by SOPHIE KERMAN Although every woman is different, there are some things that tie us all together – the mental anguish of putting on a pair of nylon stockings, the enormity of a first crush, the strange and wonderful experience of growing boobs and figuring out what to do with them. These common trials and…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Julius Caesar is not theater for beginners. Of all of Shakespeare‘s plays, Caesar is one of the least eventful and yet the most cataclysmic. In Acts I-II, a charismatic leader becomes too big for his britches and is brutally murdered for it; Acts III and IV show us the aftermath of the killing on…
by SOPHIE KERMAN What do you do with a group of talented women on a tight budget? You could strap a few pairs of roller skates on them and set them loose in the roller derby arena… or you could give them 24 hours to write, rehearse and perform six short plays. In the 24:00:00…
by SOPHIE KERMAN As the lights dim for Lorna Landvik‘s grand entrance at the Bryant Lake Bowl, it is clear that the woman has created a following. Whether through her eight novels or the four previous sold-out iterations of her one-woman improv show Party in the Rec Room, Lorna’s audience knows what to expect. For a comedy show, it’s…
by SOPHIE KERMAN As Theatre Unbound‘s Artistic Director Stacey Poirier says, “24 hour plays are the Xtreme Sport of theatre.” With that in mind, the company is presenting the 24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown, a reincarnation of the 24-hour play project that has been a tradition for more than ten years. To gear up for the 24-hour…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Did you know how turtles make it through the winter? Ever wonder whether they dream? With the help of their signature giant puppets, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre (HOBT) uses real wintry adaptations as a jumping-off point to imagine what animals think about during the cold winter months. But if…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG Some shows sneak up on you and win you over, complicating your initial impressions. Charley’s Aunt is one such show, which provided a rather enjoyable evening at the theater, despite a slow start and uneven pacing throughout. Much of what makes the Guthrie Theater’s production of Brandon Thomas’ wildly popular 1892 farce…
by SOPHIE KERMAN You’ve got to wonder what happened at the birthday party when Russ King first took on the persona of Miss Richfield 1981, a beauty queen from the town “where butter is a spice and gravy is a beverage.” Like those shamelessly gravy-drinking suburbanites, Miss Richfield doesn’t hold back and has some serious…
by REBECCA HALAT, Guest Reviewer Reader beware! I have stepped in to help out your usual Aisle Say TC reviewers, and my take on this piece must be read with the knowledge that I am both a theater novice and Christmas lover. From what I understand, A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater is a…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG The Penumbra Theatre is currently reprising its I Wish You Love, an exploration of Nat King Cole’s life, music, and times, after a highly successful world premiere in St. Paul last spring (2011) and a subsequent engagement at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Set at the NBC studios, which somewhat ambivalently…
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