"Stewardess!" at the Herstory Theatre

This spring, the History Theatre, which regularly produces new works of theater about local and national history, has transformed into the HERstory Theater, with three new plays by women, about women: "real women, real stories." The line-up includes a new musical about a female spy and a play about some radical nuns. But first: Stewardess! This new play by Kira Obolensky tells the true story of a real American hero, Mary Pat Laffey, who tirelessly worked for the union to improve the working conditions and treatment of then-called stewardesses, and even sued her employer, Northwest Airlines, eventually winning $59 million dollars in back pay for over 3000 flight attendants. Unfortunately we're not yet at the point of equal pay for women and men, but thanks to Mary Pat we're a lot closer. This fun, playful, inspiring play tells her story, as well as that of other feminists of the era, at just the right time. There's a growing awareness of the importance of women's stories and women's voices, and the Herstory Theatre is celebrating that.

"Park and Lake" by Ten Thousand Things at Open Book

Friends, I love Ten Thousand Things. Seeing a Ten Thousand Things show (in their trademark bare-bones All the Lights On style) never fails to make me happy, and often also moves or inspires or thrills me. Their newest creation Park and Lake, an original piece written by playwright in residence Kira Obolensky and the ensemble, is no exception to that. It's a light-hearted, funny, optimistic fairy tale of a story about a community of people working together to make their lives better. It's as sweet and hopeful as it is ridiculous and silly. Under the co-direction of soon to be retired Artistic Director Michelle Hensley and ensemble member Luverne Seifert, with uniquely comic performances by this wonderful cast, Park and Lake is a delightful place to visit for a few hours. In fact I wish I could move there for an extended stay with these charming oddballs!

The Ruth Easton New Play Series at Playwrights' Center

In 2017 I attended 9 readings of new works at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, by far the most readings I have attended in one year since I just "discovered" them in 2016 when the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers were invited to a reading. Since them I've become a little obsessed with PWC. For over 40 years they've supported thousands of playwrights in the development of their work, a vitally important function in not just the local theater community, but nationally and even globally. Attending a reading of a work of theater in development, brought to life by some of the most talented actors in town (and the country) is such a thrill for this theater geek. An important part in that development is the audience, which is where we come in, friends. Playwrights like to know how an audience responds to their play, so PWC hosts free readings all of the time. You can find information on their events page about everything going on there, but one thing you can plan on is that through the Ruth Easton Series there will be free readings of a new play (or musical) by a core writer the first Monday and Tuesday of every month from December to April. It's a wonderful sampler of the work being done at the Playwrights' Center and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in new locally created works of theater.

The History Theatre's New Works Festival "Raw Stages" 2017

One of the wonderful things about the Twin Cities theater scene is that we get to experience new works of theater while still in the development process. The Playwrights' Center is dedicated to that, and you can often catch a free reading of a new and exciting play (like queens earlier this week). Many theaters in town have their own play development process, and an important step in that process is sharing the piece with the audience. And I can't think of a theater more committed to developing and producing new work than the History Theatre. Most of the plays in their regular season are new works developed, and sometimes commissioned, by the theater, and many of them make their debut to audiences in the annual "Raw Stages" festival. This season includes three such works - Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story, the upcoming The Highwaymen (which is NOT about the country music super group, but rather the building of I94 through the Rondo neighborhood), and this spring's new musical Sweet Land (although this piece had a long history of workshops before it landed at the History Theatre). Now is your chance to get in on the next big hit, see it in its early form, and share your feedback with the creators as they continue to develop the piece. Keep reading for more about each show, and make your plans to head to downtown St. Paul to experience some exciting new works of theater.

"The Changelings" by Ten Thousand Things at Bedlam Lowertown

The final show in Ten Thousand Things' 2015-2016 season is another new play from their playwright in residence, Kira Obolensky. Ten Thousand Things is in the business of telling stories and sharing human truths through fairy tales, because that distance and sense of fantasy allows their non-traditional audiences (they perform for free in prisons, homeless shelter, community centers, etc., as well as paid public performances for more traditional audiences) to see their own lives and experiences reflected back at them, without the harshness of reality.* The Changelings, like last year's Forget Me Not When Far Away and Dirt Sticks two years ago, is a new original fairy tale set in an unspecified time and place (the playbill tells us the three plays exist in the same universe). And like those two plays, it's charming and funny and poignant as it speaks of love, loss, grief, hope, family, and community, a relatable human story set in a made-up world that appeals to traditional and non-traditional theater audiences alike.

