"Beyond the Rainbow: Garland at Carnegie Hall" at History Theatre

I hope HERstory never ends! After a successful spring of three new works by women about women, HERstory Theatre has continued this fall with the powerful and moving more-than-just-a-play Gloria: A Life (a regional premiere), and now a remount of the History Theatre's original play-with-music Beyond the Rainbow: Garland at Carnegie Hall. This commissioned piece (as many of their work is) premiered in 2005, and has since been produced at regional theaters around the country, including a few return engagements at the History Theatre, most recently in 2011 when I first saw it. Some of the original cast returns, including the incomparable Jody Briskey as Judy, in this story of one of Minnesota's favorite daughters. Everybody loves Judy, especially here in the land of her birth, and this play is a beautiful homage to the human behind the legend, while still celebrating her incredible legacy of music and film.

"Stewardess!" at the Herstory Theatre

This spring, the History Theatre, which regularly produces new works of theater about local and national history, has transformed into the HERstory Theater, with three new plays by women, about women: "real women, real stories." The line-up includes a new musical about a female spy and a play about some radical nuns. But first: Stewardess! This new play by Kira Obolensky tells the true story of a real American hero, Mary Pat Laffey, who tirelessly worked for the union to improve the working conditions and treatment of then-called stewardesses, and even sued her employer, Northwest Airlines, eventually winning $59 million dollars in back pay for over 3000 flight attendants. Unfortunately we're not yet at the point of equal pay for women and men, but thanks to Mary Pat we're a lot closer. This fun, playful, inspiring play tells her story, as well as that of other feminists of the era, at just the right time. There's a growing awareness of the importance of women's stories and women's voices, and the Herstory Theatre is celebrating that.

"Our House: The Capitol Play Project" by Wonderlust Productions at the Minnesota State Capitol

I've never experienced anything quite like Wonderlust Productions' Our House: The Capitol Play Project. I've been to site-specific productions before, but none that have been written specifically about that site, telling the true stories of the people who daily inhabit that site, with a cast largely made up of those people. The site in this case is our house, the people's house, the Capitol of the great state of Minnesota, and the people whose stories are told are not the famous and/or infamous politicians one usually associates with the government, but everyone who works there, performing the unglamorous day-to-day hard work of keeping the state running. After following the actors (and "real people!") around our house for two and a half hours (a building I have not stepped foot in since a barely remembered school field trip over 30 years ago), I felt both better and worse about the system that governs our lives. Our House is unabashedly sincere and optimistic about the people who work in government, but it's also harshly realistic about the inefficiencies and corruption within the system. It's a shame this is such a short run (just six sold-out* performances), and I really hope they bring it back. More impactful than any high school civics class could be, it should be required viewing for every citizen.

"The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence" at Park Square Theatre

"The world is filled with people who could ruin me with love." So says a character in The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, currently playing at Park Square Theatre. And that's really what the play is about, although it's also about technology and artificial intelligence and several famous Watsons throughout history. But "about" is a difficult word with this play; it's difficult to explain or describe. But what it is is funny, imaginative, thought-provoking, touching, and yes, curious.

"Six Characters in Search of an Author" at Park Square Theatre

I first saw director and playwright Alan Berks' adaptation of the 1921 Italian play Six Characters in Search of an Author three years ago at Gremlin Theatre (one of the last shows in their space on University in St. Paul). I called it "a weird, trippy experience, one that's difficult to explain or make sense of. But it sure is fun to try." I was eager to take that trip again with a slightly revamped version of the show, featuring some of the original cast members and some new ones. It was fun to see it in a new space with some new additions, and with a little more preparation for what I was in for. It's still pretty weird and trippy, and still asks some intriguing questions about reality, fiction, and theater itself. What follows is what I wrote three years ago, but with some updates about this production.

"The Woodsman" by Theatre Pro Rata at nimbus theatre

I'm not sure there's a more detested group of people than child molesters. It's one of the few things that everyone can agree on, that taking advantage of an innocent child in that way is unforgivable. Or is it? Can child molesters change? Can they become valuable members of society again after serving their time and paying for their crime? Do they deserve a second chance? Steven Fetcher's play The Woodsman (which was made into a 2005 movie starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick) grapples with these difficult questions. It's not an easy play to watch, but Theatre Pro Rata's production is so well done, thought-provoking, and impactful, that it's worth the effort.

