"Dial M for Murder" at Gremlin Theatre

I concluded my unintentional Frederick Knott double-bill weekend with the fun and twisty murder mystery Dial M for Murder at Gremlin Theatre (see also Theatre in the Round's production of the English playwright's Wait Until Dark). It was fun to see the two plays back to back and notice the similarities: both take place entirely within an apartment with mention of a street door, both use phone calls to further the mystery, and both feature seemingly helpless maidens in distress who overcome their attacker and defend themselves, proving to their husbands that they are strong and capable and not so easily fooled. In Dial M for Murder, the husband plans the perfect murder, but if it were as easy as he thought to get away with murdering his wife, we wouldn't have a play. Gremlin's production is well cast and well designed, and tells an intriguing and engaging story.

"1984" by Theatre Pro Rata at Intermedia Arts

"Big Brother is watching." We're now 30 years beyond the dystopian world imagined by George Orwell in his novel 1984, and its themes have become eerily familiar and not too far outside of our current reality. Written over 60 years ago, 1984 predicts a world where the government controls what information the public receives, and knows our every thought and action. This adaptation by Michael Gene Sullivan focuses on the interrogation of "thought criminal" Winston Smith, and this well-done production by Theatre Pro Rata makes for a gripping and squirm-inducing evening.

Entering the theater at Intermedia Arts, the audience is immediately thrown into the world of 1984. On a bare stage, a man is handcuffed and curled up inside a square on the floor. A recording warns us, "system observers are prohibited from interacting with the subject." The play begins when the interrogators come on stage and jarringly shut off the house lights. The main interrogator is at first only heard, as he instructs the man known as 6709 Smith to confess his crimes. The four "party members" act out scenes from his life as he recounts them. Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, and his job is to change past documents to match the current party line. He's secretly disgruntled with the party, led by someone called Big Brother who may or may not be real, and longs to join the resistance, known as the brotherhood. He meets a woman who feels the same way and they embark on a clandestine affair, trying to hide from the telescreens that are in every home and workplace, observing and recording everything that happens. He is eventually captured, along with his incriminating diary and a book about the brotherhood. The goal of the interrogation is to break him of his "thought crimes" and restore in him a believe that Big Brother is right and good. When the torture moves past electrical shocks into making real his worst nightmare (involving rats, the most squirm-inducing moment), Smith is broken. Big Brother wins again.

6709 Smith (Grant Henderson)

The story plays out in reenactments, as Smith is forced to watch the highs and lows of his recent life as he recounts them. At times he participates in the scenes (although never leaving his square on the floor), at other times his role is taken over by one of the party members, some of whom seem to get caught up in the story they're telling, others of whom are increasingly angry at having to take part. It's a clever and effective storytelling device that not only conveys the facts of the story (or at least as Smith remembers them), but also gives us more insight into the main character and the nameless characters who play the roles.

Impressively, Grant Henderson as Smith never leaves the stage, or his shackles, from before the show, through intermission, to curtain call. He takes Smith from a man who's upset but strong enough to fight back, through the devastation of betrayal, to something so broken it's difficult to watch. As the voice of the interrogator, John Middleton is eerily calm and insistent, and later shows up in person to give an even greater presence to this cold and relentless embodiment of evil. As the unnamed party members, Brian Columbus, Emily Dussault, William Goblirsch, and Kory LaQuess Pullam all create personalities for these characters and the characters they play. Director Carin Bratlie keeps the action moving along and the tension ever increasing.

Theatre Pro Rata's 1984 is thought-provoking, compelling, creepy, disturbing, and a little too real. Check it out at Intermedia Arts in Uptown through next weekend.

"An Eventually Christmas: Holidays at the Mill" at the Mill City Museum

Eventually... why not now? So went the popular slogan for Gold Medal flour in the early 20th Century, the height of the flour milling business upon which our fair city of Minneapolis was built.* What was once the Washburn A. Mill (the Washburn-Crosby Company later became General Mills) is now the site of the Mill City Museum, right next to the river in Minneapolis, just down the block from the Guthrie Theater. The vacant building burned down in 1991, but most of the external structure was saved. The museum opened in 2003 and showcases the history of the milling industry and the city that it helped to build. I've been wanting to visit the museum since it opened, but in typical theater geek fashion, it was theater that finally got me there. An "Eventually" Christmas: Holidays at the Mill is a unique theater experience written by talented local writer/comedian/actor Joseph Scrimshaw (whom I only recently discovered thanks to his hilarious and odd little Fringe show this summer). At just $14 for the short play, which also includes admission to the museum (an $11 value), it's a steal - for just three extra dollars you can experience the museum plus this fun little play that helps you imagine the lives of the people that worked in that very location. I love the idea of theater happening in the exact location where similar events might have taken place (see also: After Miss Julie, produced by Gremlin Theatre in the basement kitchen of the James J. Hill House); it makes me feel like I'm witnessing history, instead of just a made-up drama.

the cast of An Eventually Christmas

The play takes place in the museum's Flour Tower elevator. If you've never been to the museum, this might seem odd - a play in an elevator? But the elevator is actually a unique way to tour the building, and, it turns out, experience theater. The bleacher-like seats in the large elevator face the opening, from which the different floors are viewed, representing different stages in the flour-making process (the museum's guided tour will give you a more detailed history that you can use as background to the events of the play, although it's not necessary to follow the play). Our guide through the play is the Ghost of Mill City Past (the charming and personable Richard Rousseau), dressed in chains, "like that other ghost in that other story being told down the street." The Ghost directs the elevator to different floors and explains a bit about the characters in the scenes, who are based on real employees of the mill, circa 1920, as described in the company's "Eventually" newsletter. The Ghost cajoles museum tour guide Anthony into taking on different roles in the scenes (Anthony is actually actor Brian Columbus, very entertaining as he slips from being just plain Anthony into the various characters). The story involves a couple of women on the "women's floor" (packing bags of Gold Medal flour) as they plan for the annual Christmas party, which sounds like it was THE event of the season. The story culminates on the 8th floor, when the audience exits the elevator and enters the Washburn-Crosby Company's party, and watches the events unfold.

I've always said that theater is my window to the world, and in this case, it's my window to the world of the past. An "Eventually" Christmas: Holidays at the Mill is a great addition to the museum and helps you experience life in the mill as it was 90+ years ago, while standing in that very location. History + theater = a great day in my book. And the next time someone says "eventually" to me, I'll respond with "why not now?" Sounds like a great motto for life, as well as flour.

An "Eventually" Christmas continues this weekend only, three performances a night Friday and Saturday. Click here to find more info and make reservations (space is limited in the elevator, so reservations are recommended).

*When you visit the museum, be sure to watch the short film by another local talent, Kevin Kling. Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat gives the entire history of the city of Minneapolis in an abridged version. While I would happily watch a two hour film on this topic, the under-twenty-minute version is entertaining and informative.