"Forget Me Not When Far Away" by Ten Thousand Things at Minnesota Opera Center

The village of Farmingtown has been devoid of men for so long that when one returns from the far away and long-lasting war, the first woman he meets rushes up to him and inhales him deeply. This hilarious and oddly touching moment at the beginning of Kira Obolensky's new play Forget Me Not When Far Away sets the tone for this playful and poignant fairy tale about a soldier returning to a home he once knew. Ten Thousand Things has been on the road with the show for a few weeks, performing at correctional facilities, community centers, and other unlikely venues. As director Michelle Hensley said in her introduction of the show (which has come to be one of my favorite parts of a TTT production), the fact that this play has resonated with such diverse audiences in different ways is a credit to the skills of the playwright, who has created a world outside of time and space that somehow feels familiar and relatable to everyone. This world is brought to life in the beautifully sparse way that only Ten Thousand Things can do, with a brilliant cast of six performing in a fully lit room in a space so small that they literally trip over the audience. The fanciful story is grounded in truth and made to feel very real by the universality of the story, the charming accessibility of the language, the up-close-and-personal performances by the actors in whom you can feel every nuance of every emotion through a look in the eyes, the twinge of a facial muscle, or a subtle movement of the body. Ten Thousand Things harnesses the magic of theater in its most basic form like no other company can.*

Farmingtown is a quaint village in which news is passed by the town crier, the main employment is farming and working in the morgue, and the men all go off to war while the women stay home. The women have adjusted well to this man-free life, taking charge of all systems and businesses in town. They're in for a shock when one John Ploughman returns from war, discharged due to an injury. The more than 20 women depicted in the play (portrayed by just five actors) all react to him in a different way, from the aforementioned inhaling, to surprise, to skepticism, to a determination to win him. Lacking the necessary paperwork to prove that he's not dead as was announced, John faces a tough road readjusting to life in Farmingtown. He's searching for a woman he knew before the war, a woman he now loves but scorned in the past, when he was a bit of a playboy. It turns out Flora Crisp has been pining after him all these long years, or at least the idea of him. But this isn't your typical love story; the people of Farmingtown find love and fulfillment in different ways, as the war ends and a new chapter of their lives begins.

John Ploughman at the bar (Ron Menzel with Shá Cage,
Photo by Paula Keller)

Ten Thousand Things often casts their show without much regard to gender, changing the gender of characters or casting women as men or vice versa. But in this play it's quite specific that there is only one man in town, surrounded by women (and one awkward and adorkable little boy). Ron Menzel is that man, his masculinity standing out in a soldier's uniform against the women in their cute but functional dresses and colorful Keds (costumes by Sonya Berlovitz). Ron is one of my long-time faves from the Guthrie (beginning with the memorable Intimate Apparel nearly ten years ago), and it's a thrill to see him in this setting as he fully inhabits this character in every moment of his journey, effortlessly portraying the frustration, hope, desperation, brokenness, determination, and above all humanity in this man in all his flaws and glory.

three of the bewigged women of Forget Me Not When Far Away
(Elise Langer, Shá Cage, Karen Wiese-Thompsonm
photo by Paula Keller)

I can't say enough about these five women who play over 20 characters, differentiated not only by the wigs on their heads but also by a unique voice and carriage of the body. All of them give sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching, always specific performances, including:

• Sun Mee Chomet as the wounded Flora, the tough landlady, and the steady barkeep
• Annie Enneking as a prim and proper government worker, John's ex, and a singer at the bar (singing songs she wrote)
• Elise Langer as a possibly drunken postal worker, a ditsy blond, the town crier, and perhaps my favorite character - a little boy who's slightly off but open and loving and wise
• Karen Wiese-Thompson as a cigarette-smoking trench coat-wearing PI, a dentist, and Flora's concerned grandmother
• Shá Cage as a fortune teller, a timid little girl, and a woman chasing after John who turns out to be a good friend

Ten Thousand Things travels light in terms of props and set pieces, which only seems to make them more creative. Irve Dell's clever and efficient set consists of four standing metal frames that hinge down to represent a door, window, or bar, with two metal boxes serving as all the other necessary furniture. Peter Vitale creates a delightful soundtrack for the story, subtly setting the tone. For some reason there's clog dancing, which provides a reason to show off Jim Lichtsheidl's charming choreography.

Forget Me Not When Far Away is a delightful story about returning home, reconnecting, and re-establishing your identity in a changed world. Like other TTT productions, the show feels like the neighborhood kids have gotten together to put on a play in someone's backyard, if your neighborhood were populated with some of the most talented theater artists in town. Paid public performances continue at the Minnesota Opera Center and Open Book through the end of May. Go see it, and then make plans for next season when TTT continues their pattern of Shakespeare-musical-new play with Henry IV Part I, Dear World, and Changelings by Kira Obolensky.



