In the 1950s, there was a contingent in American politics with an intense fear of the rise of communism, fueled by the belief that communist infiltrators were everywhere, trying to bring down the American way of life. Headed up by…
Pippi Longstocking at Children’s Theatre Company
Katie Adducci delivers a sweet and winning performance as the young rebel in CTC’s charming Pippi Longstocking (Children’s Theatre Company, through June 10). Whipping Pippi’s famous red braids perilously close to the other characters, leaping and prancing, cackling with laughter,…
Mamma Mia! at the Orpheum Theatre
The pitch for the Broadway touring production of Mamma Mia! is “You already know you’re gonna love it!†Judging by the opening night audience, at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis, I’d say that’s fairly accurate. A good portion of…
The Mill at The Playwrights’ Center
The Mill, a new play by International Falls, Minn., native Jeannine Coulombe presented at The Playwrights’ Center by The Workhaus Collective, looks at what it really means to live in a town that is dependent on one major industry and…
Learn To Be Latina at Mixed Blood Theatre
In the demented, clutch-popping and mud puddle shallow Learn To Be Latina (Mixed Blood Theatre, through May 13), by Enrique Urueta, a sweet-tempered, blissfully open Lebanese-American (clear emphasis on the latter), Hanan Mashalani, is informed that although she exhibits serious…
Deal! The Musical at the Ritz Theater
It’s a challenge for writers to get their own work produced; it gets even more complex to produce a new musical. Furthermore, if the new musical does not have a “name†– either one of the writers or recognized subject…
Interview: Jeannine Coulombe
It doesn’t rain but it pours: playwright Jeannine Coulombe has two major productions opening within a week. The first, The Mill, produced by Workhaus Collective, performing (as always) at the Playwrights Center, opens this Friday, April 20 and closes May…
Spring Awakening, a co-production with Theater Latté Da and The University of Minnesota Department of Theatre Arts and Dance
I’m often asked, in my exalted position as theater reviewer, if I’ve seen anything really good. I hem and haw. “This play at the Guthrie’s not bad, and that play at CTC is terrific if you’re seven years old, and…
Time Stands Still at the Guthrie Theater
Sarah Goodwin, the hero of Donald Margulies‘s often penetrating (and often static) Time Stands Still (at the Guthrie, through May 20), thrives on conflict. On blood, on insanity, the sudden violence of war. She has acquired – or so she…
“What’s the Word For” at Illusion Theater
Illusion Theater has renewed their collaborative relationship with local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher in a commissioned work that also honors producing directors Michael Robins (who directs this production) and Bonnie Morris for their commitment to developing and producing new plays. The…
Photo Set: First Aid Kit with Peggy Sue at the Cedar 4/7/12
The Birthday Party at the Jungle Theater
Pinteresque. The word has permanently entered the English lexicon. It refers to something seemingly straightforward – a word, a gesture, a simple prop, a mere pause – that implies that we live atop a miasmic sea of horror and nastiness. …