Walter (Adam Whisner) has recently been released from prison after serving 12 years for molesting little girls. How many little girls? "One too many" is his response. As he tries to integrate into society, his only friends are his therapist Rosen (Ben Tallen), who he begrudgingly talks to, and his brother-in-law Carlos (James Rodriguez). His sister is unwilling to see him, or more importantly, let him near her children. Walter swears he'll never do it again, but doesn't seem to quite believe it's possible. He's harassed by a cop (William Goblirsh) who doesn't believe it either, and is just waiting for Walter to fail. At work, Walter meets Nikki (Katherine Kupiecki) and begins to open up to her. He tells her his deep dark secret, assuming she'll run away. But she doesn't. She's shocked, but is able to see past Walter's crime to the man he is. The only apartment Walter can afford is across the street from an elementary school, just outside the 100 feet his child molester status allows. As he watches the school and the kids from his window, he notices another man watching the children, and recognizes his behavior. In the park, Walter meets a 12-year-old girl named Robin (Lillie Horton), causing dangerous old feelings to resurface. Will he be able to make a different choice this time?

Adam Whisner as the title character
(photo by Charles Gorrill)

This is a strong six-person cast, as directed by Erik Hoover. Adam Whisner's performance as Walter is particularly affecting as he creates a layered character that's alternately guarded and fully vulnerable, sympathetic and detestable. I found myself rooting for Walter and wanting him to be "cured," for his sake as well as for any potential victims. Another highlight in the cast is young Lillie Horton as the friendless bird-watching girl Robin. The scene between the two of them is so quietly scary and emotionally draining that you almost forget to breathe. The entire cast does a great job of bringing the many sides of this issue to life, without providing any pat answers to the problem.

The backdrop consists of black drawings of a tree and playground equipment on a white background, with shadow puppets representing the man and children across the street. Both set and puppets (designed by Derek Lee Miller) are at the same time lovely and slightly creepy, which sets the perfect tone for the play.

The Woodsman is an unsettling play, but one that deals with important and thought-provoking issues of rehabilitation and forgiveness. Playing now through March 22 at nimbus theatre.

"A Bright New Boise" by Loudmouth Collective at Open Eye Figure Theatre

Loudmouth Collective is closing their third season with another show that is firmly in their wheelhouse of smart, deep, intense, often funny, always thought-provoking, small cast, beautifully directed and acted plays. I've been with them since the beginning, when the surprisingly sweet and touching Gruesome Playground Injuries landed on my favorites list that year. Since then they've done a couple of stellar one-man shows, an absurd comedy, and a Fringe show about talking cats. A Bright New Boise fits in well with that group of plays and helps to further define Loudmouth's point of view, one that's definitely worth paying attention to. It's a beautifully complex play, at times funny, at times utterly devastating, and completely engrossing. I know it's only mid-January, but this is by far the best thing I've seen so far this year.

A Bright New Boise takes place in the break room of a Hobby Lobby in, yes, Boise. It doesn't take long to learn that new employee Will has a reason for being there - to reunite with his teenage son Alex, given up for adoption when he was a baby. Will has other secrets in his past that are slowly revealed throughout the course of the play, and is facing a big crisis of faith after the rapture cult he belonged to ended in tragedy. He's a broken man, trying to figure out a new way of living and having trouble letting go of the past. Having grown up in foster care, Alex has troubles of his own and isn't so willing to let Will in. He slowly agrees to, but on his terms, and protective older brother Leroy is there to intercede if need be. Will meets a new friend in fellow employee Anna, who tries to get him to open up. All of this drama is happening under the supervision of Pauline, who just wants to make this the best Hobby Lobby it can be and is frustrated when her employees' issues get in the way of that.

This isn't a play with a happy ending or really any sort of closure. It just ends, and life goes on. It's the kind of play where you can easily imagine these characters' lives occurring before, after, and outside of the space of the play. They all have lives fully lived, the details of which are merely hinted at in some cases, but the feeling of which is heavily present. The world of the play is so completely engrossing that intermission came as a shock, jarring me back to reality after being completely in this world. The play is long enough that it probably needs an intermission, but I wish it didn't because the typical intermission chatter and phone-checking just distracted me from this world and these people I found so fascinating.

