"Ada Lovelace: Bride of Science" by nimbus theatre at the Crane Theater

In February of 2020, just before the world turned upside down, Daleko Arts produced the regional premiere (and to date only production) of Lauren Gunderson's play Ada and the Engine about Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer. Now nimbus theatre (a company that almost exclusively does original work) is bringing us a new original play about Ada written by #TCTheater's own Nissa Nordland, because we can never have too many plays about historical women of science. Especially Ada, a particular favorite of mine as a woman with a BA in math, an MS in statistics, and a day job as a statistical programmer. Ada lived a short but full life with many accomplishments that weren't always recognized in her lifetime, but provided the foundation for our world today. Nissa has written a lovely, funny, moving, inspiring play that gives us a full picture of Ada and her world, beautifully brought to life by a talented five-person cast and clever design. Only four more performances remain at the Crane Theater in Northeast Minneapolis.

"The Great Armistice Day Blizzard" by nimbus theatre at the Crane Theater

All signs point to this being a snowy winter here in Minnesota; since the first significant snowfall a few days before Thanksgiving it feels like it hasn't stopped snowing, and conditions are ripe for an above-average snowfall this season. This is good news for those of us who enjoy outdoor winter activities that rely on snow, but not so much for those who view snow as an inconvenience. But no one wants a recurrence of what happened on Armistice Day of 1940. This day that was founded to commemorate peace was anything but peaceful for people in the Midwest, where temperatures in the 60s lured them outside to enjoy the warm November weather, only to be blasted by dropping temperatures and several feet of snow. As is their wont, nimbus theatre has devised a new play about this historic event. But instead of focusing on the grand scale of a storm that resulted in 154 deaths, including 49 in Minnesota, playwright and director Liz Neerland has chosen to focus on four people caught up in the storm, resulting in an intimate and engrossing 80-minute story. It's worth going out into the snow and cold to see The Great Armistice Day Blizzard at the Crane Theater through December 21 (but if there's a blizzard - by all means, stay home!).

"The Birds" by TheatreX at the Hive Collaborative

Irish playwright Conor McPherson's play The Birds could be a series in The Walking Dead Universe, but with birds instead of zombies. Like the ever-expanding TV world, the real trouble comes from the humans, not the dangerous creatures that have launched humans into a post-apocalyptic world. The play is based on the same short story that the 1963 Hitchcock movie is, but from my understanding (never having seen the movie), the characters and plotline are different. This story is an intimate, almost claustrophobic, one, focusing on just four characters and how they react to this new world order. This is the first production I've seen by new-ish #TCTheater company TheatreX, which launched in 2018 with an adaptation of the novel The Haunting of Hill House, staged in St. Paul's own Hill House, which I somehow missed. I'm happy to have finally caught one of their productions, the slow build tension filled examination of the human psyche that is The Birds. See it at The Hive Collaborative through April 27.