"Suddenly Last Summer" at Theatre in the Round

It may be the beginning of the cold, dark, drab winter season here in Minnesota, but on stage at Theatre in the Round, it's still beautiful and lush late summer, with colorful flowers and chirping birds. But it's still pretty dark, this being Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, a one-act play written in 1958. Like all of Williams' plays, it's beautifully tragic, or tragically beautiful. Flawed people, dysfunctional families, and a sense of despair. Oh, how I love it! Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite playwrights, but this was my first experience with this play. It was my second experience with Tennessee Williams at TRP (see also Summer and Smoke), and once again they have put on an excellent production of a sad, beautiful, disturbing Tennessee Williams play.

"A View from the Bridge" at Theatre in the Round

If you're a fan of American theater classics, get yourself to Theatre in the Round (which happens to be the longest running theater in town) in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis. Their excellent production of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge features strong performances from the whole cast (particularly the leads), a really cool set with vintage props, and great staging in their intimate in-the-round setting. This completely engrossing and tragic story of flawed and very real characters navigating hard times and tricky family relations in 1950s working class Brooklyn will get under your skin. It's one of those experiences that makes you feel like you've been on a journey with these characters, one that's hard to shake when you leave the theater. It's probably the second best play I've seen at TRP (the best being the gorgeous production of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke in 2012). Don't let this one fly under your radar.

"Fool for Love" at the Jungle Theater

The Jungle Theater continues their excellent 2013 season, following the smart and sexy Venus in Fur, the thrilling Deathtrap, and the hilarious Urinetown with Fool for Love, an intense exploration of love, loss, and the complicated relationships of family. Written by Sam Shepard (see also True West), it's like a modern-day Western - stark and gritty and strangely beautiful. In a note in the playbill, director and set designer Bain Boehlke calls it "one of the greatest examples of theater poetry in the 20th Century," and after seeing it, that makes perfect sense. It's only an hour long (keep that in mind as you're paying your parking fee), but leaving the theater I felt like I had witnessed something epic. It's one of those theater experiences in which the world created is so real, so intense, that when the play is over, the lights come up, and you're spilled out onto the streets of the city, it's jarring. I found myself shaking my head in an attempt to readjust to my surroundings. Sitting there in the theater, the world of the play becomes the only reality, so that when it's over it's like a spell has been broken and you're not quite sure where you are or what just happened. This was perhaps the most gripping and intense hour of theater I've ever experienced.

The story centers on ex-lovers Eddie and May. After years of suffering in their tumultuous relationship, May has run away and taken up residence in a seedy motel. Eddie drives thousands of miles to find her and convince her to come back to him. She refuses, but can't bear for him to leave either. There's so much more to their relationship that unfolds over the hour. In the midst of it, May's date Martin shows up to take her to the movies, bringing the intensity to new heights. And through it all, an "old man" is sitting in a rocking chair on the side of the stage (and has in fact been sitting there since the theater doors opened), sometime telling stories, sometimes interjecting or commenting, even entering the action. There's a harsh realism to the play, even surrealism with this character who's sort of there, but not really. And there is a sort of beauty. At one point, Eddie tells a long story about a walk through town with his father in language that is beautiful, but in a stark, gritty, Larry McMurtry kind of way.

This four-person cast is totally in the moment and fully invested in their characters. Jennifer Blagen gives a fearless performance as May, swinging from one emotion to the next, about to crawl out of her skin. Terry Hempleman is intense and riveting as Eddie. Jason Peterson perfectly plays the nervousness and uncertainty of poor Martin, who doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. And Allen Hamilton is a little too creepy as that "old man" sitting just beyond the story but at the very center of it.

Jennifer Blagen, Allen Hamilton, and Terry Hempleman

The set is, as per usual at the Jungle, perfection. Grimy greenish walls surround the bare space, which holds only an iron frame bed, a table with two chairs, a bare light bulb, and a ceiling fan that looks like it hasn't worked in years. Lighting (by Barry Browning) and sound (by Sean Healey) add to the atmosphere, with strange and beautiful shadows cast on walls, and a loud thunderclap perfectly choreographed to every time someone slams a door or hits a wall (which happens often). Each character's wardrobe (by Amelia Cheever) perfectly suits them, from May's too short dress, to Eddie's blue jeans and duct-taped boots, to Martin's plaid pants and bolo tie. There's great attention to detail in every aspect, which creates a very real universe in which the story takes place.

This is a play I could definitely see again; it's just so full. (If only I weren't fully booked with theater for the next several weeks.) Sharply written, wonderfully acted, with detailed perfection in all elements of the production, it's a very rich hour of theater.

"Waiting for Godot" at the Jungle Theater

Samuel Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot is an amusing, perplexing, delightful, profound, absurd little play (literally, "absurdist" is the genre to which the play belongs). I've heard of it of course, but only in vague terms, so I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I saw it at the Jungle Theater earlier this week. But I knew that in the hands of Director Bain Boehlke and two of my favorite local actors, Nathan Keepers and Jim Lichtsheidl, I was in for a treat. And I was not wrong.

It seems appropriate to structure this blog post as a serious of random bullet points rather than a cohesive summary, so that's what I'm going to do.

• Nathan Keepers and Jim Lichtsheidl star as Estragon and Vladimir, aka Gogo and Didi, two old friends who are standing by a tree, waiting for the owner of the land to appear and pass judgement on them. As they wait they converse about silly and profound things. Both Nathan and Jim are very physical actors, and not a single movement (or non-movement) is wasted. To watch them together is a joy. I've seen them individually many times and always enjoyed their performances, which are always so different and specific. But I don't believe I've ever seen them together. It's twice as wonderful. They are endlessly entertaining; I could watch them blather about nothing for hours. Which is kind of what this play is. But it's a meaningful nothing, if you choose to see it.
• "We are all born mad. Some remain so."
• When this play was first produced in the mid-20th century, audience members walked out of the theater in the middle of the play. Even at the Jungle, I noticed a few more empty seats in the second act than there were in the first act. I think it's the kind of thing that you either get and love, or you don't get it and it's interminable. I fall in the former category.
• "Nothing to be done."
• Gogi and Didi are visited by a man named Pozzo, who is leading another man, his servant, on a rope. And that's when things get really weird. The servant speaks only in grunts and pants, until he is told to think, at which point he begins to speak endlessly and articulately about nothing. Allen Hamilton as Pozzo and Charles Schuminski as the grunting servant both give excellent performances, but I found myself waiting for them to leave the stage so we could get back to Didi and Gogo's explorations of nothingness.
• "Don't let's do anything. It's safer."
• In addition to directing (read a really interesting article about his process here), Bain Boehlke also designed the set. I've never seen the Jungle stage like this: completely bare and open so that you can see into the wings, with just a few pieces representing a tree, some grass, and a bench. The director frequently is also the set designer at the Jungle, which makes for a set that is perfectly in tune with the direction of the play. In this case - both are brilliant.
• "Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the gravedigger puts on the forceps."
• If you've never seen the play before, or even if you have, spend a few moments reading the program before the play starts. There are several short pieces about the play, the playwright, and audience reaction which may enlighten your experience with this odd little gem.
• From the playwright: "The end is to give artistic expression to something hitherto almost ignored - the irrational state of unknowingness wherein we exist, this mental weightlessness which is beyond reason."

What else is there to say? A classic piece of theater, with impeccable acting, set design, and directing. If you're a fan of the theater (and really, if you're not, what are you doing here?), go see it.  Playing at the Jungle Theater now through the end of September.