"Eurydice" at Theatre in the Round

Theatre in the Round's fantastic 71st season continues with Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, a modern interpretation of the classic myth of Eurydice. As the story goes, Orpheus travels to the underworld to try to save his wife Eurydice from death with a song. But that's not the way this world works. As they say in the Tony-winning musical Hadestown (which is also based on this story), it's an old song, it's a sad song, but we sing it anyway. With its themes of grief, love, and loss, it's a story that's still relevant and worth telling. Especially with this well-written script and inventive staging by director Sophie Peyton. The talented cast performs in a physical theater style like I've never seen before at Theatre in the Round. It's a beautiful and magical 90-minute song, bringing new life to this old story. Playing weekends through April 2 at the oldest theater in Minneapolis.

"Gypsy" at Lakeshore Players Theatre

Lakeshore Players Theatre opens their second full season in their gorgeous new home in White Bear Lake, the Hanifl Performing Arts Center, with the classic musical Gypsy. As someone who lives in the Northeast Metro, it's such a treat to be able to see great theater without having to drive into the city and deal with construction, traffic, crowds, and parking. I'm lucky to be so close to LPT, and since Gypsy is one of my faves (I've seen it six times now) and this cast is so great, it was a lovely Friday evening enjoying theater in the 'burbs.

"Antigone" at Park Square Theatre

"Who lives, who dies, who tells your story." In Sophocles' classic Greek play Antigone (the third of a de facto trilogy which begins with the tragedy of Oedipus, Antigone's father), pretty much everyone dies, including the title character. But in Park Square Theatre's basement stage, a group of talented women are telling her story. MJ (Meagan) Kedrowski adapted and directed the story for Theatre Coup d'Etat a few years ago, which Park Square's recently retired Artistic Director Richard Cook saw and asked her to remount for Park Square. Much of the cast and creative team return, along with some new artists, to rework the piece. One of the biggest changes is that this production features an all-female cast, and a mostly female creative and technical team. It's a powerful story of a strong and resilient woman who does what she believes is right for her family, despite the consequences she will face, powerfully told by this team of women in an engrossing and affecting way. Brave the cold and snow to visit the tumultuous world of Thebes in downtown St. Paul.

"The Tempest" by Theatre Coup d'Etat at SpringHouse Ministry Center

Wikipedia tells me that The Tempest is "now considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest works," but I'd never seen it (everything I know about theater I learned from watching #TCTheater). Until this week. Theatre Coup d'Etat brings us a stripped down, one act, in-the-round, intimate production in the non-traditional theater space that is SpringHouse Ministry Center, where they've often performed. I found that I like the play, that ends neither with everyone dead nor everyone married, like most Shakespeare plays seem to (although one couple is betrothed). Furthermore, the moral of the story seems to be forgiveness and peace, which is quite a refreshing story to experience these days. In the hands of this wonderful cast 13-person cast, this clear adaptation with great use of space, physicality, and music is the perfect introduction to The Tempest.

"Marisol" by Theatre Coup D'Etat at SpringHouse Ministry Center

Theatre Coup D'Etat has done it again. They've brought us an interesting piece in an intimate setting with innovative staging and a talented and diverse cast. A piece that pushes boundaries and makes the audience think. I never know what to expect from Coup D'Etat, as I didn't with Marisol, currently playing at SpringHouse Ministry Center, but it's always worth my time. For this play written by Puerto Rican playwright José Rivera they've enlisted Puerto Rican #TCTheater artist Ricardo Vázquez, which is the smartest choice they made with this piece, because it lends an authenticity and an understanding of the culture and traditions from which this play was born. It's a wild ride, one that's at times confusing or difficult to watch, but so chock full of meaning and symbolism that I can't even begin to unpack it all. The production is very thoughtful and detailed, and not one I will soon forget.

