears by these very human stories of people trying to live the American dream, and what happens when that dream fails them. Performed with MMT's usual heart, gusto, and authenticity, in a car dealership showroom of all places, Hands on a Hardbody is a don't-miss-it opportunity for music-theater fans. But it's only playing for a few weeks, with limited seating, so get your tickets now (click here for details)!

"Orlando" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Although based on a 1928 Virginia Woolf novel and adapted into a play around the turn of this century by Sarah Ruhl, Orlando speaks very much to this time, with its exploration of gender fluidity, and it's skewering of societal norms around gender identity and gender roles. Written in a modern narrative style, with the ensemble taking turns describing the story as it plays out, there's a playfulness to it despite the seriousness of the ideas presented. Theatre Pro Rata has assembled an excellent cast and team to bring the complex, modern, insightful story to life at the Crane Theater (through March 27, click here for info and tickets).

"Top Girls" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Everyone loves the '80s, right? Maybe not so much after seeing Theatre Pro Rata's production of Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, which takes an unflinching look at what the '80s were really like, particularly in the lives of working women who seemed on the surface to "have it all." It's dark, weird, and a little fantastical, like all of Churchill's work, but it's also smart, thought-provoking, grounded in humanity, and relevant to our world 40 years later, with a different sort of gender politics happening in the work place.