"The Hobbit" at Theatre in the Round

In 2019, Children's Theatre Company commissioned Greg Banks to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, and he did so using just five actors to play all of the many characters, and added original music. Unlike the bloated movie trilogy, it's a charming, playful, and succinct version of this classic hero story. Now Theatre in the Round is bringing us their version of this same script, but with ten actor/musicians, and a framing story. It's a clever and inventive take on this beloved tale of adventure, courage, and friendship. I've read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy countless times over the last 40 years, and have even visited New Zealand twice (not because of LOTR, but also not not because of it). This is a story and a world I love very much, and will take any opportunity to spend a little time in. I found TRP's version of The Hobbit to be fun, playful, inventive, and very satisfying. Check it out through the end of the month - if you can get tickets.

"Violent Delights" by Night Fire Theatre at the Crane Theater

#TCTheater artist Penelope Parsons-Lord developed Violent Delights, a compilation of scenes from Shakespeare that explicitly or implicitly connote violence, nearly 20 years ago in her native Australia. Last seen locally in 2019, it's only gotten more relevant, as our culture seemingly gets more violent every year. Violence is everywhere around us - on the news, in the games we play, in our language, and even in Shakespeare. Violence is so pervasive in our world that we sometimes don't even notice it (e.g., using the phrase "you killed it" to mean you did a great job), which is the premise of this piece. Penelope has reexamined these familiar works, pulling out "small moments of violence," and maybe now we can begin to recognize them in the real world. A talented nine-person cast plays too many characters to count, the scenes well chosen and woven together, combined with pop songs and movement to create a gripping tale that isn't one cohesive narrative, but still tells a story. You can witness these Violent Delights at the Crane Theater in Minneapolis through February 14.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "The Peter Pan Cometh"

Day: 1

Show: 1

Title: The Peter Pan Cometh

Category: Comedy / Mystery / Literary adaptation

By: Clevername Theatre

Written by: Alexander Gerchak

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A mash-up of the classic children's story Peter Pan by J.M Barrie with Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh.

Highlights: For the third year in a row, Clevername brings us a mashup of a sweet children's tale with a dark classic play. In 2022 it was Winnie the Pooh and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, 2023 was The Care Bears with Mother Courage and her CHildren, and this year we have perhaps their most clever pairing yet: Peter Pan and The Iceman Cometh. I'm of course very familiar with the former, but not at all with the latter. A quick WIki read tells me it's a bleak existential tale of alcoholics who await visits by a salesman, who tells them they should all quit drinking, oh and by the way he killed his wife. Somehow, the story of a boy who refuses to grow up (inspired by Barrie's brother who died as a child) meshes brilliantly with this existential story of dying dreams. And as with their previous productions, it works because the cast is 100% committed to it, performing as if they're in a serious drama despite playing iconic children's characters high on pixie dust. Hook (Thomas Buan), Smee (Alec Berchem), and Tinkerbell (Isabelle Hopewell) are wallowing in a cove when Peter Pan (Nick Hill) appears in a suit, boater hat, and roll-y shoes, announcing that he's all grown up and they should all give up the dust and join him in London. But then the truth comes out about his life, and Wendy, and it's not happy. But it is very clever, smart, ridiculous, and well executed, with whimsical live glockenspiel music (played by Bradley Kallhoff), spot on character costumes, and some kind of blue sugary powder as the dust.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.