The tone that director Natalie Novacek has set for the piece is so perfect, and walks that line between comedy and intense drama so well. I especially love how the scenes are carried into the scene changes. As the lights darken, the characters remain in the moment for a few breaths, before slowly picking up and moving towards the next scene. Nothing is forced or rushed, but plays out in its own time, with beautiful moments of silence and awkwardness. Open Eye features an adorably tiny stage with an arch, and usually things take place under and in front of the arch. But in this case the break room set is set behind the arch, giving the impression of peering through a peep hole into this perfectly specific and well-defined diorama of a world.

Anna Hickey, Spencer Harrison Levin, and Adam Whisner

This excellent cast is headlined by a beautifully subtle performance by Adam Whisner as Will. He's a quiet man with not a whole lot going on externally, but so much going on internally, all of it brilliantly conveyed by Adam in the hesitating way he speaks, the eye movements, the awkward way he moves around people. Will's past isn't fully explained until the end of the play, but it's clear from the moment we meet him that this is a man who's deeply damaged and lost. There's so much that's big and loud in theater, it's refreshingly lovely to see a performance that's so quiet but equally as dramatic and full of meaning.

The other star of the show is Spencer Harrison Levin as Alex. He's only a senior in high school (although a performing arts high school), but it's already obvious that he's a true talent. His performance as this troubled teen is so believable and natural, funny and heart-breaking. As Pauline, Karen Weise-Thompson is, as always, hilarious, providing much needed comic relief, but she also makes this woman who's proud of her work and her store real and not just a caricature. Rounding out the cast are Zach Garcia as Leroy and Anna Hickey as Anna, who also give great performances in these supporting roles.

Loudmouth Collective does consistently great work - smart choices, excellent casts, and cheap tickets - just $15 with special savings on some nights. The only thing I don't like about Loudmouth Collective is that they only do two shows a year with typically short runs. There are only eight performances of A Bright New Boise over two weekends. If you've never seen Loudmouth before, I highly recommend you check them out to see some smart, funny, thought-provoking, devastating, beautiful theater. This is the kind of show that will stay with you for a while.

"Schiller's Mary Stuart" by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at Red Eye Theater

There's nothing crazier than the history of the British monarchy. The complicated line of succession in the Renaissance era is an example of "truth is stranger than fiction." The many instances of murders, coups, beheadings, declarations of illegitimacy, and incest constitute more drama and intrigue than any soap opera ever could. Therefore it's great fodder for historical fiction today (e.g., the recent miniseries The White Queen) and in times past. In 1800 German playwright Friedrich Schiller wrote a play called Mary Stuart about the Scottish queen, who was imprisoned by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I because she was a threat to the throne. Walking Shadow Theatre Company is presenting a new adaption of the play by Peter Oswald, and the result is a delicious and hearty meal.

Queen Mary comes from a troubled past - ascending to the Scottish throne at 6 days old, growing up in France, married to the king until his death, and returning to Scotland, where she might have had her new husband killed and then married the man who killed him. After this latest scandal, she sought sanctuary in England with her cousin Queen Elizabeth, but because the Catholics of England saw Mary as the rightful ruler, Elizabeth had her imprisoned for nearly 20 years. This play takes place near the end of those years, as Mary pleads for her release and Elizabeth debates Mary's fate with her advisers. Over the course of nearly three hours, we watch the schemes and politics of these two queens unfold and crumble, until only one is left standing. It's really quite gripping, and it doesn't feel like a 200 year old play about events that happened 400+ years ago, but rather feels fresh and dramatic and almost modern.

Queen Mary (Jennifer Maren)
pleads for her life from
Queen Elizabeth (Sherry Jo Ward)

The best part of this production is the excellent acting by the entire 13-person company. It's such a treat to just sit there and watch the skill of these artists as they play out this complicated tale. At the top are Jennifer Maren and Sherry Jo Ward as the Queens Mary and Elizabeth, both strong and regal and sympathetic, so that I found it difficult to choose sides between the two. Jean Wolff is wonderfully Mrs. Hughes-like as Mary's staunch supporter, friend, and ladies maid. Other standouts include Adam Whisner as Mary's firm but ultimately kind captor, and Dustin Bronson and Peter Ooley as Mary's (or Elizabeth's?) suitors.

