The oldest theater in Minneapolis (Theatre in the Round, now in their 74th season) is known for classics like their annual Agatha Christie play, but they're not afraid to champion new work (like last year's world premiere musical
Endometriosis: The Musical) and challenge their audience with lesser known titles, like
How to Catch Creation, currently playing on their unique stage through February 8. Written by playwright Christina Anderson (Tony nominee for co-writing the book of
the ambitious new original historical musical Paradise Square),
How to Catch Creation premiered at Chicago's Goodman Theater in 2019 and has not previously been seen in #TCTheater. After cancelling a couple of shows last weekend in response to protest and continued violence on our streets perpetrated by federal agents, they only have five performance left. Last night, after another day of protest, the audience was much smaller than this excellent play deserves. It's a funny and relatable play, well written in a naturalistic style while combining multiple timelines, with a terrific all Black cast that brings these complex and messy characters to life. This story of Black artists, specifically Black female queer artists, is an important one to tell in this current era that attempts to silence voices such as these. Telling these stories, and consuming them, is part of the continued resistance against an administration that's trying to take away our humanity. Thanks to Theatre in the Round and this talented cast and creative team for telling this story now.
 |
Tami (Tia Tanzer) and Griffin (Duck Washington)
(photo by Aaron Mark Photo Film) |
Our story is set mostly in 2014 San Francisco, featuring two pairs of artists. Griffin (Duck Washington) was recently released from prison after serving 25 years for a crime he did not commit (an important subplot about the injustice of our justice system, especially in regard to Black men) and has found himself a bit of a celebrity as he tours the country telling his story. He tells his good friend Tami (Tia Tanzer), a painter who has stopped painting, that he wants to be a father, a difficult road for a man in his situation. This pair encounters the living-together couple Riley (Izzy Maxwell) and Stokes (Noah Branch), she a computer scientist and he a painter, when Noah applies for and is rejected from a program at the school where Tami works. Riley responds to the rejection by advocating for him, and Noah responds by reading books by the (fictional) Black feminist writer G.K. Marche. This is where the second timeline comes into play, as we scenes of G.K. (Mary Cannon) working on her novels in the late '60s, and her partner Natalie (Lyreshia Ghostlon-Green), a fashion designer. The stories of these three couples become intertwined and entangled in satisfying ways, as each character tries to juggle the art of creation with their relationships, sometimes unsuccessfully, always with lots of juicy drama.
 |
G.K. (Mary Cannon) and Natalie (Lyreshia Ghostlon-Green)
(photo by Aaron Mark Photo Film) |
Vanessa Brooke Agnes directs the play, and does a great job navigating the multiple timelines and sometimes overlapping scenes. She's aided by the design, with distinct areas on the in-the-round stage and above one entrance, lit in different ways. The furniture is a mix of modern and vintage, laptops trading places with typewriters. Everyone in the cast is great, the main six-person cast mentioned above joined by a brief but important appearance by Adboulie Ceesay as a character mostly talked about. In the hands of this cast, all of these characters are likable and relatable, even if we don't always agree with their choices. Each character has a specific sartorial style that tells us who they are, e.g., Riley is a stylish young woman who, as she says, does not dress like a stereotypical computer scientist; and Natalie's endless array of brightly colored groovy dresses that would make Megan Draper jealous contrasts with G.K.'s blazer and boots. (Set design by Kejia Yu, lighting design by Mark Kieffer, costume design by Jacourtney Mountain-Bluhm, prop design by Rachel Glotter Snitzer, sound design by Christy Johnson.)