*To find out more about the magic of TTT, check out founder and Artistic Director Michelle Hensley' book All the Lights On.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

The History Theatre's New Works Festival "Raw Stages"

I love history. I love my beloved home state of Minnesota. I love new works of theater. So of course there's nowhere else I'd rather be this week than in lovely downtown St. Paul for The History Theatre's "Raw Stages" new works festival! One of the unique and wonderful things about The History Theatre is that most of the work they do is new original commissioned plays and musicals. "Raw Stages" is an important part in their development process (two of the works in last year's festival have full productions this season - last fall's Radio Man and this spring's The Debutante's Ball). From the audience perspective, it gives you a sneak peek at what may be coming up in future seasons and gives you the opportunity to give feedback about what you'd like to see. I was lucky enough to attend all four readings, and all are wonderfully interesting and entertaining looks at important facets of Minnesota history. The History Theatre gathered a stellar group of actors and directors to breath life into these readings, making it easy to see the potential they all have to be great plays.

Stewardess by Kira Obolensky (cast: Tracey Maloney, Charlotte Calvert, Anna Sundberg, Mo Perry, and John Middleton)
I feel like I should have heard the name Mary Pat Laffey before, but I have not. Thanks to Kira Obolensky's new play, I now know that Mary Pat was a pioneer on the forefront of equal rights for women in the workplace. She was hired by Northwest Airlines as a stewardess in the late '50s, a time when it was perfectly acceptable to hire and fire women based on their weight, height, age, marital status, and hairstyle. It's so outrageous now it seems almost quaint, but it was an extremely unjust system that also did not pay or promote women as much as their male counterparts. Mary Pat joined the union and fought for changes, some of which were accomplished. But when working through the union no longer worked, she filed a lawsuit against the company that took 15 years to resolve and eventually ended in Northwest paying millions of dollars to Mary Pat and the other women who joined her in the lawsuit.

The play mostly takes place in various hotel rooms as the stewardesses talk about their life and work. In addition to Mary Pat, we follow a few of her friends, including naive farm girl Primmie, and wealthy Fran who aspires to be a pilot. The characters are well-defined and all have their arc as the story moves from 1958, through the '60s, and into the early '70s. It's similar to The Heidi Chronicles in that it follows a woman through the equal rights movement; it's one specific story that represents a larger, more universal story. The play is a bit talky, and I like talky plays, but it verges on pedantic at times. A full staging and a few scenes in other locations with other characters could add some of that dramatic punch. And is it wrong that I really want to see those uniforms, especially as they change over time?

Highwaymen by Josh Wilder (cast: Pearce Bunting, Stephen Yoakam, Allen Hamilton, and James A. Williams)
What's so interesting about the building of a highway?, you might ask. When that highway is the long anticipated and needed link between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and its construction destroys an important and close-knit African American community, it's more than interesting, its a brilliant example of the race and class issues that have long plagued this country. Just because we're well north of the Mason-Dixon line doesn't mean that Minnesota doesn't have ugliness in its history too. Josh Wilder has written a dramatic and compelling play that focuses on the (white) decision makers in the building of I-94 through the Rondo neighborhood in the late '50s.

Most of this play takes place in a city hall meeting room, with a few scenes in a Rondo barbershop. The four main characters are soon-to-be Deputy Commissioner of Highways Frank Marzitelli, St. Paul chief civil engineer George Shepard, retiring St. Paul city planner George Herrold, and Rondo resident, activist, and barber Timothy J. Howard (all historical figures, the latter combined a bit with Reverend Floyd Massey for dramatic purposes). The three city officials are attempting to finish the budget for the proposed highway when they're interrupted by a protest outside. Herrold invites one of the men in to plead his case. The three men have different reactions to his proposals, and reasons for wanting what they want. Herrold goes to Howard's barbershop to discuss things and is not welcomed with open arms. Each of the four men gets a monologue in which their character motivations are more fully explored. It's all much more compelling and dramatic than I'm making it sound. In addition to the race and class issues, the play makes some pretty profound statements about the price of progress (and who usually has to pay that price) and the way that technology advances at a rate faster than our ability to process and deal with it. Trust me, you'll be seeing more of this one.

