"Two Gentleman of Verona" by Frosted Glass Creative at Rustic Roots Winery

Shakespeare in the Vines is back! One of the true pleasures of the short Minnesota summer is seeing theater outdoors. Particularly Shakespeare, which taps into a centuries-long tradition. This is Frosted Glass Creative's fourth year presenting Shakespeare in the Vines at Rustic Roots Winery in Scandia (about a 45-minute drive Northeast from the Twin Cities), but only my second year attending it. Rustic Roots is truly the most idyllic location for outdoor theater (even in the midst of some construction to expand their facilities). And Frosted Glass' production of the comedy Two Gentleman of Verona (believed to be the first play Shakespeare ever wrote) is fun and playful and accessible, as Shakespeare was meant to be. But hurry, there are only two more performances at Rustic Roots. Or you can head to Hastings or Chisago City next week to catch additional performances at wineries there (full details and schedule here).

"Joan of Arc" at Open Window Theatre

Open Window Theatre's latest original play takes on the legendary figure of Joan of Arc, warrior saint of France. It's an epic and complicated story, and while there's a lot to like about this new play, at three and a half hours (including intermission), it's just too long. Written by Artistic Director Jeremy Stanbary in modern language that's easy to follow and understand, with even some lightness and humor, the characters are interesting and compelling. But there's just too much of it, and in particular the almost two-hour long second act feels like it, with a dragged out ending. The website lists the runtime as three hours, so maybe it'll tighten up throughout the run, but the script could also use some editing to condense characters, streamline (or cut out) some scenes, and focus the story more on Joan, who doesn't even show up until halfway through the first act. The cast is great, the design impressive, and I'd love to see a more condensed version of it someday. If you have three and a half hours to spare, check it out and see what you think. Grab a coffee or a nap, bring snacks, and head out to Inver Grove Heights for Joan of Arc through May 31. 

"And Then There Were None" at Lyric Arts

Well-dressed people staying in a fancy and isolated house keep getting murdered. No, I'm not talking about The Traitors, I'm talking about Agatha Christie's novel-turned-play And Then There Were None, which I'm now convinced was the inspiration for The Traitors. Watching this gripping and deliciously suspenseful play is a little like breakfast in the castle, wondering who won't enter the room (and the audience reacts almost as big as the cast of The Traitors does!). As there are fewer and fewer of them left, they all begin to suspect each other of being the murderer, the traitor. Who is it? I won't say (and I haven't watched The Traitors finale yet so don't tell me), but even though I had seen this play eight years (and 1000+ shows) ago, I didn't guess who the murderer was. This play is a classic and a lot of fun, even though the original title is extremely offensive. But if you can put the origins aside, Lyric Arts' production of this classic is well cast and expertly designed and executed. See it at on their Main Street theater in Anoka through March 22, and don't forget the popcorn!

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: Wrap-Up and Favorites

The wonderful theatrical whirlwind that is the Minnesota Fringe Festival is over for another year, and I'm left with great memories of friends, fun, and theater, and also not a little exhaustion (I took an afternoon nap yesterday and then slept nine hours last night). I never cease to be amazed, impressed, and moved by the incredible talent in this festival, both local and touring artists. This year I saw 39 Fringe shows in 10 days, but technically I saw 42 shows within the 11 days of the festival, because I took the first day off to drive to Duluth and see Zeitgeist Theater's incredibly immersive and intimate production of my favorite musical RENT, and I took a few afternoons off to see a NEXT new works reading at Theater Latte Da and Artistry's fabulous production of the beloved classic Singin' in the Rain (continuing through August 31). But other than that, I saw a show in every timeslot that I could (not counting 10pm shows because #morningperson). And I did not see a bad show, in fact the majority of the shows I saw were excellent. Which makes narrowing my list of favorites down from 39 to something less than half of that a nearly impossible task. So here's a list of some (but not all) of the shows I loved at Minnesota Fringe this year. But Fringe is never really over; they continue activities and programming year-round, so be sure to follow them on social media and sign up for their email list (if you're not already). And most of the artists and companies in this festival do work all year round, so if you saw someone or something you really loved, check out what else they're doing this season. The 2025 Minnesota Fringe Festival is over, but #TCTheater never ends!