"Antigone" by Theatre Coup d'Etat at SpringHouse Ministry Center

Sitting in the lounge at SpringHouse Ministry Center (a venue I was familiar with from this year's Fringe), waiting to see Theatre Coup d'Etat's new adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone, I read the Wikipedia plot summary, as I often do before I see a really old play. The story of the sister who is condemned to death for giving her brother a proper burial started to sound familiar to me, and I realized I had seen it before, only it was called Burial at Thebes, and it was a sort of gospel retelling by Irish poet Seamus Haeney. Sophocles' trilogy of this ancient doomed family begins with Oedipus the King (you know Oedipus, the guy who was cursed by the gods to kill his father and marry his mother), continues with Oedipus at Colonus (which also has a gospel retelling called Gospel of Colonus), and ends with the story of Antigone, Oedipus' daughter. Also related is Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes, which tells the story of Antigone's two brothers who fought over control of Thebes after their father's death (which I experienced as a "hip-hop musical comedy-tragedy in Ten Thousand Things' The Seven). All of this preamble is just to say I was more familiar with the world of Antigone than I thought, and felt comfortable jumping right into this intense 90-minute adaptation. It's a story, or rather a piece of a story, that's been told many many times over the last few millennia. But a story that's still worth hearing, especially this version, which focuses on a strong female heroine standing up for her family and doing what she believes is right, no matter the consequences.

"Miss Julie" by Theatre Coup D'Etat at the American Swedish Institute

In a perfect marriage of play and location, Theatre Coup D'Etat is presenting Swedish playwright August Strindberg's play Miss Julie on the third floor of the gorgeous Turnblad mansion at the American Swedish Institute, in conjunction with their Strindberg exhibit. This intense three-person drama that examines issues of class, gender, love, and power in late 19th century Sweden plays out perfectly in the grand room. Photos of Strindberg's sets are on display, and there's even a quote from Miss Julie on the wall: "no matter how far we travel, the memories will follow in the baggage car." This may sound like a sweet and sentimental quote, but this is not a sweet and sentimental play. In context, the quote is more about these characters being unable to leave their past behind them, so trapped are they in the roles they were born into, no matter how hard they struggle to climb out of them.

The play takes place in the kitchen of a Swedish estate in the 1890's on a midsummer's eve. There is a party going on upstairs in which Miss Julie, daughter of the count, dances with the servants. She's particularly fond of Jean, the count's valet, and follows him to the kitchen, much to the annoyance of Christine, the cook and Jean's fiance. Here the power struggle between Jean and Julie begins, as Christine looks on helplessly. At first Julie has the upper hand and commands Jean to do her will, testing him to see how far he'll go. Later, after intermission during which Julie and Jean have gone to his room, and all that that implies, he has the upper hand and is unspeakably cruel to her. She bows to his will, but then remembers who she is and takes back control. It's a constant power struggle with each of them having the upper hand at different times, but in the tragic ending, there is no winner. Gender roles, sexual politics, and most of all the class structure that defines their lives all play a part in this intense and brutal drama.

"Kiss my shoe," Miss Julie commands, and Jean is forced
to oblige, while Christine sleeps unawares
(Kelly Nelson, Brie Roland, James Napoleon Stone)

The three-person cast lays their emotions bare in this intimate space, under the direction of Peter Beard. As the title character, Kelly Nelson portrays Julie's haughty confident demeanor hiding a lost and damaged young woman, desperate to find her way out. James Napoleon Stone's Jean is at times courteous and polite, sweet and loving, and cruelly opportunistic. Completing the trio is Brie Roland, who brings a grounded and sympathetic humanity to the role of Christine, who wants to return to her simple and straight-forward life before the events of this evening. The characters are quietly established in the first act, but things really heat up in the second act, as desperate emotions reach the boiling point.

Miss Julie continues in the Turnblad Mansion through October 26. It's a wonderful example of the site-specific theater that seems to be happening more and more often (see also Gremlin's production of After Miss Julie in the James J. Hill House a few years ago). The authentic setting aids greatly in suspension of disbelief, and the small cast in close quarters with the few dozen audience members makes you feel like you're eavesdropping on a real conversation. If you're able, take the stairs instead of the elevator to the third floor and peek into the dark and mysterious rooms of the mansion on your way up and down, and imagine the real dramas that occurred in this beautiful house and others like it a hundred and more years ago. (You can also, of course, tour the mansion during the daylight as part of the ASI museum.)