"Waiting for Godot" at the Guthrie Theater

Where do we go from here? On.

The Guthrie's first production of Samuel Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot since the year I was born (which was a long time ago), and Artistic Director's Joseph Haj's first time directing it, comes at the perfect time. Written as a reflection on the devastation of WWII, it speaks to the idea of waiting. For what? Anything. For things to get better, for things to get worse, for salvation. As cast member Jimmy Keiffer explained in a post-show discussion, absurdism is the idea that life has no meaning, so what do we do to give it meaning? What seems on the surface a silly and ridiculous little play at some point becomes exquisitely profound, with the "giving birth astride of a grave" of it all. And it's somehow oddly hopeful, despite the existential angst. In the face of destruction or disaster, the only thing we can do is go on. 

"Somewhere" at the Guthrie Theater

West Side Story was one of the first musicals I fell in love with, and I thought I knew everything about it. But Matthew López's play Somewhere, which premiered in San Diego in 2011 and is currently receiving its regional premiere on the Guthrie's proscenium stage, helped me see it in a new light. He tells the story of a fictional Puerto Rican family (much like his own) living on the West Side of Manhattan in the late '50s when West Side Story was all the rage on Broadway. They're an artistic family with dreams of being in this show that they love so much, dreams that are deferred when they're evicted from their home - the entire West Side neighborhood known as San Juan Hill was about to be demolished to make way for Lincoln Center. The play is a love letter to New York City, to Broadway, to dreaming big. It's about family and the sacrifices we have to make to survive, while still trying to hold on to those dreams. It's another version of a West Side story that's perhaps more true to the community of people who called it home, and what happened after they were forced to find a new home. This moving dance-infused family drama continues through February 1.

"Torch Song" at Six Points Theater

A few years ago, Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein wrote a new adaptation of his 1982 play Torch Song Trilogy (for which he won two of his four Tonys), cutting it down to about two and a half hours from the original four. Six Points Theater is presenting this version, that still feels like three distinct but related one-act plays. It's a beautiful and heart-wrenching story about a gay man navigating his career as a drag queen, dating, relationships, and family. Full of heart and humor and featuring a lovely and heartfelt performance by Neal Beckman, this Torch Song is a joy to experience. See it at Six Points Theater (in the Highland Park Community Center) now through May 19.