The incident detailed in Adrienne and Adam P. Kennedy‘s harrowing and autobiographical Sleep Deprivation Chamber (at Penumbra, 270 N. Kent St., St. Paul, penumbratheatre.org) is, unfortunately, as common as rain: a policeman commits a vicious assault and then concocts a…
Author: John Olive
The Glass Menagerie at The Jungle Theater
I have seen more productions of The Glass Menagerie (at the Jungle, 2951 Lyndale Ave. S., through Oct 17, jungletheater.com), Tennessee Williams‘s oft-produced and touching portrait of life in Depression era St. Louis, than I care to contemplate. But I…
Wicked At The Orpheum
The Wicked Express has arrived in Minneapolis for a 5 week stay (at the Orpheum, 910 Hennepin Ave., through Sept 19, hennepintheatretrust.org). Still going strong on Broadway (after 7 years), Wicked boasts two U.S. tours, strong runs in London, San…
The Gospel At Colonus At The Ordway
It would be difficult to surpass the pure PPM (pleasure-per-moment) ratio of The Gospel At Colonus (at the Ordway, 345 Washington St., downtown St Paul, through Aug 11, ordway.org). Where else will you find gathered together the Steele Singers, the…
A Streetcar Named Desire at The Guthrie Theater
Tennessee Williams‘s great A Streetcar Named Desire (at the Guthrie through August 29, guthrietheater.org) smolders with the heat of a sultry New Orleans summer. The heavy scent of flowers (“Flores para los muertos”) mixed with the smell of cooking meat,…
The Mystery Of Irma Vep at The Jungle Theater
Mandacrest. Hampstead Heath. Home of the tweedily eccentric Lord Edgar – he of the Ronald Colman mustache and the crushing dark secret. Freshly married to Lady Enid – she of the heaving bosom, the swirling blonde hair, and the dark…
Baby With The Bathwater at Prospero Theatre
The newborn in Christopher Durang‘s nasty and funny Baby With The Bathwater (Prospero Theatre, at the Friends Meeting House, 1725 Grand Ave in St. Paul, through June 26, prosperotheatre.org) is relentless. It cries in the morning, it cries late at…
Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Jersey Lily at Park Square Theatre
It doesn’t lack for exuberance, this latest in an ever-lengthening line of Sherlock Holmes adaptations. Katie Forgette‘s Sherlock Homes And The Case Of The Jersey Lily (at Park Square Theatre through July 3; 20 W. 7th Place; parksquaretheatre.org) begins, as…
Dollhouse at the Guthrie Theater
“Cash.” This is how Nora Helmer, hero of Rebecca Gilman‘s Dollhouse (on the Guthrie’s McGuire proscenium, through July 11, guthrietheater.org), her modernization of the Henrik Ibsen classic A Doll’s House, succinctly describes what she most wants from this life. Gilman…
Circle Mirror Transformation at the Guthrie Theater
Circle Mirror Transformation (at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio, through June 13, 612.377.2224, guthrietheater.org) by Annie Baker sneaks up on you. It all seems, initially, so sweet and innocuous. Marty is conducting a class for beginning actors in a small Vermont…