"The Servant of Two Masters" at Lyric Arts

"On some evening 278 years ago, an Italian audience sat together and had an experience similar to the one you are about to have." So says Lyric Arts' Resident Director Scott Ford about their new production of The Servant of Two Masters, an 18th Century Italian comedy written in the style of commedia dell'arte. It's reassuring to think that as much as our world is vastly different than the world of this play's original audiences, we still laugh at the same things. At double entendres, at pratfalls and physical humor, at overly melodramatic emotions, at mistaken identities and near misses. Ford and his absurdly talented 15-person cast (plus one musician) are having a great time playing around with this classic piece and milking every comic moment, which translates to the audience having a great time too. I do wish the runtime were closer to the two-and-a-half hour mark than the three-hour mark, but take a nap or have a coffee and settle in to enjoy a few hours of classic timeless comedy at Lyric Arts in Anoka through June 23.

"Eurydice" at Theatre in the Round

Theatre in the Round's fantastic 71st season continues with Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, a modern interpretation of the classic myth of Eurydice. As the story goes, Orpheus travels to the underworld to try to save his wife Eurydice from death with a song. But that's not the way this world works. As they say in the Tony-winning musical Hadestown (which is also based on this story), it's an old song, it's a sad song, but we sing it anyway. With its themes of grief, love, and loss, it's a story that's still relevant and worth telling. Especially with this well-written script and inventive staging by director Sophie Peyton. The talented cast performs in a physical theater style like I've never seen before at Theatre in the Round. It's a beautiful and magical 90-minute song, bringing new life to this old story. Playing weekends through April 2 at the oldest theater in Minneapolis.

"Doubt: A Parable" at Theatre in the Round

To open their historic 71st season, Theatre in the Round is presenting the 2005 Tony-winning best play Doubt: A Parable. In roughly 90 minutes, the intense and tautly written play explores ideas of faith, doubt, gender, race, class, sexual abuse, and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that allowed such abuses to continue. Presented in a series of mostly two-person scenes, expertly written and well performed by this cast, the play is not so much about whether the accused is innocent or guilty, but about how we as humans deal with the doubt and uncertainty that exists in many areas of life. Doubt is truly a parable that can be applied to so many situations (especially today with so many sources of "truth" flying at us), with no clear answers, leaving the audience feeling a bit unsettled. 

"Marjorie Prime" at Theatre in the Round

Now playing at the oldest theater in Minneapolis: the 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist Marjorie Prime. This is the third show in Theatre in the Round's abbreviated five-show 70th season, which is an eclectic mix of traditional works and more interesting pieces like this. In just 80 minutes, the trippy and futuristic Marjorie Prime explores issues of aging, dementia, grief, depression, suicide, artificial intelligence, and complicated family dynamics. It's a fascinating and layered look at a multitude of relevant topics, well done by this cast and creative team. Continuing weekends through March 6 (click here for details).