Ernest & The Bull by Kevin Kautzman (cast: Bob Davis, Charity Jones, Charles Hubbell, Paul Rutledge, Aeysha Kinnunen)
I had no idea that the great American author Ernest Hemingway had any connection to Minnesota. But as we learn in this new play by Kevin Kautzman, he spent several months of the last year of his life at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, receiving ECT for depression and paranoia. Sadly, the treatments did not work and he committed suicide shortly after being released. This play weaves together dreams, fantasies, and hallucinations to create a picture of a talented but sick man.

This one was quite interesting and a bit confusing. I'm very curious how this would be staged; it would require much stage "magic" to accomplish the stage directions of people appearing and disappearing, or turning into bulls or beards, or scenes changing as if in a dream. The main characters are Ernest and his last wife Mary, at their home in Cuba and later Idaho. Ernest's colleague Hotch visits him to help with his book, but he also appears as a sort of narrator/hallucination, as does another aspiring writer from thirty years earlier. The tone is playful as the characters occasionally acknowledge they're in a play ("I hate the theater," mutters Hem). Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the post-show feedback session; I would have loved to have heard a bit more about the work and other people's thoughts. It's surreal and complex and fascinating.

Complicated Fun: The Minneapolis Music Scene by Alan Berks (cast: Brandon Brooks, Stephanie Bertumen, Nathan Cheesman, Dustin Bronson, Clarence Wethern, Erik Hoover, Anna Hickey, H. Adam Harris, Darrick Mosley; band: Nic Delcambre and Blake Foster)
Apparently there was some important and ground-breaking music happening in Minneapolis in the early '80s. Bands like The Replacements, The Suburbs, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, and The Jayhawks all got their start during this period. While I've heard of most of these bands, I'm not familiar with their music (I'm not nearly cool enough to be aware of that scene). Not to worry, this new play with music tells the story in a fun and entertaining way, regardless of any prior knowledge of the music. It's a story of a music community, a bar, a record store, musicians, and music lovers all coming together to create a new sound.

Playwright Alan Berks has done a great job constructing the play around the music. This is not your typical jukebox musical in which a story is made up and forced to fit within a group of songs. Rather it's a play with music, that tells the real story around the creation of the music and the community, with the music occurring organically - in a bar, party, or record store. In a world populated with real-life figures, two fictional characters, known simply as boy and girl, lead us through the story. They meet as kids, just wanting to listen to music. Each of their lives are changed in different ways by each other and the music. It's a sweet relationship, and these characters give the audience a way into this world. We also witness the evolution of First Avenue, from a club that helped to discover new bands, to a tourist destination for Prince fans, and beyond. The story moves from the club, to parties, to the next door record store where music nerds passionately debate the intricacies of their favorite records. Even though I'm not a fan of this music, and probably won't become one, I found this piece to be well-written, compelling, and great fun, especially in the hands of this fantastic cast. I look forward to seeing a fully staged production with a full band and the music more fully integrated into the story.

"Dirt Sticks" by Ten Thousand Things at Open Book

What Ten Thousand Things does better than any other theater company I know is harness the power of collective imagination to transport the audience to another world. Because they often perform in prison cafeterias and community centers, they cannot rely on the usual theatrical tricks of lighting, costumes, and set. The audience can clearly see what's going on and that this is make-believe, which somehow makes it even more magical when we willingly forget our surroundings and go on this journey with the cast, who are always so fully committed to and immersed in the story they're telling. In the case of Dirt Sticks, a new play written by playwright in residence Kira Obolensky, the experienced theater audience is in the same boat as TTT's inexperienced theater audiences - we're all approaching the show with no prior knowledge of the piece. It's a rare and wonderful thing to go to the theater with no idea of what to expect, and to be thoroughly entertained and completely transported to another world.

Henry Wand (H. Adam Harris) and
his mother (Sun Mee Chomet)

Dirt Sticks tells the story of a young man named Henry Wand, an orphan raised by his aunt, whom he calls Mother Spindle because she's tightly wound. He and Laurel, another stray that Mother Spindle has taken in, work in a ladder factory. They live a pretty uneventful life, until a peddler comes to town with the full moon. Along with the usual goods, he sells visions of the future and the past. Through this, the story of Henry's birth is told as his mother's ghost visits her sister and son. Henry's life is changed forever as he learns the truth of his history. It's a simple story really, but feels like an ancient fairy tale as it unfolds in front of us, occurring somewhere outside of time and space.

the peddler (Stephen Cartmell) and
Mother Spindle (Thomasina Petrus)

This five-person cast is just delightful and very interactive with the audience (if you're sitting in the front row, be prepared to be asked to buy a penny for a nickel). Stephen Cartmell is absolutely mesmerizing as the mysterious peddler, spinning tales as peddles his wares. Kimberly Richardson is her usual nimble clownish self, particularly when Laurel buys the magical dancing shoes that never rest. Sun Mee Chomet is lovely as Henry's ghost mother, full of life, happy to be alive again, and trying to entice Henry to join her. Thomasina Petra is the stern Mother Spindle, eventually revealing a softer side with a long ago hurt. And last but not least, H. Adam Harris is charming as our hero Henry Wand, so curious about life and his past, eager to move forward.

