"And Then There Were None" at Lyric Arts

Well-dressed people staying in a fancy and isolated house keep getting murdered. No, I'm not talking about The Traitors, I'm talking about Agatha Christie's novel-turned-play And Then There Were None, which I'm now convinced was the inspiration for The Traitors. Watching this gripping and deliciously suspenseful play is a little like breakfast in the castle, wondering who won't enter the room (and the audience reacts almost as big as the cast of The Traitors does!). As there are fewer and fewer of them left, they all begin to suspect each other of being the murderer, the traitor. Who is it? I won't say (and I haven't watched The Traitors finale yet so don't tell me), but even though I had seen this play eight years (and 1000+ shows) ago, I didn't guess who the murderer was. This play is a classic and a lot of fun, even though the original title is extremely offensive. But if you can put the origins aside, Lyric Arts' production of this classic is well cast and expertly designed and executed. See it at on their Main Street theater in Anoka through March 22, and don't forget the popcorn!

"The Adding Machine" by Clevername Theatre at the Hive Collaborative

Clevername Theatre's production of the 1923 play The Adding Machine feels like a sequel of sorts to last year's production of the 1928 play Machinal, or at least a continuation of the theme. Both plays are a little weird and dark, performed in an Expressionist style, are about the mundanity and absurdity of everyday life, and even share some cast and creative team. Where Machinal focused on a woman trapped in societal expectations and the extremes she goes to to escape, The Adding Machine tells the story of a man fired from his boring job of 25 years, also going to extremes to escape, only to find more of the same. Once again, Clevername has taken a hundred-year-old play, performed it in the style it was intended, and made it relevant to today. See it at The Hive Collaborative through June 22.

"Rhinoceros" by Pangea World Theater at the Southern Theater

"I am not capitulating!" The final line of Eugene Ionesco's absurdist masterpiece Rhinoceros, and in fact the entire play (written in response to the rise of Fascism in pre-WWII Europe), have never felt more relevant. I first saw this play in early 2017 as a response to the first Trump presidency (7th House Theatre's "pop up production"), and again the following year at Theatre in the Round. It felt so timely and urgent then, but here we are eight years later, and everything is so much worse. All around us people are turning into rhinoceroses, falling in line, and trampling over the things we hold most dear. Millions of Americans protested across the country in the "Hands Off" protests last weekend, and Pangea World Theater is doing their part by mounting a production of this important allegory. With a strong ten-person cast, it's well-staged at the gorgeous Southern Theater, and feels like it was written for this moment. A handful of performances remain over the next two weekends - click here for info and tickets.

"Not in Our Neighborhood" at History Theatre

The History Theatre original play Not in Our Neighborhood was scheduled to run in rep with Not for Sale in March 2020. We know how that story goes - both productions were shut down shortly before opening. But now, over a year and a half later, History Theatre is opening their new season with Not in Our Neighborhood and will present Not for Sale in February. Both plays deal with with redlining and segregation in St. Paul in the early and mid 20th Century, a local history that feels even more important and relevant now than it did a year and a half ago. Not in Our Neighborhood tells the true story of a prominent and successful St. Paul Black couple who in the 1920s chose to leave the Rondo neighborhood to move into the all-white Groveland Park neighborhood, and the discrimination they faced.

Fringe Festival 2015: "The Debutante"

Day: 3

Show: 13 

Title: The Debutante

Category: Drama

By: Abas Theatre Company

Written by: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Location: U of M Rarig Center Arena

Summary: In 1919, a popular and careless young woman falls in love with a writer from St. Paul and has a brief and intense love affair.

Highlights: This is a beautiful and tragic love story, like much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work. Rosalind (Piper Schatz Akin) is rich and beautiful and enjoys toying with the many men who fall in love with her. Until she meets Amory (John Fries, who looks the part of a young Fitzgerald hero), with whom she falls desperately in love. He is hers completely and wants to marry her, but she rejects him because she needs to marry someone with money who can support her lifestyle. "Oh Amory, what have I done to you?" The play is short and bittersweet and well played by this young cast. In fact it's so short there's ample time for a couple of party dancing party scenes that make me long for the day when beautiful women in dresses danced politely and civilly with handsome men in suits (although I didn't quite get the modern dance scene and the use of remotes to turn on the music). Fitzgerald's words are beautiful to listen to and the period costumes and dancing are pleasant to watch, and the amiable cast does a good job bringing this sweet and sad little story to life.