Hope Theater Company has been around since 2013, but Recent Experiences is only their second production to date. Touted as a “mini-epic”, the play sets out to explore the political events and cultural shifts that took place through the 20th century as seen through four generations of a single family. It’s an ambitious task, particularly for a 75-minute…
By ELLEN FERRY. The quaint, intimate space at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre can barely contain the dynamism of its latest production, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. For the first time in more than ten years, the beloved fairytale has returned to the charming west-suburban locale. The March 11th opener did not disappoint. Three-dimensional costuming and…
I don’t know much about dance, and so sometimes I shy away from reviewing dance shows, because I feel that I don’t have the expertise to critique it. When I heard about COLLIDE’s new production of Dracula, my instinct was not to go, because how could I talk about jazz dance when I couldn’t remember which…
As the curtain lowers (yes, lowers) at the beginning of Open Eye Figure Theatre‘s production of Happy Days, even those audience members who are familiar with the play are somewhat surprised. There is just no way to see a play that features a woman buried up to her waist in sand and her mostly-monosyllabic partner without feeling…
BY TAMAR NEUMANN: The latest production from In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (HOBT), The Story of Crow Boy, is an adaptation of the children’s book by the same name. But due to the nature of theatre and the collaboration of this production, it is much more than that. It goes beyond…
By ELLEN FERRY. I took my seat before the Andy Boss Thrust Stage fearful that what I was about to witness—a 90-minute rendition of one of the finest plays ever written—would feel severely truncated. Romeo and Juliet’s star-crossed love is archetypal. The tale need not be explained, but would such a short run-time leave me…
Seeing Shakespeare always makes me a little nervous. I do not fear the language or the twisty-turny plots; rather, my reaction is based on years of experience of seeing all sorts of wacky “new” twists on the Bard’s plays. I’ve seen a steampunk Macbeth and a post-apocalyptic The Tempest, a reverse-gender cast of Romeo and…
by Rebecca Halat and Adam Schenck Illusion Theater’s Right Wrong or Bomb! A Dating Musical explores the contemporary (read: online) dating scene. How many of us aren’t familiar with the daunting process of searching through hundreds of photos and descriptions in an attempt to find one–just one!–other human being with enough attractiveness and a tolerable…
by CHRISTINE SARKES This is not your dreaded high school AP English version of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Director Joel Sass’s adaptation at Park Square Theatre is instead alive and accessible, with diverse casting and dynamic staging that highlight the humor and humanity of the play. My daughter, who was my guest to the opening…
When producing artistic director Natalie Novacek referred to her “stupidly talented cast” during a toast on the preview night for The Best Brothers, I smiled and raised my glass, but I’ll admit that I was thinking, ‘Sure, you’re the director, you’d have to say that, wouldn’t you?’ But as I sat in the Open Eye Figure Theater and watched the…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 