By LIZ BYRON. When a play has been performed regularly across the country for 79 years, and has spawned an Oscar-winning film version, it seems safe to assume that it’s got some pretty good things going for it. Indeed, You Can’t Take It With You is a charming and clever story with a witty script,…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE How do you navigate the cultures of the Middle East and America’s heartland as an Arab-American experiencing an identity crisis? A trio of plays by impressively talented local Arab-American playwrights and artists explore this theme and are showcased this week through July 12 at Mixed Blood Theatre. The festival is organized by a group of Minneapolis-based artists of the…
BY TAMAR NEUMANN: During the post-play discussion for Juno and the Paycock, the Guthrie Theater’s latest production, Jo Holcomb, dramaturg, stated that this play was in Joseph Dowling’s DNA. As I thought about everything I could say about this production I kept circling back to Holcomb’s statement. My written words cannot find a better way to…
by Adam M. Schenck Our lives have seasons, and the Bard himself tells us that “All the world’s a stage.” And as Aristotle teaches us in his Poetics, catharsis is the purgation of our emotions via the experience of tragedy. That’s three big concepts, but I want to answer a simple question: What is the…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Camelot, now at the Ordway through Sunday, offers a lush set design and costumes, classic Lerner and Loewe lyrics and the timeless Arthurian Knights of the Round Table fable of love, honor, chivalry and justice. The brilliant set design of the musical (Kevin Depinet) and orchestration (Marshall Keating) were freshly reimagined and updated to evoke a slightly…
By LIZ BYRON. Yes, that’s right, there is a musical based on the TV show Happy Days. Now, I have to admit that I’ve never seen a single episode of the iconic show (blame it on my age plus my general preference for books over TV as a kid), but my theatre companion had, which…
By LIZ BYRON. Carmen is a classic opera whose music is so well-known that even opera virgins will probably recognise some of the songs. Indeed, I walked into the Ordway knowing nothing about the opera but that it featured a woman, presumably named Carmen, who might at some point wear a red dress. But it…
BY TAMAR NEUMANN: Peter Pan has always held a magical place in our hearts since it first took the stage. I think it’s because Peter Pan, the boy, reminds us all of the innocence of childhood. Either that, or we all just wish we had the ability to fly. In any case, Peter Pan continues…
by Adam M. Schenck Part of growing up in our country as a late adolescent is reading what is called classic American literature. The teacher tells the sixth- through ninth-graders, “This is important! This matters!” But children at that age do not have a reference for what is important. Like you perhaps, my first interaction…
[Trigger warning: sexual abuse, rape] by Rebecca Halat The Illusion Theater’s production of Lee Blessing’s For the Loyal explores truth, consequences, and obligations. The narrative is based on the real-life events of the Penn State-Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal, but avoids falling into the trap of simply re-telling that narrative. The play begins by exploring…
