Reading of "John Proctor is the Villain" by Table/Read at Aster House

I attended the inaugural Table/Read event last August, #TCTheater artist Grant Sorenson's new series in which a group of talented local actors read a play. The fun part is - the play is not announced until literally seconds before the reading begins. Grant has chosen plays that we have not seen here in the Twin Cities before, so it's a great way to be exposed to new plays that may not be produced here, at least anytime soon. And it's so rare that I go to the theater not knowing anything about what I'm about to see, even the title, that it's a fun surprise. Table/Read happens monthly, but I'm so busy during the theater season that I typically need my Monday nights off, so I haven't been able to go back until this month, when things are still a little quiet as we come back from holiday break. I picked a good night to attend Table/Read; the play was the buzzy recent Tony-nominated play John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower, soon to be adapted into a film. Visit Table/Read's website or follow them on social media for news of February's event. And don't miss Grant directing the first #TCTheater professional production of Oscar Wilde's Salomé in February.

"Glory" at Theatre in the Round

Similar to The Wolves or Flex, Glory is a play about a women's hockey team that's about so much more than hockey. These athletes are referred to as hockey dolls, sportscasters talk about how they look in their uniforms, when they're strong and tough and powerful people say they must be men, they get paid less and have less access to the things they need than male athletes, and people in power claim women are soft and weak and therefore aren't qualified to do hard things like play hockey (or serve in combat). Was this the 1930s or last week? The answer is both, which is perhaps why the cast and creative team of Theatre in the Round's production of this beautiful play made me cry about hockey, I sport I've never watched and care nothing about. This play (based on a true story and premiering in 2018) deals with sexism, anti-Semitism, war, poverty, and discrimination in a way that's unfortunately still incredibly relevant today. Go see Glory at the oldest theater in Minneapolis, continuing weekends through February 9.