"Lettice and Lovage" at Theatre in the Round

The play Lettice and Lovage by British playwright Peter Shaffer was basically written as a showcase for Dame Maggie Smith, and she fittingly won a Tony for it in 1990. It's a very funny and very British play and has two great roles for women over 50, and a real live cat on stage, all great things. The one challenging thing is that it's a three-act two-intermission play, a rarity these days, but as long as you're aware going into it that you'll be sitting in the theater for three and a half hours or more, it's a lot of fun. Theatre in the Round is staging it in their 73rd season, dedicating the production to #TCTheater actor Maggie Bearmon Pistner who starred in their 2001 production and passed away in 2023. They've cast a couple of great actors as this buddy comedy duo, so take a nap or have a coffee before the show, get up to get a snack at intermission, and settle in for an entertaining evening (or afternoon if you're a morning person like me). Lettice and Lovage continues through April 27.

"The Song of Summer" at Mixed Blood Theatre

After a pretty intense 2018-2019 season of plays that included Is God Is, the trilogy Prescient Harbingers, Roe, and Autonomy, Mixed Blood Theatre is beginning their 2019-2020 season with something a little lighter. Playwrights' Center Affiliated Writer Lauren Yee (whose work has been seen in #TCTheater most recently in the Guthrie's production of The Great Leap) brings us a sweet and fun play that's almost a rom-com. The Song of Summer is not without substance, dealing with relationships, pop culture, and celebrity, but the story at its heart is one we've seen many times before. But it's told in a unique framework with an appealing cast, so it's a story I'm happy to watch. It's OK for theater to be light and sweet and fun, even at Mixed Blood, especially when this well written, directed, and acted.

"Collected Stories" by Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at the Highland Park Center Theatre

I recently commented that I love two-people-sitting-in-a-room-talking kind of plays. Collected Stories is one of those plays. But rather than one long conversation, it's a series of conversations over six years in an ever changing teacher/student relationship. Written 20 years ago by Donald Margulies, the play does not feel dated (except in character wardrobes and phone references), but rather is a smart and thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a mentor, a mentee, and a writer of stories, yours or others. I found Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company's production, playing now through March 18, to be entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking.

"Aunt Raini" by Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at Highland Park Center Theater

What happens when your beloved great-aunt, the woman who helped raise you and is your only remaining family, is also a Nazi war criminal? Or if not a war criminal, at the least a Nazi sympathizer and the woman responsible for creating propaganda films for Hitler. Of course I'm referring to Leni Riefenstahl, whose legacy remains complicated. Was she merely a talented artist and director whose subjects happened to include the rise of the Nazi party? Or was she an active part of the cause, and therefore responsible for the death of millions of people? Or is it possible that she was both of these things? The new play Aunt Raini, receiving it's world premiere at Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, examines these questions by giving Leni a fictional great-niece in New York City who is with her when she dies at the age of 101 in 2003. While the play could benefit from another round of revisions, it's an intriguing concept and grapples with important questions about art and politics without offering any easy answers, with complex characters and relationships brought to life by a terrific four-person cast.

"The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" by Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at Highland Park Center Theatre

Sometimes theater can be profound, thought-provoking, or even life-changing, and sometimes it's just highly enjoyable entertainment. There's room for both, and Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company's production of the 2000 Tony-nominated Broadway play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife falls squarely in the latter category. It's a chance to laugh at ridiculous people in this very funny play, presented with sharp direction by Warren C. Bowles and fantastic comedic performances by the five-person cast. The theater at the Highland Park Community Center was packed on a Wednesday night, and a good time was had by all. Sometimes that's everything you need.

"The History of Invulerability" by Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at the Hillcrest Center Theater

Superman. That one word brings up iconic images of the superhero in the red and blue suit, saving the day. But have you ever wondered where he began? I certainly haven't, maybe because I'm not a fan of comic books or superheroes. But you don't have to be a superhero superfan to enjoy Minnesota Jewish Theater Company's play The History of Invulnerability (although it probably doesn't hurt - I saw more young men in the audience then I've ever seen at the theater). The play is a fascinating look at the question of Superman's origin, telling the story of Jerry Siegel, who created the legendary figure along with his friend Joe Shuster. It's a relatable and very human story about art and creation, success vs. failure, and a man trying to make a life that he and his family can be proud of.

The History of Invulnerability plays out as a deathbed fantasy of Jerry Seigel's, as he's visited by his creation in his final hours. Jerry and Superman himself tell us this tragic story, in which Joe and Jerry created the character in the 1930s, struggled to find a publisher, signed away their ownership rights, watched Superman's rise in popularity as they were pushed out of the creation of the comics, unsuccessfully sued to have their rights restored, and were forced out of the comic book business. They both struggled for years, and it wasn't until the 1978 movie that they were able to use public support to get some kind of recognition and remuneration from the owners of Superman. The play is really about one man's struggle with his creation, coming to terms with what it has become and what he has sacrificed over the years, and for what purpose?