Helping to create this magical world are the extremely sparse set pieces by Irve Dell, including a whimsical flying pigeon (manned by Stephen Cartmell), a lopsided ladder, and a large bowl in which Mother Spindle cooks soup and her healing elixir. Peter Vitale again creates the sound world of the story, which almost makes you want to close your eyes and just listen. These elements and this cast under the able direction of Artistic Director Michelle Hensley create a very specific world that is a pleasure to live in for a few short hours.

Dirt Sticks continues through June 1 in an upstairs room at Open Book. These shows have a tendency to sell out so get your tickets now. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again - if you're a Twin Cities theater fan and you've never seen a Ten Thousand Things show, you're missing a huge part of what makes this community so special. Check out Dirt Sticks, and then come back  next season for Romeo and Juliet, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and another new Kira Obolensky play, The New Don Juan.

"Vasa Lisa" by Ten Thousand Things at the MN Opera Center

Do you know when you go to the theater (or a movie or concert) and become so engrossed in the experience, that it feels like the only reality you've ever known, for that short space of time? And then it's over, and your feet carry you out of the building and into the street, and the world seems a little different, a little strange and unfamiliar. It may take you a few minutes to snap out of it, like you're in a trance. I had such an experience upon seeing Vasa Lisa. I should be used to it by now, but it never ceases to amaze me how Ten Thousand Things can carry me away into a different time and place with just a few makeshift costumes and set pieces, and those words, lots of words truthfully and authentically spoken. This is story-telling at its best and most basic, and it feels like something we as humans have been doing for tens of thousands of years.

Vasa Lisa is a new play by Kira Obolensky based on the Russian fairy tale Vasilisa the Beautiful, directed by Artistic Director Michelle Hensley. The title character is a young woman whose mother has died and left her with a little doll to help her. She goes through many trials and tribulations because of her drunkard father, evil stepmother (is there any other kind in fairy tales?), and the village witch who reportedly eats people! She only wants to have enough bread to eat, and to see her mother again, and ends up learning that the little doll who helps her is the truest, wisest part of herself. This all sounds very trite and and simple, but the way it unfolds is wondrous in the hands of the talented artists of Ten Thousand Things. Tracey Maloney makes Vasa Lisa very relatable, real, and sympathetic. The other four members of the cast play various human and animal roles to hilarious and delightful effect. The incomparable Sally Wingert is equally good as Vasa Lisa's beloved mother, the voice of the doll (sitting just two seats away from me), and the witch. Frequent TTT player Elise Langer is the hilariously annoying stepsister, a hungry cat, and everything in between. The two clowns from the Guthrie's sharp and silly production of 39 Steps are reunited here - Jim Lichtsheidl and Luverne Seifert. Both of them are so talented at creating multiple distinct characters, and so entertaining to watch. It's really a pleasure to watch the entire cast play together.

As usual, everything about the production is sparse but effective, proving you don't need a lot of fancy tricks to create a fantasy world. (For those of you unfamiliar with Ten Thousand Things, they take their shows on the road to such unconventional places as prisons and homeless shelters, and their paid public performances share the same full lights and minimal sets and costumes.) The few set pieces are really cool, intricate, and functional pieces of art (created by Irve Dell). Peter Vitale once again provides an expressive soundtrack, which includes a few little songs sung by the characters in a natural and unintrusive way. This time he has a few musicians to help him, creating a fuller sound.

I often get more out of the children's stories at my church than the sermons for adults, and that's how I felt seeing this show. There were several children in the audience who seemed just as captivated as I was by this story. It's delightful and joyous and wondrous. This final show of Ten Thousand Thing's 2011-2012 season runs for runs for one more weekend. And their newly announced 2012-2013 season looks just as exciting as this one has been - Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, a "hip hop retelling of Aeschulus' The Seven Against Thebes" (say what?), and the American classic A Streetcar Named Desire with a non-traditional cast (which is sure to be better than the version currently running on Broadway). I know I've said this before, but you really can't call yourself a Twin Cities theater fan if you've never experienced Ten Thousand Things.