One of the shocks of childhood is the realization that adults can be even more capricious and absurd than children. Although some pretend that life is predictable and logical, adulthood is often chaotic, replete with characters whose motivations are difficult to decipher. Enter the Alice in Wonderland at the Children’s Theater Company, a flashy and high-energy production…
Mission Theater promises that its production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a “highly physical, energetic production”, and they aren’t lying. From start to finish, the play is bursting with energy. Characters dance, fight, frolic, and do just about anything but stay still. Australian director Penelope Parsons-Lord cleverly decided to use physicality to help…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Early in the play, I Love to Eat: A Love Story with Food, James Beard (Garry Geiken) declares to the audience, “Moderation. I’m against it!” This line captured to me the true essence of James Beard: America’s original foodie, TV’s first cooking show host, confidante of Julia Child and author of over 20 cookbooks. An award bearing…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Dreamless Land is a slippery bit of theater. Characters grow up unexpectedly, the genre shifts from “realism” to dream to science fiction to spy movie, and the viewer is never quite sure whether the actors are playing different sides of the same character or different characters altogether. A glowing cube (designed by Liz…
It is easy to look back on the 60s and see bright colours, free love, and an exploding music scene. And in thinking of the music of the 60s, it is really easy to name successful female musicians: Carole King is the obvious name, but also lots of groups like The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The…
by SOPHIE KERMAN There’s a certain mystique out there about fishing, a sense that the long wait (or desperate quest) for a fish can somehow be compared to the various ways of leading one’s life with artistry, impatience, or obsession. The idea has been exploited in various forms for centuries, from “A River Runs Through…
By guest reviewer YONATAN REINBERG The all-male cast in The Shadow Company’s performance of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, by playwright Moisés Kaufman, play a variety of characters from prostitutes to queens, lovers to judges, press to persecutors. As the clever plot device played by a rascally professor makes clear, however, the…
The Yellow Tree Theater needs to perform a delicate balancing act. A well-supported community theater with excellent media outreach, Yellow Tree aspires to put on productions that compel metro area theatergoers to take a trip to Osseo. At the same time, their productions should please their core audience without lulling them into a stupor, a…
I am always wary when I sit down to see a new production of To Kill a Mockingbird. For one thing, it is so easy for Midwesterners to mess up an Alabaman accent; secondly, child actors in serious roles can, occasionally, be disastrous. Luckily the production at the Park Square Theatre avoided both of these…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Want to pair a night at the theater with a tasty meal beforehand? Josh Page over at I Like Food, Food Tastes Good and I are doing the legwork for you. Check out Josh’s site for his take on Chimborazo, where the unexpected combinations of sweet and savory Ecuadorian flavors will put you…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 