When The Lion in Winter begins on the Guthrie‘s McGuire stage (playing through Dec 31), the great red-velvet curtain opens on a timbered, multileveled tower, topped with two tiers of flickering candles. The set, designed by Christopher Ash, deftly invokes the…
Orange at Mixed Blood Theatre
In Aditi Brennan Kapil‘s Orange (Mixed Blood, through Dec 4) Leela (the wonderful Annelyse Ahmad) is having an “adventure.” Her well-meaning albeit scattered and goofily irresponsible cousin (played by the even wonderfuller Lipica Shah) has taken her off into the…
Henry V by Theatre Pro Rata
In telling the story of a young king seeking to assert himself through violent conquest of his rivals and enlisting his country to risk their lives fighting for his cause, Henry VÂ (Theatre Pro Rata, performing at the Crane Theatre, through…
105 Proof, Or, The Killing Of Mack “The Silencer” Klein by Transatlantic Love Affair, performing in the Illusion Theatre
No doubt about it, Transatlantic Love Affair knows how to spin a ripping good yarn. Their newest effort 105 Proof or, The Killing of Mack “the Silencer†Klein is testament to their storytelling skill. Eight barefooted actors with no props…
The Oldest Boy at the Jungle Theater
In Sarah Ruhl‘s The Oldest Boy (at the Jungle, through Dec 18) culture and religion trump (Lord forgive me for using the t-word) the unselfishness, the pure life-focus, the power of parenthood. In the play, two friendly but very serious-minded…
The Good Person Of Setzuan by Frank Theatre, performing in the Rainbow Foods space on Minnehaha Avenue
Another of Frank Theatre‘s brilliant “found spaces”: the back room of the old Rainbow Foods. A gorgeous steel stairway, the “meat cooler,” the “sorting table” (whatever that is), an enormous ventilation pipe, weird platforms, a view out to the store…
The Baker’s Wife by Artistry, performing at the Bloomington Center For The Arts
Steven Schwartz and Joseph Stein’s rarely seen The Baker’s Wife (Artistry, performing at the Bloomington Center For The Arts) is a difficult little musical. A darkly comic comment on the fallibility of human relationships and romantic impulses, it is as unsettling…
Cabaret by Hennepin Theatre Trust, performing at the Orpheum Theatre
They’re all there, the famous and iconic Cabaret songs: “Willkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” the anthemic “Cabaret.” John Kander (still with us) and Fred Ebb (who died in 2004) are/were masters of American musical theater. Kiss Of The Spider Woman, Chicago…
Pericles by Ten Thousand Things Theatre
Shakespeare’s Pericles is an almost perfect play for Ten Thousand Things and their target audience. TTT performs all of its plays free of charge at schools, correctional facilities, women’s shelters and other institutions before coming to Open Book in Minneapolis…
Hold These Truths in the Guthrie Theatre’s Dowling Studio
In an at-war America wracked with paranoia and fear of a subversive threat following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a young, patriotic university student decided to stand up and be relentlessly principled. That student was Gordon Hirabayashi, and at a…
Why We Can’t Have Nice Things presented by The Recovery Party at the Bryant-Lake Bowl
The Recovery Party’s latest original show is about options, from having too many to not having enough, but that doesn’t begin to describe the absurd lengths, heights and depths to which writer/director Joshua Will takes the simplest interactions. Such as…
Jitney at Penumbra Theatre
August Wilson’s plays are not slice of life dramas with straight-as-a-knife plotlines. They embody broad swaths of Black history played out decade by decade. Jitney, now at Penumbra Theatre, is no exception. Set in the 1970’s, Wilson employs gossip, personal…