"Thank You for Holding: The Caregiver Play Project" by Wonderlust Productions at 825 Arts

Wonderlust Productions is unique in the kind of theater that they make. Whether it's prison, or state government, or in this case caregiving, they spend a couple years researching a topic, specifically by interviewing people in the community who live in it. Then they create a new piece of theater, with both professional actors and these community consultants acting in the story. The result here is a very moving, raw, truthful depiction of caregiving, the pain and the joys and the endless bureaucracy of navigating a broken health care system. While I have never been a caregiver (yet, as this show reminds us), at least not to humans, I have been a witness to caregiving, and it is probably the hardest and most necessary job there is. But a thankless and often unrecognized one, so kudos to Wonderlust to shining a light on it, and letting caregivers tell their own story. Thank You for Holding continues at the new theater space 825 Arts on University in St. Paul through November 3.

"The Labyrinth and the Minotaur: The Incarceration Play Project" by Wonderlust Productions at Mixed Blood Theatre

Four years in the making, Wonderlust Productions' newest piece The Labyrinth and the Minotaur: The Incarceration Play Project reimagines the myth of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth in which it is kept as the Minnesota Corrections system. For this project they collected  stories from over 230 people who live and work within this system, and the huge cast (perhaps the largest I've ever seen) includes many of these people, alongside seven professional actors. It's a really beautiful, inspiring, and thought-provoking piece about an incredibly relevant issue - this country's broken, cruel, and racist system of incarceration. This is a theater company dedicated to elevating the voices of the unheard, and there are few voices less heard than those of the incarcerated. Here they get to tell their own stories in an empowering and powerful way. Although the play is a bit too long (three hours and 15 minutes on opening night) and would benefit from some editing, it's very worthwhile and important. See it through May 22 at Mixed Blood Theatre; only five more performances remain.

The Ruth Easton New Play Series at the Playwrights' Center

Theater is my religion, and I couldn't be happier to return to the mother church; the Playwrights' Center is back! Of course, they never really went away. They swiftly transitioned to virtual readings of new work in March 2020 and have been continuing to support playwrights locally and across the country in the development of new work, while providing jobs to actors and artists in a time when there were not many arts jobs to be had. But now they're back in their South Minneapolis space in an old church with live in-person readings of new works. The Ruth Easton New Play Series is an annual festival of workshops and readings presented monthly, now through February. There will be two limited-seating in-person readings of each, that will be recorded and made available to watch virtually. You do need to make reservations for both in-person and virtual, but it's free! Below is the schedule of readings as well as my thoughts. Click here for all the details and to make your free reservation.

"Norma Jeane Baker of Troy" by Rough Magic Performance Company at the Mill City Farmers Market

Rough Magic Performance Company has made a name for themselves at Minnesota Fringe Festival with their short, modern, and feminist adaptations of Shakespeare. But now they're moving beyond that by performing a new play outside of the Fringe. And literally outside* (thanks, covid), in the gorgeous space used by the Mill City Farmers Market, between the Guthrie Theater and the Mill City Museum. Norma Jeane Baker of Troy is a retelling of the legend of Helen of Troy, aka the face that launched a thousand ships, superimposed with the story of Norma Jeane Baker, aka Marilyn Monroe. The play examines parallels between the two women and attempts to look beyond their status as icons of female beauty to the truth behind the image. It's a fascinating play, beautifully produced, with a lot packed into the one-hour runtime. Even though I've been to a handful of outdoor plays and musicals this year and last, for some reason this really felt like my first return to theater as we once knew it. Maybe because I held an actual physical program in my hands, maybe because the stage and audience setup felt familiar, maybe because of the complex nature of the play. But for perhaps the first time in 16 months, I left feeling that familiar sort of theater daze, having just traveled to another world for a time, and not quite ready to settle back into this one.

"Our House: The Capitol Play Project" by Wonderlust Productions at the Minnesota State Capitol

I've never experienced anything quite like Wonderlust Productions' Our House: The Capitol Play Project. I've been to site-specific productions before, but none that have been written specifically about that site, telling the true stories of the people who daily inhabit that site, with a cast largely made up of those people. The site in this case is our house, the people's house, the Capitol of the great state of Minnesota, and the people whose stories are told are not the famous and/or infamous politicians one usually associates with the government, but everyone who works there, performing the unglamorous day-to-day hard work of keeping the state running. After following the actors (and "real people!") around our house for two and a half hours (a building I have not stepped foot in since a barely remembered school field trip over 30 years ago), I felt both better and worse about the system that governs our lives. Our House is unabashedly sincere and optimistic about the people who work in government, but it's also harshly realistic about the inefficiencies and corruption within the system. It's a shame this is such a short run (just six sold-out* performances), and I really hope they bring it back. More impactful than any high school civics class could be, it should be required viewing for every citizen.

