"Rocket Man" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Friends, this one gave me all the feels. Theatre Pro Rata's production of Steven Dietz's play Rocket Man checked all the boxes for me. It's a little odd and unpredictable, and explores the ideas of family, science, faith, regrets, time, and life itself. And the truly wonderful and natural five-person cast, under director Stuart Gates, along with the deceptively simple design, bring it to life beautifully. But it's one of those plays I'm not quite sure how to write about. I don't want to spoil what happens, because half the fun of the play is figuring that out as it goes along. I'll try to give you a taste of it, and then if you're curious, you can go see the rest for yourself.

Fringe Festival 2017: "One Foot"

Day: 4

Show: 17

Title: One Foot

Category: Drama

By: Langston Theatre Company

Written by: Lojo Simon

Location: Strike Theater

Summary: A lovely and bittersweet romance marred with tragedy, but one that finds happiness nonetheless.

Highlights: While the Fringe website describes this play as "pure Minnesotan," it felt pure Irish to me, and not just because of the accents. (Do people go ice fishing in Ireland? A quick google search tells me yes.) Andrew Erskine Wheeler and Jamie White Jachimiec both give wonderfully real performances as this charming Irish couple, you can feel the love and tenderness between them. Finn one day wakes up finding his foot has fallen off, and wife Dove doesn't seem too disturbed by it. We then flash back through their relationship from their first meeting on the ice, to their wedding, to the loss of their child. Beautifully staged by director Lanny Langston with inventive use of a sparkling white cloth to represent different things, beautiful performances by the actors, and that distinctly Irish mixture of sadness and joy all combined to leave me feeling all mushy.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"The Glass Menagerie" by Theatre Coup d'Etat at SPACE

Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite playwrights, and all I ask of a production of one of his plays is that it leave me with that feeling of delicious melancholy. Theatre Coup d'Etat's production of The Glass Menagerie, my favorite Williams play, did just that. As I drove home last night and saw the big moon hanging heavy in the sky, I sighed and made a wish for something that would never come true. Just like the characters in Menagerie, Williams most personal play. Theatre Coup d'Etat's interesting staging with appropriate mood lighting and music really makes it feel like you're looking in on Tom's (aka Williams') memories of his family. Which is always a beautifully tragic rumination on the past, how memory works, and how the choices we've made continue to affect us.