"Mae West and the Trial of Sex" by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at The Crane Theater

Censorship in theater is a hot topic in 2025, with many theaters losing NEA funding for doing plays that allegedly do not align with mandates from this administration. The government is trying to tell artists what kind of plays they can and cannot do, but artists will be artists, and tell the stories they want to tell, even if that has become more difficult. Nearly a hundred years ago, the New York theater scene was also facing censorship, with artists receiving jail time and fines for doing "immoral" plays, and theaters being closed for a year or more. Walking Shadow Theatre Company's new play Mae West and the Trial of Sex chronicles one such battle against censorship, in a story that feels very timely and relevant. See it at the Crane Theater in Northeast Minneapolis through June 22.

"Language Archive" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Julia Cho's The Language Archive, which premiered in 2010, is a sweet, odd, and endearing little play. Park Square Theatre produced the regional premiere in 2015, when I called it "smartly written, funny, a bit fantastical but very grounded in reality... touches the heart as well as the mind and the funny bone." I described it thusly: "It's about the different languages that we all speak, not just the actual language, but also the more intimate informal languages that we develop in relationships with the different people in our lives. Even though the characters in the play all speak English, they struggle to communicate with each other on a deeper level, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, as we all do." It's a great choice for Theatre Pro Rata, which consistently makes interesting choices (this is actually one of the rare times when I've seen one of their play choices previously). They've employed a talented five-person cast (Park Square had seven), and an inventive design with some unique delights. You can see this little gem of a play now through May 4 at the Crane Theater.

"True West" at Theatre in the Round

Continuing their excellent 71st season, Theatre in the Round is bringing us the dark comedy True West. No one writes the dystopian modern Western like Sam Shepard, with complex, flawed, fascinating characters in the darkest of situations. The cast and creative team at TRP have brought this dysfunctional family to life in the best way. The in-the-round space makes it feel like we're watching these brothers in a fish bowl, surrounding them on all sides with nowhere for them to escape. It's gritty and brutal, and so much fun to be on the outside of it watching this family descend into chaos. True West continues at Theatre in the Round through May 14.