"The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence" at Park Square Theatre

"The world is filled with people who could ruin me with love." So says a character in The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, currently playing at Park Square Theatre. And that's really what the play is about, although it's also about technology and artificial intelligence and several famous Watsons throughout history. But "about" is a difficult word with this play; it's difficult to explain or describe. But what it is is funny, imaginative, thought-provoking, touching, and yes, curious.

"Shooting Star" at Park Square Theatre

A chance meeting with an ex-lover at a snowed-in airport, the opportunity to say all the things you couldn't say when things ended 25 years ago. Such is the premise of Steven Dietz's play Shooting Star, a two-hander now playing on Park Square Theatre's Proscenium Stage. When the two hands are Sally Wingert and Mark Benninghofen*, with a premise as full of promise as this one is, you know you're in for a treat. And a treat this is - a funny, engaging, and bittersweet play that leaves you with a wistful feeling and a pleasant ache in the heart where long-ago memories are held.

It's 2006, and Elena and Reed meet at an airport in Canada in the middle of what could be the "blizzard of the century," never mind that the century is only a few years old. We learn from asides by both characters that they immediately recognize each other from a pretty serious relationship that ended 25 years ago, during the free-love '70s. Turns out love is not so free, as these two have definitely carry around some leftover baggage through the intervening years. Elena is still a bit of a free spirit, but could never find anyone better than Reed, who's now a conservative businessman with a difficult relationship with his wife and daughter. With both of their flights delayed and nowhere to go, the two are unable to avoid each other, and engage in some awkward small talk that leads to something deeper as the barriers of time come down. A trip to the airport bar means things get even more real, and Reed and Elena realize they still have a connection. But is it something worth pursing after fate has brought them together again, or is it something that's better left in the past?

Mark Benninghofen and Sally Wingert
(photo by Petronella J Ytsma)

Shooting Star is one of those real and messy love stories, perfectly encapsulating an intense and intimate experience between two people that may or may not result in "happily ever after," but is meaningful and true nonetheless (see also Once). Steven Dietz's clever choice to give both characters multiple asides in which they speak directly to the audience in a conversational way gives us insights into their thoughts, making us feel like confidantes and drawing us right into the story. Sally Wingert and Mark Benninghofen use the sharp writing to create two characters that feel very real; Elena and Reed are both flawed and very human. Mark and Sally are both incredibly natural on stage and have a beautiful chemistry that goes from prickly to familiar, bitter to loving. They're given a fantastic playground in Kit Mayer's set that is the perfect model of a cold, linear airport, familiar to travelers everywhere.

Shooting Star is a funny, tender, bittersweet gem of a play about closure, connection, and coming to terms with the past. It's a comedy with depth and heart (continuing through April 19).


*You can also see Mark Benninghofen (and James A. Williams, pictured on the bottom half of the playbill and currently appearing on Park Square's Boss Stage in The Other Place) on the big screen in the locally made movie The Public Domain, now playing at the Lagoon in Uptown.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"The Things They Carried" and "Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq" at the History Theatre

The History Theatre is currently producing two plays in rep, both dealing with the effects of war on the soldiers who fight in them. The Things They Carried is based on the semi-autobiographical collection of short stories by Tim O'Brien, a Minnesota man who was drafted out of college in 1968 and sent to Vietnam. Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq is also based on a book - a series of interviews with women who served in the Iraq War. I saw both plays in one day, which makes for a pretty heavy day. But it's a nice pairing of plays that show different perspectives of war. Both tell really powerful and important stories and feature fine acting, but one affected me much more deeply.

Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq
After seeing this play I was completely devastated. I had a hard time shaking it. It was one of the most powerful experiences I've had at the theater in quite some time. Because it's not just theater, and it's not just history (both of which the History Theatre does so well), it's about very real and devastating issues facing women in the military. Based on the 2009 book by Helen Benedict, who also wrote the play, Lonely Soldiers tells the stories of seven women who served in the military in Iraq. Helen spent countless hours interviewing these and other women over a period of several years, and their words form the text of the play. The result is a very real and brutal examination of how our military, and our society in a broader sense, tolerates harassment and assault of women.

