Pearce Bunting plays Lyndon Baines Johnson in Robert Schenkkan‘s theatrical (and loud) The Great Society (History Theatre) with none of the crude charm, the country-boy excess, the rude physical bullying that I’ve come to associate with our former president. Bunting’s LBJ…
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / when the rainbow is enuf: poetry and movement beautifully fused
Penumbra, through Oct 14The Penumbra Theater’s production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf is nothing short of an immersive feat and it’s an experience not to be missed. The play is actually a series of choreographed poems…
Minnesota Theater Awards launches
New program celebrates area theater practionersThe Twin Cities theater community gathered last night to celebrate the year’s accomplishments and recognize its finest work. The Minnesota Theater Awards has sprung up in the vacuum left when the Ivey Awards folded earlier this year. According to Brant…
Frankenstein — Playing With Fire: a lively rebirth
The Guthrie Theater, through Oct 27The Guthrie is reviving Frankenstein — Playing With Fire, staging Barbara Field’s excellent drama. They premiered the show back in 1988 and it’s easy to see why they decided to bring it back to life. Field’s play is both moving…
Is God Is: gorgeously nasty
Mixed Blood Theatre, through Oct 14“The fire keeps tryna come out.” Mixed Blood‘s wonderfully repellent and highly original Is God Is, written by Aleshea Harris, is a clutch-popper. Credit – definitely the right word, because this play zips along like a house afire and is…
Little Women: A 150 Year Old Novel With Unwavering Contemporary Appeal
The Jungle Theater, through Oct 21150 years ago, Louisa May Alcott wrote a book called Little Women about four sisters struggling with the hardships of living in Massachusetts during the Civil War. That book has since gone on to inspire countless film and theater adaptations…
Awake And Sing!: a 1930s era gem
Artistry Theater; 1800 Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington; through Oct 7“She’s so beautiful. She’s like French words.” “Life shouldn’t be printed on one dollar bills.” “I got a yen for her, and that ain’t Chinese coins.” Can a play containing gems like this ever really be bad? Not really, and…
Once: heartfelt and streetwise
Theater Latté Da, through Oct 21You know what busking is, don’t you? When a talented (one hopes) musician plays for free on the street, opening his guitar case (or fiddle case, or mandolin case, as the case may be) in hopes of catching a few…
West Of Central: extraordi-noir
Pillsbury House Theater, through Oct 14Austene Van makes one heck of a good private dick and Christina Ham’s new play at the Pillsbury House Theatre makes the most of it. Ham’s noir-ish West of Central has a complex plot that involves Van and real estate…