"Hecuba" by Pangea World Theater

Last month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pangea World Theater's General Manager Adlyn Carreras and Production Manager Suzanne Victoria Cross, along with my fellow blogger Julie from Minnesota Theater Love, for our podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat (listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts). It truly was eye-opening to learn about all of the programs that this organization offers, in addition to what we traditionally think of as theater. I found them to be incredibly thoughtful and passionate about the work of community building and lifting up diverse voices. With this as their foundation, it's no wonder that the theater they create is relevant and inclusive and has something to say about our world. Such is Hecuba, a millennia old story retold by modern day Irish playwright Marina Carr, whose By the Bog of Cats, a loose retelling of Medea, was produced by Theatre Pro Rata last year. Similar to that play, this Hecuba reimagines a mythical figure as a real, flawed, relatable woman who is trying to survive in unimaginable circumstances. The history of the world is a history of war, violence (often towards women), and genocide, and unfortunately the daily news is also littered with such stories. This mythical story about the brutality of war, set at the end of the Trojan War, is all too relevant. It's a beautifully written play, and Pangea's regional premiere production features a strong cast, effective elements of physical theater, and a sparsely beautiful design set against the gorgeous backdrop of the Southern Theater, all elements combining for a powerful and sobering experience.

"Much Ado About Nothing" by Fearless Comedy at the Historic Mounds Theatre

Two years after it was originally scheduled, Fearless Comedy is finally bringing us their 1940s-set take on the Shakespearean rom-com Much Ado about Nothing. It's fun to see a comedy company, that often does new work, take on one of the original comedians. The large and talented cast and inventive staging at the Historic Mounds Theatre make for a delightfully fun evening of Shakespearean comedy. See it now through May 14.

"Caucasian-Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales" by Chameleon Theatre Circle and Fearless Comedy Productions at Bloomington Center for the Arts

Duck Washington's funny, engaging, personal, and very honest sketch comedy show about being biracial in America has traveled a long road to its current home in Bloomington. Caucasian-Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales began as a Fearless Comedy show at Bryant Lake Bowl, and then had a successful run a the 2016 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Chameleon Theatre Circle originally planned to include the show as part of their 2016-2017 season, but the Ames Center in Burnsville, their then home, refused to allow the show to be produced there for fear that some might find the word mulatto offensive. To make a long story short (you can read more about it here), Chameleon left the Ames Center because they objected to artistic censorship, and Caucasian-Aggressive Pandas is currently being presented at the Bloomington Center for the Arts (the home of Artistry) as the final show in their nomadic 2017-2018 season. That's a whole lot of preamble for what is a very funny, insightful, and necessary show about race relations in America, which can only be improved by acknowledging it and talking about it, and maybe laughing about it too in a safe space like this. Oh, the irony!

Fringe Festival 2016: "Caucasian Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales"

Day: 2

Show: 8 

Title: Caucasian Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales

Category: Comedy

By: Fearless Comedy Productions

Written by: Duck Washington

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A series of comedy sketches about what it means to be biracial in America today.

Highlights: This is a very funny and insightful piece about race in America, especially for those that fall into the "other race" category. Duck and his fellow cast-members (Suzanne Victoria Cross, Ted Femrite, and Kirsten Wade, playing characters of all races, genders, and species, plus Matthew Kessen as the droll narrator) take us through several of Duck's personal experiences, many of which are funny in retrospect, some of which are disturbing. We learn about the first time someone called him the n-word (he was 12), and the crazy questions and assumptions people have and make (you're from the Middle East, right? you could be Hispanic!). You'll have a good time, you'll laugh (the narrator makes the audience pledge to laugh if something's funny, and not judge someone else who's laughing at what they think is funny, kind of in the spirit of "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist"), and you might learn a little about what it's like to be in someone else's different-colored skin, or see your own experiences reflected back at you.

Fringe Festival 2015: "A House Has Many Dreams"

Day: 4

Show: 19

Title: A House Has Many Dreams

Category: Drama

By: Francis D. Productions

Directed by: Laura DeShane

Location: Illusion Theater

Summary: Four generations of women dealing with family and domestic abuse.

Highlights: This ambitious play attempts to show the long-lasting effects of domestic abuse through the generations, but because it covers 70+ years in less than an hour, some of the characters and stories get short shrift. The central character of Dolores (Suzanne Victoria Cross), whom we see as a daughter, mother, and grandmother, provides a compelling through line. As a precocious child, she asks her mother why her father left. Later, after her mother dies, she invites her father into her life and family in an attempt at healing, but doesn't forget the past. While the play explores some interesting themes of family, memory, and perspective, the timelines are unclear as we quickly jump from one generation to the next; I wasn't sure how to place this in historical context.