The play is constructed as a series of monologues using the women's own words. They speak directly to the audience, sharing their varied reasons for joining the military (economic, family pressure, rebellion) and their experiences that were so different from their expectations. Each story is different, yet they're all the same, as they all experience various forms and degrees of harassment from their male counterparts and superiors, with no one to talk to about it. The stories unfold separately, and it's not until the end, when they're home and trying to process what they've been through, that the women start to look at each other and talk to each other, and there's a feeling of relief that can finally share their stories, with each other and with the audience.

the cast of Lonely Soldiers (photo by Scott Pakudaitis)

This cast of seven women (and one man, Santino Craven, who has the thankless job of portraying the mostly not-so-nice men in the women's stories), so completely embodies these characters that you almost believe that they are them. Jamecia Bennet, Shana Berg, Dawn Brodey, Hope Cervantes, Tamara Clark, Meghan Kreidler, and Rhiana Yazzie all give such devastatingly real performances, under the direction of Austene Van, who noted in the program, "The notion that someone who takes on the responsibility to serve and protect with their very lives is left unprotected and damaged forever by those who should be trusted is difficult to fully grasp." Indeed. These women's lives is so far from my experience, I can't even imagine a world like that, but now I don't have to because this play allowed me to experience a little bit of it. And that's about as close to war as I ever want to get. I had tears in the back of my eyes for the entire ninety minutes, and I don't even know anyone in the military.

There was a talk-back after the show I attended, with the playwright, director, and cast onstage to answer questions. There were several women vets in the audience, and those who worked with them in their recovery, and some of them stood up and told similar stories to what we had just heard, which brought another level of reality to the experience. Because of the book and the documentary that it inspired, The Invisible War, there is hopefully more awareness now of how women are treated in the military, but it's certainly still going on.

The Things They Carried
In this one-man show directed by Leah Cooper, Stephen D'Ambrose plays Tim O'Brien, the author of the book. He begins by sitting at his desk writing, and soon speaks directly to the audience, telling stories of his time in Vietnam. It's as if he's reliving the stories as he's writing them down. He occasionally repeats a line as he goes back to his desk to write it in his notebook, almost as if he's telling it for the first time and wants to get it down on paper before he forgets it. As he's telling the story, Stephen also plays many other characters, including his buddies, his family, and the man who "saved his life."

Stephen D'Ambrose in The Tings They Carried
 (photo by Scott Pakudaitis)

Many stories and vignettes are told in the two-act play, but the most compelling are about his trip to the Canadian border shortly after he was drafted, where he contemplated leaving the country to avoid going to war. It's an extremely compelling story, well-told by the author and actor. The second act largely focuses on the death of his best friend, and his journey back to Vietnam 20 years later to attempt some closure. All of the stories are told with beautiful, almost poetic language (most of which I assume comes from the book), wonderfully delivered by Stephen. This is theater at its most basic form - storytelling.

Since the two plays alternate dates over the next several weeks, they share the same basic set (designed by Sarah Brander). The sand-colored floor and weathered wooden slat backdrop works for both. The steps and rock formations in Lonely Soldiers are replaced by office furniture in The Things They Carried. It's an efficient sharing of space.

These two plays really fit well together, but if you can only see one of them, I would recommend Lonely Soldiers. Stories from Vietnam, although still important and relevant, have been told in many forms over the past 40 years. But the stories told in Lonely Soldiers have only recently begun to be heard, and they need to be heard. See the History Theatre website for more info on both plays (and you can find discount tickets for Lonely Soldiers on Goldstar).

"Or," at Park Square Theatre

Or, What a curious title - O-r-comma. Before seeing the regional premiere of this new play by Liz Duffy Adams at Park Square Theatre, I was on board with the concept - a comedy about England's first female playwright - but I couldn't quite figure out how the title fit into that. Fortunately, the play begins with a delightful prologue delivered by its star, the also delightful Emily Gunyou Halaas, explaining the title. Or, is an exploration of opposites, dualities, and the idea that those opposites can coexist. "We all embody opposites within, or else we're frankly too dull to live."

