"Into the Darkness" by Collective Unconscious Performance at Shakespearean Youth Theatre

Collective Unconscious Performance's latest original work Into the Darkness is an adaptation of two fairy tales, "The Dark Princess" and "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." The bad news is they're only doing eight performances in a small space that's selling out; the only remaining seats are for this Sunday. The good news is this inventive adaptation of these little known stories, using music and puppetry, is really lovely. I've never seen Collective Unconsious' work before, and I'm happy to make their acquaintance with this piece. If you can't get tickets to this show, follow them on Facebook and make plans to see their next original work, Maiden Voyage, next spring.

"Bone Mother" by Sandbox Theatre at the Museum of Russian Art

Combine Russian folk tales, aerialists, music, theater, and a unique space and what do you get? Sandbox Theatre's latest uniquely beautiful creation, Bone Mother. The devised theater company recently started an offshoot called Swingset for aerial works, which takes their ensemble driven, innovative, physical theater style and lifts it up in the air. Literally. This piece about Russian folk tales is appropriately staged in the Museum of Russian Art in South Minneapolis (I didn't know it existed either), conveniently located just off 35W. The museum is in what used to be an church designed to look like the Alamo, and I hope to go back and visit it again, because the performance doesn't really allow for much viewing of art. But in the meantime, go and enjoy this entirely new and unique way of telling these ancient and familiar tales.

"Words Do Move" by Sandbox Theatre at the Crane Theater

Words Do Move. Or in this case, words, music, movement, images, and the combination thereof move. Sandbox Theatre's latest ensemble-created work is a series of poems, stories, songs, and dances about relationships, identity, grief, joy, and life. It is, indeed, moving, as the five-person ensemble and one-person band share their stories and their souls with the audience. Words Do Move is unique and lovely and just over an hour long, all good things, and plays through November 17 at the Crane Theater in Northeast Minneapolis.

"600 Years" by Sandbox Theatre at the Southern Theater

Confession: I, like millions of people, love The Walking Dead. I'm fascinated with the idea of people working together to build a new society out of nothing. But what I don't love, and what I'm becoming increasingly disheartened by, is how in their version of the post apocalyptic world (zombies, natural disaster, it doesn't really matter what caused the end of the world as we know it), people turn on each other instead of working together to combat the very real enemies and dangers in the new world. Sandbox Theatre has envisioned a different version of the post apocalyptic world using their unique ensemble created, devised theater method. This world, where women called Seekers run between villages to create connections (they're kind of like the new internet) and all humanity works towards a common goal, is a much more hopeful world than that of The Walking Dead, and one I would much prefer to live in.

"War with the Newts" by Sandbox Theatre at Park Square Theatre

When I was a kid, my sister and I would occasionally find a salamander in our backyard sandbox. They freaked me out, so gross and slimy and unexpected (we also sometimes found petrified cat poo, but that was decidedly less disturbing). To this day the thought of salamanders makes my skin crawl. But fortunately, the salamanders in Sandbox Theatre's War with the Newts are much less unpleasant, although the story they tell is still quite disturbing, albeit for different reasons. Based on the 1936 Czech novel of the same name, War with the Newts is a remount of Sandbox's successful 2007 production, and the first of Park Square Theatre's partnership with three smaller local theater companies* in their new theater in the basement of the Historic Hamm Building. It tells of a post-apocalyptic world in which a large and intelligent breed of newts (a kind of salamander) is discovered and abused by people (as sadly we're wont to do to "lesser creatures"), and then revolts to take over the world. Which as you can imagine has all kinds of allegories to the modern world. This fascinating story is brought to life in an incredibly inventive and unique way, with the ensemble beautifully personifying these strangely alien yet familiar creatures.

Before the show even starts, seven actors in newt costumes are creeping around the stage in a newt-like way, making what I assume are newt-like noises with their mouths, bodies, and little silver balls on their thumbs. At first it's difficult to tell the actors apart in their identical black catsuits with the gold tarnish, but soon you can detect slight differences in the face paint and body movement so that each newt takes on a somewhat distinct personality. Often speaking in unison, they begin to tell the story of the War, so that this history is not lost. The newts strive to be better than the humans that they defeated, declaring "newts should not kill newt!"

The newts don costumes as they tell the story, which begins with a sea captain who discovers them and puts them to work harvesting pearls from the deep. The humans teach the newts to work, keep them as pets, study them in zoos, eat them, all of the things that humans like to do to animals (or people who are seen as "other"). But in this case, the newts fight back after they're taught to be soldiers. And who can blame them? Human greed can only go so far before nature revolts.

The entire cast (which includes Derek Lee Miller, Evelyn Digirolamo, Gregory Parks, Heather Stone, Kristina Fjellman, Megan Campbell Lagas, and Wade A. Vaughn) is incredibly committed to the concept, remaining newts even through curtain call. It's pretty remarkable the way they crawl, crouch, swim, and creep around the stage, all while telling this very relevant and modern story. As they don a wig or mask to portray a human character, their spine straightens and somehow they're human again. They're aided in this transformation by costume designers Kathy Kohl and Mandi Johnson, who have created not just the newts' looks but also simple and clever accessories that help create the human characters (and one not so simple huge flouncy dress). The bleached wood set pieces simply set the scene and are used creatively throughout the show (designed by Derek Lee Miller). The cast takes turns creating music and sound effects on various percussive elements in a corner of the stage, which enriches the tone of the show. Video and sound distortion are also employed to create specific effects.