As a child of Jewish immigrants writing in the late 1930s, Jerry was greatly affected by what was happening to European Jews, and perhaps used the comic as an outlet - a strong and powerful man standing up for the powerless and the oppressed. Playwright David Bar Katz shows us Jerry's story interspersed with the story of prisoners in a concentration camp, including a young boy who believes that Superman will come to save them. Unfortunately not even Superman could stop the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis, and the play ends in a shocking scene as neither of these two parallel stories have happy endings.

The comic book nature of the story is cleverly used in the production. Cartoons (drawn by Sam Smith) are projected on a screen at the back of the stage to set the scene or illustrate what is being discussed. On several occasions, the cast acts out comic book scenes, creating perfect tableaux in freeze-frame sequences. And the cast does a fine job bringing these and the more sober scenes to life. As Jerry, the always wonderful Jim Lichtscheidl is a sympathetic everyman who just happens to have created the most famous superhero in the world. Dan Beckmann makes a convincing Superman, with perfectly coiffed hair, feet planted widely, shoulders back and chest out, hands firmly on hips. The dozens of other characters are bought to life by the ensemble which includes Alex Brightwell (Jerry's partner Joe and his son), Charles Numrich (the bad guy comic book publishers), Dustin Valenta (a touching performance as the boy in the concentration camp), Joanna Harmon (Jerry's mother and the model for Lois Lane, whom Jerry eventually married), and Maggie Bearmon Pistner.

The ending of the play feels a little unfinished, in fact when Superman came out after the last scene I was sure there was going to be another scene, but nope - curtain call. The subplot about Jerry abandoning his son at the age of five and never seeing him again is not satisfactorily explored, and doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the portrait of this man. It's an ambitious play with a lot going on, but the talented cast and creative team make it work, for the most part. And it's fun and fascinating to see the untold story of one of the most well-know characters ever created. Playing now through May 11 at the Hillcrest Center Theater.*


*The Hillcrest Center is under construction so it's a bit of a mess. Tip: drive around behind the baseball fields and park opposite the playground. The path through the playground leads to the lower door of the Center, from which you need to find your way up the stairs to the theater.

Fringe Festival: "They Called Her Captain"

Day: 3

Show: 10

Title: They Called Her Captain

By: Less Traveled Productions

Written by: Dawn Brodey

Location: Playwrights' Center

Summary: A local actress plays her mother, who joined the Army in WWII and became a captain, as well as almost a dozen other characters in telling the story of this remarkable heroine.

Highlights: First of all, this is a true story; who knew that women were in the Army in WWII? Maybe I'm ignorant, but I didn't. Second of all, she's still alive (and was in the audience), and her daughter is the sole performer in this show. That's pretty cool. But besides that, it's a great play, in fact it's the first Fringe show I've seen that's just begging to be expanded into a full-length play. The subject matter is so rich that they could easily fill two hours, and I hope that they continue to work on the piece so that we get to see it again, in a fuller version. Maggie Bearmon Pistner plays her mother, Jeanne Goldoff Bearmon, during her years as a young Jewish woman from Brooklyn who decides to join the Army. After boot camp, she's sent to London to work in the personnel department, and eventually travels all over Europe. We hear about this through her best friend in the States, her friends overseas, her host family in London, and other people she meets along the way. Maggie effortlessly transforms into these diverse characters with the help of the costumes (by E. Amy Hill), adding a jacket or hat. It's an inspiring story told by people directly involved with it. It left me wanting to know more.

NOTE: the show I attended was sold out, so if you want to see it you should make reservations in advance (see the Fringe website).

Read more of my fringe fest reflections…

… including my top 5 shows

"Our Class" by the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at the Hillcrest Center Theater

The Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company's Our Class is not an easy play to see.  It's not the kind of show you go to for a light escape from reality for a few hours.  You walk out of the theater with lots to think about, and none of it very happy.  But it's important to remember our past and attempt to make sense of it, although I'm not sure one can make sense of the atrocities committed against friends, neighbors, classmates as in this play.  But at least we can bear witness to it.

Our Class was written by Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek based on true events in a small Polish town during WWII.  The 2001 controversial book Neighbors argues that the majority of the Jews in the town of Jedwabne were murdered by the Polish residents of the town, their friends and neighbors, not the Nazis.  The play explores this idea and examines how children who once played, laughed, and learned together can grow up to betray and murder each other.

The play begins with ten young classmates, played by actors of various ages (corresponding approximately to the age of their character at the time of death).  They're normal school-children, laughing, playing, teasing, fighting.  As they grow older a division begins to be apparent between the five Jewish children and the five Catholic children.  The division grows as the war progresses and Poland is invaded first by the Soviets and then by the Nazis (to simplify the incredibly complicated history).  Classmates turn on each other, betray each other, beat each other, but some choose to shelter and save each other.  Act I culminates in the burning of a barn containing hundreds of Jews.  Some of our class are the perpetrators, some are the victims.  In Act II, those that are still alive try to move on and make a life for themselves.  Some feel remorse for what they've done, others feel justified in their actions or are in denial of them.  Either way, the events of that day remain with them forever.  As each character dies (the play follows each character to the end of his or her life, whether young or old, in Poland or elsewhere), one signature article of clothing is replaced with a version in red - a belt, hat, ribbon, vest.  And they remain on stage; ghosts haunting the lives of those left behind.