The play is a fictionalized account of real people in late 17th century England - playwright and former spy Aphra Behn, King of England and theater supporter Charles II, and his mistress, the actress Nell Gwyn. This is not the first play I've seen about these characters; last year's Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Walking Shadow also featured Charles II and Nell Gwyn, but focused more on the consequences of Charles allowing women on the stage to play female roles formerly played by young men. But while that play is a pretty dramatic and deep, Or, is pure comedy fluff written in the style of Restoration Comedy, which Wikipedia tells me is "notorious for its sexual explicitness." There certainly is a lot of that in the play, as the three main characters form a relationship that could be called a polyamorous* triad (thank you Shonda Rhimes) - a true love triangle. Charles is Aphra's "keeper," Aphra and Nell are lovers, and then Charles meets Nell. The three live happily ... well, at least for the moment.

the happy threesome

The most fun part of this play is that two of the three actors play three characters each, often in quick succession, exiting one door as one character and moments later entering another door as a different character with a different costume and accent. I bet the backstage view of this play is just as entertaining as the view from the audience. Mo Perry is an absolute scene stealer with all of her characters - the carefree Nell, the stern theater owner Lady Davenant, and especially the loyal servant Maria. Matt Guidry is also great as the powerful and fun-loving king, quickly changing to Aphra's former lover and current spy William Scot, on the run and hiding out in Aphra's room. The one constant through this revolving door of characters is Emily Gunyou Halaas as our heroine-spy-poet Aphra. I always enjoy seeing Emily on stage because of her emotional investment in her characters and the way the scripted words come out of her mouth (she was most recently seen in the wonderful In the Next Room at the Jungle, one of those "or" plays). Her Aphra is smart and strong, poetic (often speaking in rhyme) and pleasure-loving.

The period costumes by Annie Cady are gorgeous, from Nell's smart and boyish pants, to the king's beautiful coat, to Aphra's elaborate dresses. The set by Michael Hoover is simple, spacious, and elegant, with plenty of doors for the actors to disappear behind and make their quick change. Also adding to the period feel is the music played before the show and during scene changes - a sort of chamber music arrangement of Beatles songs.

All in all I found Or, to be very enjoyable. I'm not sure that all of the complexities of plot work, but it's a very fun piece with a great cast, nicely directed by Leah Cooper. A play written by a woman, directed by a woman, and starring a woman is definitely something I can support, especially when it's this good.


 
Or, from Park Square Theatre on Vimeo.




*See also this recent episode of Our America with Lisa Ling.

"After Miss Julie" by the Gremlin Theatre at the James J. Hill House

I love history.  Not the politics and wars, kings and presidents kind of history, but history about how people actually lived in years past.  I'm fascinated by the houses on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, and have visited the James J. Hill House several times.  So when I heard about a play being produced in the house I was intrigued.  And when I found out that it stars two 2011 Ivey Award winners, there was no question I was going to go see it. 

After Miss Julie is produced by the Gremlin Theatre, normally located on University Avenue in St. Paul.  But there really is no better place to see this show than in a big, beautiful Victorian mansion.  When the setting so perfectly matches the content, it lends an air of authenticity to the piece.  As I watched the drama unfold, I couldn't help but think that such a scene might really have occurred in that very room a hundred years ago.  That's kind of thrilling.  I felt like I was eavesdropping on these three people's fascinating and complicated lives.

The play is set in a large manor house outside of London in 1945; the action takes place solely in the kitchen, which in the James J. Hill house is in the basement (food was sent upstairs via a dumbwaiter so that the mess and noise of the kitchen was out of sight).  The three characters in the play are Miss Julie (Anna Sundberg), the daughter of "his lordship," John (Peter Christian Hansen), the chauffeur, and Christine (Amanda Whisner), the cook and John's unofficial fiancee.  Christine is in the kitchen doing her work (even as the audience enters the room), and John joins her after driving the master of the house to London.  Julie follows him down to the kitchen in the hopes he'll dance with her at the party upstairs.  He feels obliged, and Christine accepts the way things are even though she's not happy about it.  Julie's fiancee has recently broken off their engagement and she's desperate and out of control.  When an exhausted Christine falls asleep, Julie flirts shamelessly with John, testing the limits of his patience and his duty.  John grew up on the estate and admits that he has always secretly loved her.  Christine retires to bed, and John takes Julie to his room, at her request (command?).  Their relationship is a constantly changing power struggle; at times they are unbelievably cruel to each other, at times sweet and loving.  They toy with the idea of running away to New York together, but I don't think either of them really believes that could happen.  Julie's father, John's employer, calls, and John jumps to bring him his coffee and well-polished shoes.  Julie and John are trapped in the roles they were born into, and don't know how to get out.  There's no happy ending for this couple.

