"The Hairy Ape" by Combustible Company at Center for Performing Arts

Combustible Company's newest show not only feels like it was written today, it feels like a devised work created by the company. But The Hairy Ape was written over a hundred years ago. They've taken Eugene O'Neill's story of a blue collar worker who suffers an existential crisis and turned it into a reflection on today's world, how some people feel forgotten by our leader and politicians, and become susceptible to political rhetoric. It's quite disturbing in the end, the kind of theater that holds up a mirror and makes you uncomfortable. But it's beautifully told with movement, stylized performances, and images. It's playing for seven performances only at Center for Performing Arts.

"Monster Heart" by Combustible Company at the Southern Theater

200 years after its publication, Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein still holds a permanent place in our culture, having inspired countless adaptations in theater, film, and television over the years. There's a reason that this story of the creature who just wants to be loved and accepted, and the destruction that follows when he isn't, continues to appeal to us; there's something very human about this creature. The author's life, while less fantastical, is every bit as dramatic as her story. Combustible Company's new piece Monster Heart combines the two stories into one beautifully tragic arc of love and grief (see also Collide Theatrical's recent Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which did the same through dance and pop music). Combining text from the novel and other writings of the time with music and movement, they weave a haunting tale, shedding new light on this familiar story. Only four performances remain in this short two-week run; click here for info and tickets.

"Dr. Falstaff and the Working Wives of Lake County: A Picnic Operetta" by Mixed Precipitation at the Dodge Nature Center

Cooler weather, back to school sales, and the Minnesota State Fair may signal the end of summer, but one of #TCTheater's summer highlights is in full swing. This is my 5th year attending Mixed Precipitation's annual picnic operetta (now celebrating their 10th anniversary), and if you haven't seen them yet you're missing out on a unique delight. Mixing classic opera, pop music, and Minnesota's bountiful harvest, they perform a charming show outdoors while feeding the audience throughout the show. What's better than that?! For this year's opera, Artistic Director Scotty Reynolds has adapted German composer Otto Nicolai's 1849 opera Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor), setting it on the Iron Range in the '70s at the time of the foundation of the EPA, adding in songs by Bruce Springsteen. The result is exactly as weird and wonderful as that sounds. It's playful, fun, outdoors, and did I mention they feed you?! Playing in gardens and parks around the state, from Lake County to Winona (including several locations in the Twin Cities area), you're not going to want to miss this unique theatrical and culinary delight.

"The Imaginary Invalid" by Combustible Company at Gremlin Theatre

Their opening night was cancelled in the Great April Blizzard of '18, but a little (or a lot) of snow didn't stop Combustible Company from delivering a funny, clever, relevant, and really well-done version of Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid. When I finally made it to Gremlin Theatre two days later than planned, I found myself thoroughly entertained for two and a half hours by this delightfully odd mixture of humor, music, social commentary, bright costumes, and pharmaceutical ads. The play may be over 300 years old, but this clever new adaptation (by Oded Gross and Tracy Young) brings out all the relevance to 2018 in this story of a hypochondriac struggling with health care issues, as so many are today. The modern references make the play feel fresh and current, while still keeping a tie to the original, and the consistently fantastic cast plays up the comedy to a hilt, without losing sight of the humanity of the characters. (Playing through April 28, click here for info and tickets.)

"Bluebeard's Dollhouse" by Combustible Company at the James J. Hill House

If the candy and decorations at Target haven't made you aware that Halloween season is upon us, Combustible Company's immersive and mobile merging of two disastrous marriage tales Bluebeard's Dollhouse will leave no doubt. It's performed in multiple locations in the gorgeous historic mansion that is the James J. Hill House, and it's super creepy. It's definitely not your typical night at the theater - walking up and down grand or narrow staircases, entering rooms simple or elaborate, and seeing scary looking dolls everywhere you turn. If you like a good fright, and appreciate invention and creativity and, well, something that's just different, Bluebeard's Dollhouse (continuing through October 15) is the experience for you. I'm not very fond of scary things and horror (Halloween is a non-holiday in my life), but I appreciate the artistry that goes into creating this very detailed world at this incredibly cool location.

