New theater company Vertigo Theater makes an impressive debut with the one-act three-hander
Tape,
playing a The Hive Collaborative for a short two-week run. Most of the artists involved are recent graduates of the Guthrie / U of MN BFA program, several of whom were part of the 2025 graduating class's fantastic production of Jez Butterworth's epic play
The Ferryman. I'd never seen or heard of
Tape (
although it was adapted into a film in 2001 starring then-married Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, along with Robert Sean Leanard), and it's super intense. It's basically one long scene, mostly between two characters, with the late introduction of a third. It's the kind of play that feels like an acting exercise, with really complex and very real characters, and these three actors excel at the exercise. It's a taut and gripping 60 minutes that'll leave you with more questions than answers.
Tape has four more performances at the Hive; it's a great chance to see some talented young artists who you will very likely be seeing more of in the future, and take in this intense and engrossing play.