An interesting feature of this play is that characters describe their actions as they're doing them (which reminded me of the style of In the Red and Brown Water).  This gives the audience deeper insight into each character's thoughts and feelings.  Some of the characters are based on real people, and all of them are fully defined.  We get to know specific details of each character's life, some that don't even really relate to the plot, but all of which help to create a sense that these are real people.  The cast is so talented in bringing these characters to life that I hesitate to call any of them out because there are so many powerful performances.  But I will.  :)  Elena Giannetti is the young wife and mother Dora; strong and heart-breaking, she's the center of the two most painful scenes of the play.  Caleb Carlson (graduate of the U of M/Guthrie training program) is the militant Rysiek who commits some pretty atrocious acts, but Caleb manages to convey Rysiek's inner torment that makes him almost sympathetic.  As opposed to the completely unlikable Zygmunt (Michael Jurenek), who betrays both "friends" and "enemies" alike depending on what best serves his own self-interest.  Candace Barrett Birk is the Jewish girl Rachelka who becomes the Catholic woman Marianna in order to survive, and lives out her life resigned to her fate.  Maggie Bearmon Pistner (who was so funny and over-the-top in Next Fall at the Jungle earlier this year) is Zocha, one of the "heroic" Poles who harbored and saved a Jew, which comes with its own complications.  One of the wonderful things about this play is that each character reacts differently to the situation they find themselves in, showcasing a wide variety of what people did to survive, some admirable, some not so.

I wanted to see this play for several reasons.  I am of mostly German descent, except for my one Polish great-grandmother, and was raised Catholic, so I feel like it's part of my cultural history that I need to be aware of and deal with, as difficult as that is.  I have traveled in Germany and Poland and visited the concentration camp at Auschwitz.  To say it's a sobering experience is an understatement.  Seeing this play is a little like visiting Auschwitz (without the very visceral sense of being in that place), difficult but somehow necessary.  At intermission I overheard several conversations about people's personal stories about the holocaust or what their parents told them about it.  This play gets people talking and thinking about difficult issues, which is what theater at its best is all about.

"Next Fall" at the Jungle Theater

Next Fall is one of those plays that will make you laugh, cry, and reevaluate what you think about certain issues (which happens to be my favorite kind of play!).  Directed by Joel Sass at the Jungle Theater, Next Fall tells the story of two gay men in a committed relationship whose lives change irreversibly when one of them is involved a freak tragic accident.  The play begins in the waiting room of the hospital, where Luke's friends and family have gathered as he lies unconscious in his hospital bed.  The story of Luke and Adam's relationship is told through flashbacks, which alternate with present-day scenes in the hospital.  Luke and Adam love each other and have made a life together, despite very different worldviews.  Luke is a devout Christian who believes in heaven and hell, while Adam is an atheist who can't understand how Luke can continue to believe despite what his faith has to say about homosexuality.  Somehow Luke is able to reconcile that contradiction, something his Christian friend Brandon can't accept.  But both Adam and Brandon start to rethink their opposing positions when faced with the possible loss of someone important to them.

Luke's southern Christian parents are also there in the waiting room, and neither one knows that Luke is gay and living with Adam.  Luke has always been afraid to tell them, despite Adam's urging to do so.  When it comes time for decisions to be made about Luke's care, his parents are legally responsible, and Adam has no say.  When Adam's relationship with Luke comes to light, there are some tense moments, but in the end, they realize that they all love Luke, and begin to listen to and comfort each other.

OK that sounds really depressing, but there are also quite a few humorous moments as we watch Luke and Adam's relationship unfold through flashbacks.  And Luke's eccentric mother (Maggie Bearmon Pistner) provides many humorous moments as she interacts with the others in the waiting room.  It's a "laugh through your pain" kind of show.

Garry Geiken (whom I saw recently in Latte Da's Song of Extinction) gives a funny and heart-breaking performance as Adam, and Neal Skoy (in his Twin Cities professional stage debut) is quite charming as Luke.  Stephen Yoakam (who was recently named best actor by City Pages for his performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Jungle last year) allows Luke's father's deep feelings for his son to peek through his tough exterior, and has a wonderfully subtle and believable accent.

Luke is an actor, and his family and friends keep talking about his performance in the play Our Town a few years ago (which fortunately I saw recently at Yellow Tree, so I understood the reference).  The theme of Our Town is that people don't usually appreciate life to its fullest until it's over.  Next Fall has a similar theme.  It's a play about loss and regret, but also about love and togetherness and living the life you want to live.


*A note to my fellow theater-goers.  Please make sure to turn off your cell phone when you enter the theater.  And then double-check to make sure it's off.  And if you don't know how to turn off your cell phone, don't bring it into the theater!  At a crucial moment during the play, someone's cell phone went off, which totally took me out of the moment.  It was very distracting and disappointing.  I wanted to reach for my remote and rewind a few minutes and watch that scene again!  So please, friends, make sure your phones are off!  Thank you.