by CHRISTINE SARKES What does it mean to be a misunderstood, visionary artist and how does suffering for your art impact those you love? These are the themes of Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story, Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, et al.) and James Lapine’s…
by CHRISTINE SARKES Aethem Theatre Company’s world premiere adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, June 15-18, is a superbly acted delight. The company’s founding member Kayla Hambek has accomplished a nearly herculean task in adapting the book to stage given that much of Austen’s exposition is the protagonist’s inner monologue. Hambek cleverly uses Anne Elliot’s (Audrey…
by CHRISTINE SARKES Refugia at the Guthrie Theater explores transition–as life stages, border crossings, displacement of people as refugees and immigrants–using an avant-garde and innovative mix of movement, music, poetry and comedy. Through interconnected chapters, the piece is formed from “devised theater,” differing from traditional theater in that the rehearsal process does not begin with…
by CHRISTINE SARKES Wicked is so good on so many levels, there really is no need to write a review – just go see it, if you can. The lyrics and music are achingly beautiful, the underlying messages touchingly resonant and topical, and the costumes and sets are simply fabulous. I love this show with…
by CHRISTINE SARKES The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence, a 2014 finalist for Pulitzer Prize for Drama at Park Square Theatre, is truly a curious case. It is a lightly entertaining and well-acted confusing mix of steampunk meets Sci-Fi time travel meets Sex and the City. The website’s synopsis won’t help much either: “Four…
by CHRISTINE SARKES Frank Theatre’s Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine at the Intermediate Arts center packs a huge emotional punch. Focusing on the complex inner and outer lives of its characters, the play dissects daily occurrences of racist micro-aggressions that are designed to denigrate and render invisible minority populations. These micro-aggressions are explored…
by CHRISTINE SARKES The Royal Family at the Guthrie Theater is an entertaining, long and chaotic mess of a tribute to a comically dysfunctional Broadway “theat-ah” family – a thinly-veiled homage to the Barrymore dynasty. Although the play has muddled themes of honoring family traditions, work/life balance and living up to parental expectations, it is…
by CHRISTINE SARKES Fun Home at the Orpheum Theatre is devastatingly honest, achingly funny and worthy of all the praise it has received. The musical won five Tony Awards last year, including Best Musical, and made history as the first show written exclusively by women to win that award. Based on Alison Bechdel’s best-selling and award-winning graphic memoir, Fun Home introduces…
by CHRISTINE SARKES Finding Fish at the Illusion Theater is a labor of love for playwright Carlyle Brown, who lived a seafaring life for over twenty years on the Maine coast. A commission to write a play about the sustainability of Maine’s fisheries led to this work, which imagines a future world in which much…
by CHRISTINE SARKES I’m writing this review as an unabashed Jane Austen fan and addressing it to the likewise. Anyone else is a mystery to me and I wouldn’t know where to begin. Janeites/Austenites will love the Guthrie Theater and Kate Hamill’s reverent, yet lightly modernized adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. With spot-on lead performances, exceptional ensemble…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 