"Waking Miss Daisy" by Combustible Company at The O'Shaughnessy's Frey Theater

#TCTheater veteran actor James Craven starred in Jungle Theater's production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Driving Miss Daisy in 2013, a play that I (a White woman from Minnesota) saw and loved, seeing it for what it is on the surface - the story of an enduring lifelong friendship. But James, with his experience as a Black man, looked deeper, and asked questions about what was going on just outside the action of this play, in the American South in the mid-20th Century. He did not get satisfactory answers, but it did inspire him to write his own version of the play, which 13+ years later he has done, along with Combustible Company's Kym Longhi who also directs the piece. The result is an unflinching look at the ugliest parts of American history. The parts that we don't like to remember, that we like to pretend are over and done with, the parts that the current administration is trying to erase. But now more than ever it's important to remember all of our history, even or especially the ugly parts, to ensure they don't happen again. It's time for Miss Daisy, and all of the Miss Daisies out there, to wake up to the reality of what her dear Hoke's life was like, what his family's life was like, when he wasn't driving her around. As with all of Combustible's work, this piece uses movement to help tell the story, with the addition of historical images to really bring this history to vivid life. Unfortunately this is a super short run, and only three performances remain, but if you're able, please go see this powerful, sobering, and important new work (through March 14 at the O'Shaughnessy's Frey Theater on the campus of St. Catherine University).

"Romeo & Juliet" and "Beauty & the Beast" by /novel/ at the Southern Theater

A new company is bringing us a new twist on two classic love stories. Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet and the French fairy tale turned Disney movie Beauty and the Beast don't seem to have much in common, but this double feature by /novel/ draws surprising and satisfying parallels between the two stories. And the best part is that if you see them both, after the tragedy of Romeo & Juliet the doomed lovers are reincarnated as Beauty & the Beast in a story that's all about transformation and truly seeing each other, with a chance for a happy ending. Both stories are told with a minimalist and modern style that may look familiar; this production marks the #TCTheater return of New Epic Theater's visionary Artistic Director Joseph Stodola, now based in Brooklyn and credited as Joseph Williams. Like all of New Epic's work, these two plays are gorgeous and tragic, but with a little bit of joy as Beauty finds her Beast prince. This is a short run and I caught it on its final weekend, so only three performances of the pair of plays remain. You can see them individually, but I recommend seeing both because this is definitely a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Each piece stands on its own, but seen together creates a much deeper experience. Click here for info and tickets (note: if you're seeing both plays, you can purchase them individually, or as a package that includes drinks and bites during the 30-minute intermission between plays).