"Corazón Eterno (Always in My Heart)" at Mixed Blood Theatre

There's a reason Mixed Blood Theatre was the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers' pick for most accessible theater in 2016 (and best use of social media, BTW). Actually there are many reasons - their Radical Hospitality program in which all available tickets are free two hours before the show; their recent remodel which makes the building more accessible for artists and patrons of varying abilities and includes new spacious all-gender bathrooms; their commitment to hiring theater artists of all races, classes, gender identities, and abilities; and their programming, which often features people whose stories aren't usually heard. On the surface the world premiere play Corazón Eterno (Always in My Heart) isn't very revolutionary; it's a sweet, funny, simple love story, nothing we haven't heard before. But the novelty is that it's performed in both English and Spanish, with surtitle translations to Spanish and English. According to Wikipedia, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the US, and the US is the third largest Spanish speaking country in the world. It's wonderful to see that statistic, that reality of our world, represented on stage. Even more wonderful was hearing Spanish spoken among the audience on opening night, and the enthusiastic response of the audience to the sweet story told in two spoken languages, and the universal language of love.

"To Life! A Benefit to End Gun Violence" at the Varsity Theater

A common reaction to the ever increasing violence in this world is helplessness. A feeling of, "What can I do, what can anyone do to stop this?" A group of theater artists responded to this feeling of helplessness by doing what they do best - putting on a show. A show to educate, inform, raise money, and entertain. Josh Campbell, Brendan Bujold, and Tre Searles joined their artistic forces with Protect Minnesota, an organization working to end gun violence. The result was a fun evening of music and theater that raised almost $12,000 to aid in Protect Minnesota's goal of ending gun violence in Minnesota. Proving once again my belief that theater has the power to change the world, in small ways or big.

This past Monday night at the charming Varsity Theater in Dinkytown, eight fabulously talented theater artists, under the direction of Josh Campbell, shared songs from musical theater interspersed with seven short scenes by different playwrights, showing their differing reactions to gun violence, some amusing, some sobering, some righteously angry. Most of these are from a series of plays gathered by playwright Caridad Svich, whose bilingual play In the Time of Butterflies was recently seen at Mixed Blood (read an interview with her here). My favorite scenes were Right After Virginia Tech, written by Laura Zam and performed by Tod Peterson, and Bridge to Baraka: The Pen Instead of the Gun, written by Yvette Heyliger and performed by Regina Marie Williams. The former is smart, funny, and real, as the playwright tries to wrap her brain around the issue and calls for listening, respect, and empathy from seemingly opposing sides. Tod is such a fantastic performer that he brought the words and emotions of the playwright to life. The latter contains some of that righteous anger I mentioned, beautifully conveyed by Regina, and I learned something I didn't know about the beginning of the modern gun rights movement.

Musical highlights of the evening include:

• Ben Bakken applied his dangerously great voice to a couple of diverse songs - the fun and rousing "Run, Freedom, Run" from Urinetown (one of the must-see shows of this summer) and the poignant and emotional "Endless Night" from The Lion King (one of the additional songs written for the stage version).
• The rosy-cheeked Suzie Juul sang "Easy to Be Hard" from Hair (another must-see show of this summer), and dueted with Regina on a very funny song about the differences between 17 and 43.
• Reprising his role as Seaweed in Hairspray at the Chanhassen from a few years ago, Kasano Mwanza sang "Run and Tell That," with help from Julius Collins III, who later gave a great solo performance of "I'm Flying Home" from Songs For a New World.
• Ann Michels sang the sad and pretty "Where Do You Start" by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Thomasina Petrus brought the house down with her rendition of "Feelin' Good," and the two joined forces for "Class" from Chicago.
• The cast closed the show with, of course, "To Life" from Fiddler on the Roof (which I've heard we may be seeing on a local stage later this year).

For more information about Protect Minnesota, visit their website. Thanks to all of the above theater artists for putting their many talents towards a great cause, raising money and awareness along the way.  To Life!

"In the Time of the Butterflies / En el Tiempo de las Mariposas" at Mixed Blood Theatre

Mixed Blood Theatre often has surtitles during their plays, I assume to make them more accessible to the hearing impaired. But in the case of their new play In the Time of the Butterflies, the surtitles are needed to translate from spoken Spanish to English and from spoken English to Spanish. I don't speak a word of Spanish, but like in foreign films, you soon get used to reading the words while simultaneously getting the emotional content from the actors' performances. And there is much emotional content in this play. It's based on the historical novel of the same name, a fictionalized account of the Mirabel sisters. The four sisters were political dissidents in the Dominican Republic who worked to overthrow the dictator Trujillo, aka El Jefe, who is believed to have ordered the deaths of 50,000 people during his thirty-year reign. Three of the sisters were among those numbers. The one surviving sister, Dede, tells their story and keeps their memory alive.

