"The Birds" by TheatreX at the Hive Collaborative

Irish playwright Conor McPherson's play The Birds could be a series in The Walking Dead Universe, but with birds instead of zombies. Like the ever-expanding TV world, the real trouble comes from the humans, not the dangerous creatures that have launched humans into a post-apocalyptic world. The play is based on the same short story that the 1963 Hitchcock movie is, but from my understanding (never having seen the movie), the characters and plotline are different. This story is an intimate, almost claustrophobic, one, focusing on just four characters and how they react to this new world order. This is the first production I've seen by new-ish #TCTheater company TheatreX, which launched in 2018 with an adaptation of the novel The Haunting of Hill House, staged in St. Paul's own Hill House, which I somehow missed. I'm happy to have finally caught one of their productions, the slow build tension filled examination of the human psyche that is The Birds. See it at The Hive Collaborative through April 27.

"The Brontide" by nimbus theater at The Crane Theater

This weekend, I spent two nights in a row at The Crane Theater, seeing two completely different shows. Friday night I saw a spooky pair of short plays, Ghoulish Delights' Bonehouse / Outsider, in the small studio space, and on Saturday I went back to see a new work by nimbus theatre, who owns/operates the space, in the main theater. nimbus almost exclusively does new work, often developed by the ensemble. Their newest work, The Brontide, was born out of an idea by co-Artistic Director Mitchell Frazier and company member Ernest Briggs (who also co-direct). An idea about stories, who tells them, who needs to hear them, who owns them. The result, by playwright Josh Cragun (another co-Artistic Director) is a modern and fantastical story about a tech company mogul who tries to buy up all of the stories in the world, and the scientist and filmmaker who try to stop him. As if often the case with new work, it could use a bit of editing and tightening up, but there are some interesting and relevant ideas discussed, and some great performances. The Brontide continues through June 9, Bonehouse / Outsider closes on May 25, and Skylark Opera Theatre's production of the Sondheim revue Marry Me A Little opens at the Crane on June 20.

"The River Becomes Sea" by nimbus theatre at the Crane Theater

In nimbus theatre's latest original work, The River Becomes Sea, they explore the world of post-Civil War New Orleans through the complicated lives of one family. New Orleans is always a fascinating place, with its diverse peoples, cultures, and art, and its complicated relationship with water (see also the excellent HBO series Treme). But as playwright Josh Cragun notes in the playbill, the post-Civil War era is particularly fascinating; a time when there is new freedom for African Americans, and a backlash of fear from those who backed the failed Confederacy. Add to this the arrival of a long-lost sister, banished after a scandal, and an impending flood, and you have more than enough drama to fill 85 minutes. nimbus does that, but in an unhurried, lyrical, Southern sort of pace.