"Dog Act" by Fortune's Fool Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

Dog Act is a little like The Walking Dead, but with entertainers. Because even in an apocalypse (zombie or otherwise), we still need to tell our stories, and be entertained by storytelling. In Dog Act, produced by Fortune's Fool Theatre at Gremlin, a traveling performer and her dog/person try to survive in a post-apocolyptic world that, much like the TWD universe, consists of scavengers and worse, people who will stop at nothing to survive. Those are the ideas explored in this weird but oddly sweet play, well executed by the Fortune's Fool team.

"Suddenly Last Summer" at Theatre in the Round

It may be the beginning of the cold, dark, drab winter season here in Minnesota, but on stage at Theatre in the Round, it's still beautiful and lush late summer, with colorful flowers and chirping birds. But it's still pretty dark, this being Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, a one-act play written in 1958. Like all of Williams' plays, it's beautifully tragic, or tragically beautiful. Flawed people, dysfunctional families, and a sense of despair. Oh, how I love it! Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite playwrights, but this was my first experience with this play. It was my second experience with Tennessee Williams at TRP (see also Summer and Smoke), and once again they have put on an excellent production of a sad, beautiful, disturbing Tennessee Williams play.