This three-person cast is excellent (directed by Leah Cooper, who also did a great job with a much larger cast in August: Osage County at Park Square a few months ago).  In the small intimate setting you get a close-up view of the look in their eyes and the expression on their faces.  Peter has this intensity that's just about to boil over, and sometimes does; you can see why Julie falls for John (Peter played another violent, angry man in True West a few months ago).  I've seen Anna three times in the last several months, and she only gets better.  Julie comes off as the spoiled and haughty daughter of a wealthy family, but we see glimpses of a lost little girl underneath.  Amanda makes Christine sympathetic; she's the only likeable character - a hard-working woman trying to find a little happiness within the limitations of her life.  The actors go in and out of the several doors to the room (what fun to crawl around in the bowels of this magnificent house).  On a few occasions they all exit the room; the audience is alone for several long moments in a deliciously awkward silence, during which we are left to imagine what is going on behind closed doors.

After the show the audience can stay for an abbreviated tour of the house.  It was a wonderfully entertaining evening - intimate, involving, brutally real theater followed by a tour of this grand house.  Unfortunately After Miss Julie closes this weekend, but check it out if you can.  And if not, go visit the James J. Hill House anyway, and see how the rich people (and perhaps more interesting, their servants) lived a hundred years ago.

"August: Osage County" at Park Square Theatre

Now that I'm finally done writing about my fabulous trip to NYC, I can get back to what this blog is really about: local St. Paul/Minneapolis theater.  Last week I saw the brilliant play August: Osage County at the Park Square Theatre, a great little space in downtown St. Paul.  I've attended a handful of their shows over the years, and a few things this season intrigued me.  One is their upcoming production of the musical Ragtime (featuring a fabulous cast of local musical theater actors), which I saw ages ago on tour and loved.  The other is the bitingly funny and tragic play August: Osage County, which I also saw on tour.  I remember laughing and cringing at the life of the dysfunctional Weston family, and those feelings continued with this production of what has become an American classic.

The dysfunction starts with the parents Beverly and Violet, he's an alcoholic and she's addicted to pills, and continues through their three adult daughters.  Barbara left home long ago to work and raise a family, Karen has been wandering and searching for happiness and thinks she's found it, and Ivy has stayed close to home, perhaps too close.  But none of them have been able to escape the pull of the family, and come home in response to an unexpected tragedy.  Violet's sister and her family also show up to add more layers of dysfunction.  The outside observer to all of this is Johnna, a young woman who has been hired to take care of Violet as she goes through treatment for cancer.  Through her we observe this family like a fly on the wall.

The set is spectacular (designed by Michael Hoover).  An entire house sits on stage with the front wall removed, like a life-sized doll house.  We're able to see into every room, even the kitchen stocked with appliances, spices, dishes, and food.  It feels like a house that's lived in and witnessed countless family dramas.

I can't say enough about this cast of mostly local actors, starting with Barbara Kingsley as family matriarch Violet.  She understudied the role on Broadway and on the first national tour, but never got the chance to play the role.  She's got her chance now, and the months she spent living with the Westons is evident in her portrayal.  At times incomprehensible as a drugged-up Violet, at times cruelly honest and in control, Violet is a fascinating character that I alternately sympathized with and despised.  Barbara's real-life husband Stephen D'Ambrose plays Violet's husband Beverly, whose brief appearance at the beginning of the play is so affecting it hangs over the rest of the play.

The Weston girls look and act like family.  Virginia S. Burke is particularly good as Barbara, as she slowly starts unraveling while trying to deal with her family.  She even looks like Violet; you can see her transforming into her mother even as she tries to resist it.  Kate Eifrig (who will always be My Fair Lady to me) is Karen, who proudly shows off her fiance (who, it turns out, is no prince), and Carolyn Pool completes the trio as Ivy, who's found love in an unusual place.  Karen Landry is funny and entertaining as the meddling Aunt Fannie Mae.  Her sweet suffering husband, Uncle Charlie, looked familiar, like ... that guy on TV.  It turns out Chris Mulkey (a native Midwesterner who now lives in L.A.) has been on countless TV shows (including two of my favorite shows of the last year - Justified and Boardwalk Empire).  Each character in this play is complex and layered, which makes it fascinating to watch.

This is my second three act, two intermission, loooong play I've attended this month.  Even though it wreaks havoc on my sleep patterns, it's great theater.  It's a pleasure to be that immersed in a story and characters for that long.  I extended the evening even longer by staying for the post-show talk-back with the actors and director Leah Cooper; this is one of those plays that will get you thinking and talking for days.  August: Osage County runs through the first weekend of October, check it out if you want to be challenged, entertained, and maybe even a little bit disturbed.