Are you a conservative theater-goer? Do you insist that your plays entertain, contain coherent plots and characters with whom you can readily identify? If this is you, then the beautifully substantive The Bluest Eye (at the Guthrie through May 21),…
Category: Reviews
GIRL Shakes Loose: tight show, loose story
There are so many things right with the musical GIRL Shakes Loose at Penumbra Theatre. First off the show is nearly flawlessly performed. The depth of talent in our cities never ceases to amaze, as the cast of this show…
Snapshot And Blank: Comic Book Theater. Kapow!
Maggie’s Farm Theater, a cozy little space tucked into the Lennox Community Center in St. Louis Park, was just about the perfect space for the action-packed “Snapshot & Blank†by Todd Richardson, an homage to the playwright’s love of –…
A Year With Frog And Toad: delightful
Two words describe the A Year With Frog And Toad (at CTC, through June 18). First: sweet. Anyone who can watch this delightful show without a constant smile needs professional help. Toad (played by Reed Sigmund, the reincarnation of Fatty…
The Testament Of Mary: a unique take on the Jesus story
Intense emotion recollected in the tranquility of old age. That’s the vibe of the affecting The Testament Of Mary, a solo piece adapted by the accomplished Irish writer Colm Tóibin from his novel of the same title (Loudmouth Collective). In…
Battlefield: A Cycle Of War And Peace
Walk into the McGuire Theatre and all the way to the back wall the stage is nearly bare. There’s a drum, a chair, some bamboo and a few pieces of cloth. An apt introduction to a piece by Peter Brook,…
Vietgone: a frantic clutch-popper
Mixed Blood Theatre, in its PR material, calls Qui Nguyen‘s breathless Vietgone (running at MB thru April 30) a “mash-up,” and that it most certainly is, a delirious (if mash-ups are your cup of tea) and graceless (if not) combo…
Lone Star Spirits: a heartfelt, hilarious ode to the everyman
In today’s fractured world, so much of what we experience, artistically and otherwise, carries political and emotional baggage. With Josh Tobiessen’s play Lone Star Spirits, a small, hysterical comedy with an earnest heart that explores what divides us and brings…
West Side Story: thrilling and inspiring
2007 was the fiftieth anniversary of West Side Story. The NPR report I listened to at the time indicated that there had been – ten years ago – 50,000 productions of the show. What this means is that, as you…
To Begin With: Full Throttle Bombast
Every ten years or so someone decides to put some part of the bible on stage. The latest attempt is To Begin With by local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher (Hennepin Theatre Trust, performing in the old Wesley Church). Hatcher has taken…