The second best part of this production are the gorgeous costumes, which are not 16th century period costumes, but have more of a mid-20th century classic look. The men are dapper in suits and hats, but the women truly shine in stunning dresses. I love it when a dress comes out and takes my breath away with its beauty, and that happened several times in this play (costumes by Lori Opsal). Michael Hoover's classic and simple set design of multiple arches and opaque windows is a perfect backdrop for the complicated story and large cast.

Schiller's Mary Stuart is not a short play, coming in at nearly three hours with intermission, so be prepared for that. But it's a gripping, fascinating, and intriguing true(ish) story about two powerful women, with excellent performances by the entire cast. If you're an Anglophile, or if you just like great drama, this one's for you (playing now through March 1 at the Red Eye Theater, with discount tickets available on Goldstar).

"Gruesome Playground Injuries" presented by The Peanut Butter Factory at Intermedia Arts

The Peanut Butter Factory is not a theater company.  It's a production company that basically provides the infrastructure for independent theater artists so that they can present their work, without being attached to a theater company (read more about it here).  Sounds pretty cool to me, and with some familiar names on the list of Producing Associates (like Bradley Greenwald), I knew I had stumbled onto a good thing.  I was invited to attend their current production, Gruesome Playground Injuries, by the director, Natalie Novacek.  I decided to check it out, expecting it to be a fun, light-hearted look at friendship and growing up.  But it was so much more than that.  It was unexpectedly poignant, heartfelt, moving, and really very sweet.

Kayleen and Doug meet in their school nurse's office at the age of 8, he having "broken his face," and she having thrown up due to a "sensitive stomach."  The play jumps forward and backward in time from there, visiting important moments in their relationship, which all seem to be marked by some injury or illness.  Doug is accident prone, or more accurately he's one of those daredevil kids that constantly gets himself into situations where he gets hurt.  Leeny (as only Doug calls her) has injuries and scars that are more internal.  She takes out her life's anguish by cutting herself, eventually ending up in a mental hospital.  Through it all, these two friends are there for each other, despite often going years without seeing each other.  To say they love each other unconditionally doesn't even scratch the surface.  They know each other as well as they know themselves, and love each other as an extension of themselves.  If Doug and Kayleen had a theme song, it would be this from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson: "It's not blood, it's a metaphor for love.  These aren't veins just the beating of my heart.  This fever isn't real, it represents how I feel, my pain transformed into art."


Kayleen visits Doug after one of his more gruesome injuries
(photo by Justin D. Gallo Photography)

Unfortunately I've never had a 30-year friendship like this, but there is much in the story I can relate to.  I'm the same age as these characters, so the timeline feels familiar (marked with music of the day).  I also went to a Catholic grade school, and was traumatized when my best friend in first grade fell off the monkey bars during recess and smashed her face up.  I can still see it clearly; gruesome playground injuries stay with you.  And the scene in which Doug and Kayleen are 13 years old and at a school dance brought back that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that only a 7th grade dance can give you.

Doug and Kayleen share their scars
(photo by Justin D. Gallo Photography)

The story moves between timepoints seamlessly, and even if it were not printed in the program, the audience would know approximately where these characters are in their lives, based on accessories (eye patch, bow in the hair) and the way the actors inhabit their characters.  Adam Whisner and Leigha Horton (whom I saw in Minnesota Middle Finger at the Fringe last summer) bare their souls (and their bodies) on stage, and you really can't ask much more of an actor.  They have a believable chemistry, and successfully portray the different ages from 8 to 38.  Between scenes they change costumes and injuries on the side of the stage, in full view of the audience.  They were chatting and laughing, sharing inside jokes, and I wasn't sure if it was in character or not.  Either way it added to the feeling of familiarity between these two people. 

This is why I do this, friends.  To go to an out of the way, under the radar theater with zero expectations, and be totally surprised and delighted and touched and moved.  It doesn't get much better than that.  That's why I love theater; it'll get you when and where you least expect it.  Only two performances remain of this hidden gem, catch it while you still can!  And at just $10 a ticket, you won't find a better theater deal in town.

*I received one free ticket to attend the show.  But because I enjoyed it so much and think that the whole structure of it is pretty cool, I donated to their Kickstarter campaign, as you can do too if you wish!