"Bart and Arnie" by Melancholics Anonymous at The Hive Collaborative

Adam Szymkowicz's play Bart and Arnie is a sweet, odd, funny, and relatable little play about friendship and existential angst. Using familiar characters from most of our childhoods, he explores ideas of mental health, relationships, careers, and just the difficulties of getting through the day. Melancholics Anonymous' production, now playing at The Hive Collaborative, is super sweet and genuine, and will leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling. Their work is sometimes a little dark, a little weird (they're making their debut at Twin Cities Horror Festival this fall, which seems like it's a long time coming), but this one is dark only in the sense of dark thoughts that we all have, and weird in the most charming way. It's playing through May 18 only, so head to The Hive for some nostalgic fun.

"Kodachrome" streaming from Locally Grown Theatre

One good thing to come out of this extended intermission from live theater is discovering new theater companies. I had not previously heard of Locally Grown Theatre, a community theater in "Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, Newport, Grey Cloud Island, and the surrounding area," but this week I watched a virtual play in the zoom style of theater and quite enjoyed it. Kodachrome is a sweet little Our Town-ish play about life in a small town, with all the mundanity and profundity that entails. Even though they're each performing in their own little box, the seven-person cast (although disappointingly lacking in diversity) all give wonderful performances that create a feeling of community in this story of love and loss.