"Cost of Living" by Full Circle Theater at 825 Arts

Frank Theatre introduced #TCTheater to Polish-American playwright Martyna Majok's work with their excellent production of Ironbound in 2024 (a nominee for a Twin Cities Theater Bloggers Award for best play), followed by Sanctuary City earlier this year, which Theatre in the Round also produced a few months later. Now, thanks to Full Circle Theater, we finally get to see her 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cost of Living. All of her plays (at least those I've seen) deal with the immigrant experience, classism, the struggles of average Americans, and the failure of the American Dream. Cost of Living does this through the stories of two disabled characters and their caregivers, with a raw and unflinching look at the lives that they lead. The good news is Full Circle's production, in the intimate 825 Arts on University in St. Paul, is excellent; the bad news is they only have eight performances (after a week of community performances), half of which are over. So if you would like to see the excellent regional premiere of this funny, moving, surprising, thought-provoking play - act fast!

"Sanctuary City" at Theatre in the Round

I'm not sure it's ever happened before that Frank Theatre and Theatre in the Round have done the same show in the same season. Frank has been around for 35 years, and does risky, interesting, meaningful plays (that are sometimes a little weird and dark). Theatre in the Round, the oldest theater in Minneapolis, is known for their Agatha Christie mysteries and more classic choices, but also isn't afraid to challenge their audience with some new or lesser known work. However it happened that both theaters produced Sanctuary City within a few months of each other, it's fortunate for #TCTheater goers. This play by Polish-American playwright Martyna Majok (whose work Frank introduced us to last year with the fantastic play Ironbound) is brilliantly written and incredibly timely, as it tells the story of two teenagers who came to this country with their parents as children, and are now faced with the uncertainty of living as undocumented immigrants. Something that's even more terrifying under this administration, and has even gotten worse since Frank's production of this play just three months ago. I don't think there's a large intersection in the Venn diagram of Frank's audience and TRP's audience, so I hope more people get to see this play. There was a small crowd on the Saturday night I attended, but I hope that Theatre in the Round's audience gives this show a chance. It's a bold choice for them, and they do a wonderful job with it. If you missed Frank's production of Sanctuary City, or you want to see another interpretation of it, check it out at Theatre in the Round weekends through June 1.

"Sanctuary City" by Frank Theatre at Open Eye Theatre

Just about a year ago, Frank Theatre introduced the work of Polish-American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok to #TCTheater with the play Ironbound, about which I wrote, "It's only mid-January, but I'm confident this will be one of the best plays of 2024." That statement proved to be true; Ironbound did indeed make my list of 2024 favorites, and was nominated for five Twin Cities Theater Blogger Awards (winning one). Frank was smart to go back to that well and bring us another Majok play this year. Sanctuary City is another powerful and timely drama with fantastic performances by the small cast, spot on design, and impeccable direction. See it Thursdays through Sundays at Open Eye Theatre until February 23 (note: Open Eye is a small space and some performances are already selling out, so don't wait too long to get your tickets to see what could be one of the best plays of 2025!).

"Ironbound" by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

Leave it to Wendy Knox to discover a new-to-#TCTheater playwright who has written (at least one) gorgeous, funny, devastating, and very human play about immigrants, poverty, classism, sexism, and so much more. Ironbound is believed to be the first of Polish-American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok's work to be produced in the Twin Cities, and it's a stunner. As per usual, it receives top notch treatment in Frank Theatre's production, with beautifully raw and real performances from the four-person cast and an understated but effective design. It's only mid-January, but I'm confident this will be one of the best plays of 2024. It plays Thursdays through Sundays at Gremlin Theatre until February 11. Click here for info and tickets, and watch for Frank's remount of another fantastic and relevant play, Fetal, playing at their intimate studio space in late February. After a very long hiatus, it's a joy to have Frank Theatre back with two strong plays, that are probably among my favorites that I've seen them do.

A Reading of "queens" at Playwrights' Center

"Now in its 12th year, the Ruth Easton New Play Series gives selected Core Writers 20 hours with collaborators to workshop their script—to write, rewrite, experiment, and shape their work. For playwrights, this means great leaps forward for their plays. For audiences, this means a thrilling and intimate night of theater."

I attended my second "thrilling and intimate night of theater" as part of the 2016-2017 series last night (see also December's Wink by Jen Silverman). It was a clear, cold, snowy, moonlit night, perfect for gathering with fellow theater-lovers and theater-makers to experience a new work of theater. And what an exciting new work Martyna Majok's queens is. Although unfinished (the 3rd act has yet to be written and was described in a few sentences), it drew me right into the world of the play and made me care about these characters. I look forward to seeing the full work onstage sometime in the coming years, but in the meantime, it was a thrill to be a part of the play development process at Playwrights' Center, something they do so well.