I'm so glad Sandbox Theatre (a company I only "discovered" last summer at the Fringe) is revisiting War with the Newts as they celebrate their 10th anniversary. It's a fascinating and unique creation, and really pushes the boundaries of what theater can do and be. And kudos to Park Square for providing a space for this kind of inventive theater to be seen, perhaps in front of audiences that wouldn't normally see it. Playing now through May 30, check it out for something a little different. Trust me, these are the kind of salamanders that you want to discover in your Sandbox.


*The other two productions in Park Square's partnership this summer are Theatre Pro Rata's The Illusion and Girl Friday Production's The Matchmaker. You can buy individual tickets to each show, or save money on a three-show package.

Fringe Festival: "Marie-Jeanne Valet, Who Defeated La Bête du Gevaudan"

Day: 9

Show: 35

Title: Marie-Jeanne Valet, Who Defeated La Bête du Gevaudan

Category: Something different

By: Sandbox Theatre

Created by: The Ensemble

Location: Southern Theater

Summary: A small poverty stricken town in France, shortly before the revolution, is ravaged by a wolf-like beast known as La Bête.

Highlights: This is Fringe storytelling at its best - creative, innovative, original, using puppets, props, and music to tell a story in a thoroughly engaging way. The four ensemble members - Megan Campbell Lagas, Theo Langason, Derek Lee Miller, and Heather Stone - not only created the piece (based on legend) but also play multiple characters and provide the sound effects and music. Red ribbons or cloths represent blood, two-dimensional puppets are used to illustrate the beast's killings, and sticks become rifles with bayonets. It's funny and amusing in parts, but also spooky or poignant at times. The beast is not the only thing terrorizing the town; the townspeople also suffer from extreme poverty and hunger. The King, who doesn't seem to care if his people starve, sends in soldiers, wolf hunters, and his master of hunt to kill the beast. Even after the beast is gone, the people are still hungry, and it's hinted that the upcoming French Revolution will kill the real beast terrorizing these people. This show was the audience pick at the Southern, and I can see why.

"Tesla" at nimbus theatre

Following Bohemian Flats, nimbus theatre again tackles a true historical story, creating an original ensemble piece. Unlike Bohemian Flats, a series of short vignettes about the Minneapolis immigrant neighborhood on the river's very edge, Tesla has more of a linear through-line and a hero to root for - the Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla. Both plays used historical documents and writings of the time to construct the very realistic world in which the story takes place. Writer/director Josh Cragun and his talented ensemble manage to tell an entertaining and informative story about a long-dead scientist, with some cool science tricks in the midst. I admit to being a bit of a science nerd (I toyed with a physics major), so maybe that's part of why I liked this piece so much, but it works as a theatrical story too. Tesla lived a fascinating life that's well told by nimbus.

Nikola Tesla, a contemporary and one-time employee of Thomas Edison, is best known for developing an efficient and safe alternating current motor, and has a unit of measurement named after him. But like all geniuses, he was also a bit eccentric, and by the end of his lifetime was seen as something of a "mad scientist." The play covers Tesla's life from his arrival in America in 1884 to his death in 1943, with a few flashbacks to earlier times. After leaving Edison's employ, he became quite successful and well-known, with famous friends such as author Mark Twain and architect Stanford White (who was killed in the "crime of the century!"). Unfortunately not all of his inventions were successfully realized, such as his idea for a wireless transmission tower, for which he ran out funds before it could be completed. Tesla was a forward-thinker, imagining a day when people could instantaneously communicate worldwide with a wireless device that could fit in their pocket. Imagine that!

Zack Morgan as Nikola Tesla

Zach Morgan very naturally inhabits the character of Tesla and brings him to life. Tall and well-dressed, polite but firm in his ideas, it's easy to root for his success, which makes it all the more tragic when his success starts to fade. Tesla has a bit of OCD in him, constantly wiping his hands or suit where someone has touched him, an act that seems to increase in desperation as his eccentricities begin to overtake his creative genius. Zack is supported by an ensemble of two men and three women (Heidi Berg, Jesse Corder, Nissa Nordland, Brian O'Neal, Heather Stone) who play many various roles. Interestingly but effectively, the women often play men (19th century science was a man's world), even while dressed in period dresses. I was particularly fascinated by one convertible dress, with a skirt that could be pinned back to reveal pants and a jacket that could be removed. Very slight costume changes such as this help to distinguish characters (costumes designed by Andrea M. Gross). The two-level set (designed by Ursula K. Bowden) with a prominent central staircase serves as a good background for various locations, but most impressive of all are the working science gadgets, various motors and machines, including the huge Tesla coil which gives off glorious sparks in the dark. It's a little like when Steve Spangler visits the Ellen Show - isn't that cool?

Yes, science is cool, and inventors like Nikola Tesla are responsible for all the cool technology we've come to depend upon. nimbus theatre gives us a glimpse into the life of the man behind some of these inventions, and it's quite compelling. They're taking the weekend off for Memorial Day, but return for two more weekends - you can make reservations here. Recommended for science nerds and normal people alike.