by ANNA ROSENSWEIG It’s easy to forget just how many common English expressions and turns of phrase come from Shakespeare’s plays. One of the pleasures of hearing his plays performed today is noticing these expressions and situating them in their Shakespearean contexts. Take As You Like It. We’re all familiar with the famous declaration “All…
by SOPHIE KERMAN American audiences seem to have a special fascination with the world of the British upper-classes. Whether it is a fixation on the fates of Jane Austen’s characters or an addiction to BBC’s “Downton Abbey,” there is something about the poise and apparent ease with which the British conduct their financial and romantic…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG What happens when two over-privileged adult children throw a birthday party for their wealthy father? This is the premise of Crashing the Party, a new play by Josh Tobiessen that wonders whether the tenacity needed to achieve the “American Dream” can be passed from one generation to another. Once one generation has…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Blair Thomas may have just changed the way I think about puppet shows. While In the Heart of the Beast has made itself known for its kid-friendly, large-scale puppet theater, Thomas’s Hard Headed Heart is not for children and only partly about puppets. This trio of short pieces, each an adaptation of a different…
by SOPHIE KERMAN After wowing Minnesota Fringe Festival audiences for the past two years running, Isabel Nelson has brought 2010 Fringe Festival Favorite Ballad of the Pale Fisherman to the Illusion Theater mainstage. After being blown away by Red Resurrected at the 2011 Fringe, I was excited to see the expansion of Pale Fisherman, the show that…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG Judy Garland played an important role in my childhood. I literally wore out my VHS of The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 hit with MGM studios that propelled her into stardom at just sixteen. And my family’s folklore has it that for weeks at a time I insisted on being called Dorothy.…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Although witty, suspenseful and well-acted, the Jungle Theater‘s latest production is not a Valentine’s Day offering for the insecure couple. As you get sucked into the detective work and criminal reverse-engineering that drives Frederick Knott‘s Dial M for Murder, you may find yourself glancing sideways at your date and wondering just how much…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG The Guthrie’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is electric. The first few minutes of this Tennessee Williams classic promise a riveting theatrical experience, a promise that the rest of the show fulfills. Haunting in both its beauty and its sadness, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof achieves a kind…
by SOPHIE KERMAN In the summer of 2011, I spent a few hurried weeks hunting for the perfect one-bedroom apartment on a graduate student’s budget**. One of the best prospects, at least on paper, was a garden-level with impressive square footage for the price. But when I got there, I was both fascinated and a…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG Looking for some deceit to spice up your week? Look no further than the Torch Theater’s production of Dangerous Liaisons. Based on the 1782 epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, this delightfully devilish drama presents the scathing battle of wills and desires between La Marquise de Merteuil (Stacia Rice), a wealthy…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 