"Romeo and Juliet" at the Guthrie Theater

The Guthrie Theater is opening their 2017-2018 season (my 15th season as a subscriber!) with Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, and closing it with perhaps the most popular and successful Romeo and Juliet adaptation, West Side Story. The last time the Guthrie did Romeo and Juliet was in the spring of 2004 (coincidentally my first season as a subscriber). I've seen it at least ten times now in some form or other (including earlier this summer), and not because I seek it out, but because it's done a lot. But despite (or maybe because) of the many viewings, I was still charmed, moved, and engaged by the Guthrie's new production of the classic. Because there's a reason that it's a classic, and this production, while familiar, feels fresh and modern, with an excellent cast of familiar faces and new, intriguing design, and interesting directing choices.

Fringe Festival 2017: "Synchronicity"

Day: 7

Show: 26

Title: Synchronicity

Category: Comedy

By: Raw Sugar

Created by: Raw Sugar

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: The story of a community synchronized swimming team in the early '90s marred by all the drama of being a teenage girl.

Highlights: This super cute show full of '90s references (Blossom, Joey Lawrence, Rainbow Brite) builds to the even cuter synchronized swimming routine. The girls in a summer team go to their first big meet, and inter-personal drama threatens to get in the way. The seven-person cast (Constance Brevell, Danielle Krivinchuk, Michelle Casali, Sarah Parker, Starla Larson, Sulia Altenberg, and director Rebekah Rentzel filling in when I saw the show) are all pretty adorable tween girls with all their drama and seriousness and note-writing and glee. In fact it's such an accurate (if exaggerated) depiction of that difficult age I almost felt sick to my stomach remembering the trauma! The costumes (designed by Sulia) are spot on with the stone-washed jeans and array of swimming suits, as is the styling, complete with side ponies. And seriously, that routine is the best!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"The Funny" by Raw Sugar at Bedlam Lowertown

I don't go to a lot of comedy shows, mostly because my busy theater schedule doesn't allow it. But I couldn't resist a night of feminist comedy hosted by Raw Sugar (aka Jenny Moeller and Rebekah Rentzel), a company that "makes adventurous and imaginative projects driven by women." They and their friends performed their third installment of The Funny at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis last weekend and continue at St. Paul's Bedlam Lowertown this weekend. It's a fun evening of comedy that ranges from the grounded and relatable to the crazy and over the top, with a few poignant moments thrown in as the artists explore what it means to be a woman/trans/femme in our patriarchal world.