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Against My Will"

Day: 9

Show: 29

Title: Against My Will

Category: Comedy / Drama / Solo Show / Spoken Word / Storytelling / Historical content / Political content / Shakespearian elements

By: Michael Quadrozzi

Created by: Michael Quadrozzi

Location: Rarig Xperimental

Summary: A solo storytelling show about overcoming childhood trauma.

Highlights: #TCTheater artists Michael Quadrozzi knocks it out of the park with his first solo storytelling show. It's so vulnerable, so beautiful, so moving. When he walks on stage and declares he has baggage to unpack, he's not talking about the backpack, duffel bag, and large roller suitcase he's lugging. Although he does literally unpack those bags, revealing family photos, childhood mementos, and other visual aids to his storytelling. But the real unpacking is of his childhood growing up on the East Coast with a narcissistic mother (and possibly other undiagnosed mental illnesses), a divorced dad he only saw on the weekends and who died suddenly when he was in college, and various stepparents and step/half siblings. With the help of words and drawings he writes on a large sketchpad, peeling of the pages one by one and laying them on the floor, he tells his well-written story in a way that's polished yet casual, as if he's sharing his deepest secrets with us, his new friends. And while the specifics of his story are unique to him, the themes of challenging families, grief, anxiety, and finding one's own way in the world, are universal. The best part of Fringe is when artists take their pain and turn it into art for all of us to cathartically share in, and this is a beautiful example of that.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

"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.

"Survivors" at Six Points Theater

Just in time for Holocaust Remembrance Day, Six Points Theater is presenting the play Survivors, which tells the stories of ten Holocaust survivors. 79 years ago today the concentration camp Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet army. In the course of human history, or even American history, that's not that long ago, and unfortunately it did not mark the end of violence, discrimination, and hate against the Jewish people. It's so important to keep telling these stories, to remember the horrors that Jews endured not so very long or far away, because as they say in the play, "Never Forget! Never Again! Never is Now!" Survivors only has three performances; it's more of a special event than a part of Six Points' full season. But if you have a chance to see the final performance on Sunday afternoon, I encourage you to do so. Each performance is followed by a discussion about anti-Semitism with local leaders and scholars. Anti-Semitism never went away, but has seen a resurgence in recent years with the extreme political climate, as well as in recent months since the Israel-Hamas War. I'm so glad I was able to attend this moving performance and informative discussion, which was heavy and a bit depressing, but also hopeful and inspiring. (Click here for info and to purchase tickets to the final performance.)

"The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley" at Lyric Arts

The Christmas at Pemberley play series by Lauren Gunderson and Margo Melcon has become a new #TCTheater holiday* tradition. The playwrights have taken the characters and relationships from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and continued them on into the following years. These plays came to us first through the Jungle Theater, which produced Miss Bennet (focusing on bookish sister Mary) in 2017 to such success that they co-commissioned a sequel, The Wickhams (about Lydia after her elopement with Mr. Wickham), premiering in 2018. After a pandemic pause, they brought us the third play (another co-commissioned rolling world premiere) Georgiana and Kitty (focusing on the friendship between Mr. Darcy's sister and a forgotten Bennet sister) just last year. Also last year, Lyric Arts wisely jumped on this bandwagon, producing the first play in the series, Miss Bennet. This year they're continuing the story with the second play, The Wickhams, the events of which happen concurrently with those of Miss Bennet. One can only hope they'll complete the trilogy next year with Georgiana and Kitty, but for now, head up to charming downtown Anoka for the best Jane Austen fan fic, that "perfectly marries Jane Austen's legacy of female-centered stories in a man's world of property, marriage, and inheritance with modern feminist sensibilities." You can visit Pemberley-in-Anoka Thursdays through Sundays until December 22.