"Donald Giovanni in Cornlandia" by Mixed Precipitation at Loring Park

Opera. Pop music. Delicious food. The beautiful Minnesota summer. What could be better than Mixed Precipitation's annual summer picnic operetta that combines all of these things?! Not much. This year's selection for this wonderful tradition known as the picnic operetta is Donald Giovanni in Cornlandia, a mash-up of Mozart's Don Giovanni, '80s music, and, you guessed it, this bizarre election. A friend recommended that I should read the plot summary of Don Giovanni before the show because it can be hard to follow. But I don't think plot is the point. The point is good music, good food, good fun, and the great outdoors. So head out to the park between now and September 18 (performances in the Twin Cities and outstate Minnesota) and enjoy some delicious food and delicious opera.

"Herocycle" by FTF Works at Old Arizona Theater

Evel Knievel. You probably know the name even if, like me, you don't know much about the man behind the legend. FTF Works' Herocycle, a remount of a 2008 Fringe show, explores the life of Robert Knievel in a creative and innovative way, using aerial acrobatics, circus tricks, music, and the work of Joseph Campbell. The result is a really unique, physical, and captivating piece of theater.

This is a work that doesn't really follow any conventions of theater, so it's hard to even know where to begin describing it. So I'll just jump right in. Evel Knievel, the famous daredevil who made a career out of jumping his motorcycle over cars, animals, and various other objects, is played by two actors, Erik Hoover as Robert Knievel and Jim Peitzman as the alter ego he created for himself. The two often debate, the daredevil side convincing the human side to take greater and greater risks. Robert spends much of the show in a wheelchair, representing the cumulative three years he spent in the hospital recovering from various crashes, while Evel is often flying overhead on aerial silks, irrepressible. Both are dressed in Evel Knievel's trademark white suit with the stars and stripes, like 70s superheros, as is Beth Brooks, who is credited as "Reporter, Goddess" but serves as a sort of narrator and guide through the story. We learn a little bit about Robert's life and history, with Sasha Gibbs playing his wife and a groupie. Both Beth and Sasha sing at times with a fantastic band (original compositions by Sam Brooks, and a special shout out to violinist Maliya Gorman-Carter who at one point plays while suspended from the air), although this is not a musical. But most remarkable of all is the physical way all of the cast moves about the space, which is populated with various size ramps, jumping, rolling, spinning, flying. It's exhausting and fascinating to watch. Every time someone (usually Jim) was up in the aerial silks I couldn't take my eyes off of them, especially when Jim went into an almost free fall descent, stopping a few feet from the ground. It's a clever way to show the daredevil aspect without having an actual motorcycle jumping through the air onstage.

I find myself drawn to stories of people who take great adventurous risks in the pursuit of something that they usually can't even explain themselves. It's a drive that some people have to challenge themselves, just to prove to themselves (or the world) that they can do it. It's the same thing that drove Nik Wallenda to walk on a tightrope across a gorge near the Grand Canyon just a few days ago, something that Evel dreamed of doing on a motorcycle. (Perhaps it's the same thing that drives me to run marathons and go on "vacations" where I hike all day instead of lay on a beach, like most people do on vacation.) When George Mallory was asked, "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" he famously replied "Because it's there." I suspect Evel Knievel would have responded in a similar way if asked why he wanted to jump 15 buses on a motorcycle. Joseph Campbell explored commonalities across cultures and their stories, and the archetype of a hero that is present in all of them. I'm not sure if Evel Knievel was a hero, but he was definitely on a journey towards something or somewhere, whether or not he ever reached it. And there are many similar stories on smaller and grander scales throughout the world and its history.

I don't know if I did Herocyle justice (it's a little hard to wrap my head, and words, around it), and I'm sorry if I rambled a bit there, but that's what good theater does - make you think, explore new ideas, and make connections. This piece, created by Erik Hoover and Kym Longhi, is the most creative thing I've seen on stage in quite a while. The actors and musicians are all wonderfully expressive, the costumes are awesome, the moving set pieces are interesting but never in the way of the story. The whole package is unique and creative, a little odd, but just a fascinating creation. Only two performances remain, so get there fast if you're interested in exploring a little.

Erik Hoover, Beth Brooks,
and Jim Peitzman