In the Time of the Butterflies is constructed in the framework of memory. Dede is telling her story to a Dominican-American writer who is writing it down to tell the world. It's a painful story, but a pleasant one too as Dede remembers the happy times with her sisters in their family's garden. The story is told partly through Dede's reminiscing, and partly through scenes of the sisters interacting with each other and reading diary entries. It starts when they are young girls with hopes and dreams, and continues as they see those dreams thwarted by El Jefe. He invites the sisters to a party, and when Minverva rejects his advances, he puts their father in jail and they are forever on his "naughty list." As the years advance, the sisters, especially Minerva who studies to be a lawyer but is prevented from practicing, become more and more involved in trying to end Trujillo's dictatorial reign. Youngest sister Maria Teresa joins her, and eventually so does Patria. Dede reluctantly gives the group a place to meet, but is concerned for her family's safety. And rightly so - Minerva and Maria Teresa are jailed and tortured. They are eventually released, but their story, along with Patria's, comes to a tragic end. Dede is left to deal with her feelings and represent the heroism of her sisters to the world.

the Mirabel sisters

This bilingual cast of seven is equally great and expressive in English and Spanish, flowing back and forth between the two languages smoothly. As the only man in the cast, Raul Ramos is downright creepy as the evil dictator, and also plays several other roles. Maria Gonzalez as the one surviving sister is elegant and proud, mournful and hopeful. Hope Cervantes is the attentive and curious modern American writer, who has her own story about coming home to the land of her ancestors. The four sisters are wonderfully played by Maggie Bofill, Claudia de Vasco, Adlyn Carreras, and Thallis Santesteban, with a genuine feeling of camaraderie and occasional tension between them. They also look beautiful, thanks in part to the parade of dresses they're put in by costumer Jeffrey Bleam. From the innocent white dresses of the opening scene, to the flowery dresses in the garden, and everything in between, they manage to look classic and period-appropriate yet fresh and modern.

This play is the second in a year of plays written by women produced by Mixed Blood* (written by Caridad Svich based on the novel by Julia Alverez). The first was the hilariously biting comedy Elemeno Pea by Molly Smith Metzler, and the remaining are TBA. I think this is a fantastically bold choice by Mixed Blood, but not surprising considering their commitment to diversity of all kinds, which is not just words but can be seen in every play they produce. As Artistic Director Jack Reuler notes in the playbill, "In our so-called liberal entertainment industry, the gender balance of writers, directors, and producers remains profoundly imbalanced. We are proud to walk our talk, practice what we preach, and live our mission in this arena." Right on. I'll be watching.




*My one complaint about Mixed Blood Theatre, which I admire more and more the more I see of their work, is that they consistently do not put artist bios in their playbills. As someone who likes to make connections between the many shows I see, I find this disappointing. But it's a very minor quibble for a theater that does such amazing and diverse work.

"The Way of Water" by Frank Theatre at the Playwrights' Center

"An explosion on April 20, 2010, aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a drilling rig working on a well for the oil company BP one mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, led to the largest 'accidental' oil spill disaster in history. Residents who live along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, all the way from Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, to well into western Florida, continue to suffer acute symptoms attributed to ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals being released from BP's crude oil and the toxic Corexit dispersants used to sink it. Thousands of deaths along the Gulf Coast region have been linked to this toxic damage. This devastation is being deemed by many in the health and science filed as the equivalent of Agent Orange in Vietnam."

Such is the backdrop of Frank Theatre's new production, The Way of Water, playing at The Playwrights' Center now through the end of the month. This is a tragedy that's so huge in scope, it's difficult to think about in a real sort of way, as we watch it play out on the TV news. But this play personalizes it, telling the story of four people whose lives are drastically and devastatingly changed because of what happened.

Jimmy and Yuki are friends and fishermen, making their living catching and selling fish on the gulf. They know nothing else; Jimmy's family has been in the fishing business for generations. After the oil spill they continue to do what they know, even though much of the water and fish have been contaminated. Their wives help out however they can, selling homemade flowers and found vases at flea markets. But the spill has taken a toll on their spirits and their livelihoods, and on their bodies. Jimmy experiences dizzy spells and "fits," but refuses to go to the doctor until it's too late. Jimmy and his wife are forced to leave their home, live with family, and try to make a life somewhere else.

This solid four-person cast is led by H. Adam Harris as Jimmy. He's strong and sympathetic as a man trying to hold on to a lifestyle that no longer works, and Jimmy's "fits" are so real it's painful to watch. Hope Cervantes is an equal partner as his supportive wife Rosalie, trying to hold the family together with grace. Also good are Eric Sharp as Jimmy's fishing buddy Yuki and Emily Zimmer as Yuki's wife\Rosalie's best friend\Jimmy's ex. The writing, by Caridad Svich, is sparse and powerful. There are no wasted words; characters often speak in one-word sentences. The simple but effective set (by Joseph Stanley) is dominated by an unkempt and lived-in backyard, with the fishing pier overlooking it on the left.

Surprisingly, this is my first Frank Theatre show since last year's fabulous, gritty, and moving production of Cabaret. I'm not sure what took me so long, but I'm glad I didn't miss this one. They do good work, important work, such as in this play (directed by Artistic Director Wendy Knox) - reducing the scope of an immense tragedy to something manageable, understandable, relatable, and human.

H. Adam Harris, Hope Cervantes, Emily Zimmer, and Eric Sharp