"Our Town" at Lyric Arts

Thornton Wilder's 1938 play Our Town is a classic of the American theater for a reason. It's a slice of life kind of play (or rather, three slices of life), in which not a lot happens, but everything happens. Our Town tells the story of an average American town in the early 20th Century, filled with average people. While the gender roles feel dated (the men go out to their jobs while the women stay home and take care of the home and family, and everyone is married), the themes still resonate. In fact I find the older I get, the more bittersweet the play becomes. The idea that it's the ordinary days that are the very stuff of life, and we rarely realize their value while we're in them, only becomes more relevant the more those ordinary days stack up behind you. Lyric Arts' new production uses the traditional bare bones style, and adds movement and music to help color the world of Grover's Corners. With beautifully sparse design and a talented cast, they've created something heart-breakingly lovely. You can visit Grover's Corners on Main Street in Anoka weekends through the end of June.

"Orlando" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Although based on a 1928 Virginia Woolf novel and adapted into a play around the turn of this century by Sarah Ruhl, Orlando speaks very much to this time, with its exploration of gender fluidity, and it's skewering of societal norms around gender identity and gender roles. Written in a modern narrative style, with the ensemble taking turns describing the story as it plays out, there's a playfulness to it despite the seriousness of the ideas presented. Theatre Pro Rata has assembled an excellent cast and team to bring the complex, modern, insightful story to life at the Crane Theater (through March 27, click here for info and tickets).

"Another Miracle on Christmas Lake" at Yellow Tree Theatre

It almost took a miracle for me to see Yellow Tree Theatre's annual original holiday* comedy based in the fictional and very Minnesotan town of Christmas Lake. I arrived at the theater with a group of friends on a warm and rainy December night to find that the performance had been cancelled due to a tornado warning (in Minnesota in December?! and climate change isn't a thing). The next week everyone was busy with Christmas plans, so a subset of the group rescheduled to see one of the last performances this week. Amidst a slew of show closings on Broadway and locally, this show did indeed happen! A perfect final show of 2021, closing out a less than perfect year of theater, but one that saw growth, ingenuity, and a return to some form of normal (more on that in the coming days). There are only two performances left of Another Miracle on Christmas Lake, but you can still get yourself to Osseo to see it if you act quickly. Or make plans for their two upcoming shows in 2021 which are both brilliant and rare choices - the funny, feminist, historical, and modern play In the Next Room; Or, the Vibrator Play and the musical Passing Strange.

Zephyr Theatre's ShakesFaire - "Shakespeare LOL" and "As You Like It"

I'm interrupting this Fringe coverage to bring you news of FREE Shakespeare in the Park! Stillwater's Zephyr Theatre is presenting three shows as part of their annual Shakespeare festival, held in lovely Valley View Park just outside of Stillwater. I saw two of the three shows last night, the first of only five performances this weekend only. It's a gorgeous location with a natural and partly shaded slope for audience viewing (bring a chair or blanket), and really fantastic performances of these two great shows. Read on for more about Shakespeare LOL and As You Like It, then make plans to head out to the park this weekend to enjoy some great outdoor theater, which also includes a puppet show by Open Eye Theatre. Click here for details, but reservations are not required (although donations are accepted).

"Isaac's Eye" by Theatre Pro Rata at Gremlin Theatre

In Isaac's Eye, playwright Lucas Hnath (recently nominated for a Tony for A Doll's House: Part Two, soon returning to Broadway with Hillary and Clinton) imagines the life of one of our most famous and most prolific scientists - Isaac Newton. The smart, funny, modern play, well written and well realized by Theatre Pro Rata, is one of those plays that will get you thinking about issues big and small. Similar to the theme of Sunday in the Park with George, a young Isaac is forced to decide between home and family, and his passion and work in the larger world. The play seems to question whether or not his hard work and sacrifice is worth it if he died alone. Looking at all of his contributions to the world of science, I would answer a definite yes. If he had chosen a small town family life, giving up science, we wouldn't now how gravity works! But that's a question for each viewer to grapple with and decide for themselves.