"The Crucible" by Hang Fire Productions at the Historic Mounds Theatre

A #TCTheater company so new they don't even have a website or an Instagram page, Hang Fire Productions is making their debut with the classic play The Crucible. I'm not sure which came first, the company name or this production, but "Hang Fire" is certainly an appropriate name for a troupe tackling this dramatization of the Salem witch trials in late 17th Century Massachusetts, in which a firestorm of fear and accusations resulted in the hanging of 19 innocent people. More than 300 years after the events depicted and 70 years since Arthur Miller wrote the play in response to McCarthyism, the themes of religious fanaticism, mob mentality, the miscarriage of justice, and scapegoating are still relevant. If anything, with the anonymity and viral nature of the internet, it's almost easier for this kind of thing to happen. Hang Fire Productions, formed from some of the artists involved in the now defunct Mission Theatre, makes a promising debut with this strong production. Their short two-weekend run concludes this weekend at the Historic Mounds Theatre* (click here for info and tickets).

"Romeo and Juliet" by Mission Theatre Company at the Crane Theater

As of this week, I've seen Romeo and Juliet nine times in some form or other (not counting West Side Story, its most successful adaptation). Not because I particularly love Romeo and Juliet (although I still remember a few lines I memorized in high school English class many years ago). But because it's done a lot (the Guthrie is opening their season with it this fall). So why do it again? Why see it again? Romeo and Juliet still fall in love at first sight. Romeo still kills Tybalt. Romeo and Juliet still react to his banishment with despair rather than just running away together. And the friar's stupid messenger still fails to deliver the message, resulting in the senseless death of both of these teenagers. But there's a reason it's done so often and has inspired so many adaptations (the latest being James Corden and Emily Blunt's musical version). It's a story of love, crazy stupid irrational love, in the face of hate and violence. Mission Theatre Company promises a Romeo and Juliet like you've never seen before. And they deliver, with an energetic and physical adaptation that builds from romantic comedy to tragedy over two intense hours with no intermission.

"Ghost Train" by Wayward Theatre and Mission Theatre at the Minnesota Transportation Museum

Wayward Theatre Company, the company that recently brought us an "innovatively imagined and well executed" Tartuffe at the James J. Hill House, is now partnering with Mission Theatre Company to bring us the deliciously fun and spooky Ghost Train in another one of 19th century railroad millionaire James J. Hill's buildings. The Jackson Street Roundhouse was once a maintenance facility for the Great Northern Railway, and now houses the Minnesota Transportation Museum. Filled with old trains and displays about the long ago era of train travel, it's perhaps the coolest space in which I've ever experienced theater. Or maybe that's just my inner Sheldon Cooper talking. But there's no doubt that surrounded by all of this historic equipment and memorabilia, it's quite easy to be transported back to the 1920s by this comedy/melodrama/thriller play and its terrific cast and detailed design.

"Macbeth" by Mission Theatre Company at the Minneapolis Theater Garage

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most well-known tragedies. You know the story, it's the one about the Scottish general who receives a prophesy that he will be king, so he kills a bunch of people with the help of his wife until they both go crazy. It's a typical Shakespeare tragedy, full of battles and death and insanity. Mission Theatre Company's production is a creative interpretation of this classic, with music, drumming, and very physical performances from the cast.

At the center of the show is Michael Kelley as Macbeth, with an intense, mesmerizing, fully committed performance as he takes Macbeth from a happy and optimistic general in love with his wife, to a desperate, grief-stricken, ghost-seeing crazy person. Also good is Amy Vickroy as Lady Macbeth; the two have a real connection onstage. The prophetic "weird sisters" (played by Abby DeSanto, Anneliese Stuht, and Andrea Rose Tonsfeldt) are deliciously weird and creepy, always onstage (even as the house opens before the show), striking statue-like poses, speaking rhythmically in unison ("double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble"). A few gender changes are done very well. Macduff is a woman (well played by Meagan Kedrowski), and (spoiler alert) it's her husband and children who are killed at their home while she's the one to avenge them and kill Macbeth. And King Duncan's daughter, not son, eventually becomes "King of Scotland" when the dust settles.

Penelope Parsons-Lord directs this capable cast in their matching hairstyles of braids and fauxhawks, and has also designed the aesthetically pleasing and functional costumes - good for running, rolling around, and fighting but still looking regal or soldier-like. And as if giving a great performance as Macbeth isn't enough, Michael Kelley has also designed the sparse but effective set in the large blank slate of a space that is the Minneapolis Theater Garage, and is responsible for the fight choreography. It's some of the most intense, brutal, realistic, intricately choreographed stage fighting I've seen, with the copious blood elegantly represented by red ribbons.

Mission Theater Company's Macbeth is a creative interpretation of a class that remains true to the story. But being Shakespeare, it's still quite long, almost three hours with intermission. I wish they had pared down the story to a more manageable two hours or so (like the Guthrie did several years ago), but maybe that's just my sleep deprivation talking. If you're a fan of the Bard, you might want to check out what they've got going on (playing through May 24).


P.S. There's also a really cool art exhibit in the lobby, so check that out if you go.