"Nina Simone: Four Women" at Pillsbury House Theatre

Nina Simone: Four Women premiered at Park Square Theatre in March of 2016 to great acclaim. It won a couple of Twin Cities Theater Blogger Awards, and was remounted the following year, when the world was a much different place than it was the previous year. It's now ten years after this play premiered, and the idea of arts as advocacy, which Nina Simone is such a great example of, is even more vital today. Rather than tell Nina's entire life story, playwright Christina Ham focuses this play on one moment in her life, when she wrote her first Civil Rights song, and pivoted from being just a singer of pretty songs, to using her voice to advocate for change. Pillsbury House + Theatre's new production reunites the director of the original production, former PHT Artistic Director Faye M. Price, the music director Sanford Moore, and three of the original four cast members. It's an inspirational story that reminds us that we all have a voice, and that art is, was, and always will be political. Don't miss the chance to see this powerful and moving locally created play with music, even more relevant now than when it premiered (continuing through September 27).

"A Lesson in Love" at Pillsbury House + Theatre

The new play A Lesson in Love is a really sweet and funny (and a little bit heartbreaking) romcom that ultimately is not about the love between two specific people, but about being open to love in general, in all its forms. It's beautifully and cleverly written by #TCTheater artist Nubia Monks, whom I know primarily as an incredibly talented singer and actor, in a way that feels real and grounded. With complete, complex, and lived-in performances by the two-person cast, and simple yet elegant design, A Lesson in Love feels like a little bit of a balm to a weary world. It may make you forget about all of the hate and fear that pervades our world, and remember what is possible with love. At least for 75 minutes or so. See it at Pillsbury House + Theatre now through October 19.

"Close to Home" at Pillsbury House + Theatre

The new play Close to Home is a beautiful story about a chosen family. Three people who are estranged from their birth family for various reasons find each other, and despite differences and disagreements, they give each other the love and support that they need. This is a story about immigrants, trans people, gay people - all of the people whose stories and history and existence in the world the current administration is trying to erase. In other words, it's exactly the kind of play that we need right now, and it's beautifully acted, designed, and directed. See it at Pillsbury House + Theatre now through April 27.

"A Walless Church" at Pillsbury House + Theatre

Certain religious traditions say that humans were created in god's image, but I've also heard it said that humans created god in their image. Which is often not a good thing. But this is a good thing: in Pillsbury House + Theatre's production of the world premiere new play A Walless Church (walless = wall-less = without walls), three Black women, "godlings," show us how to create god in just about 70 minutes (and they're not happy about the time constraint). You need a big emotion, a common intention, and a conduit (although this one isn't absolutely necessary). But they need our help. Join in this loving, playful, heart-warming ritual of a play happening four to five times a week through October 13 at Pillsbury House in South Minneapolis.

"Passage" by Exposed Brick Theatre and Pillsbury House + Theatre

Two theater companies are joining forces to bring us Passage by Christopher Chen, loosely based on the 1924 novel A Passage to India. The central question is: is it possible for two people to be friends when one is a citizen of a colonized country and the other is one of the colonizers? Colonization has been a part of world history for hundreds, even thousands, of years, but awareness and discussion of its injustices has never been at a higher level. This play puts a human face on the sometimes abstract issue, and places the audience squarely in the shoes of both the colonized and the colonizers. For more on how this collaboration between Exposed Brick Theatre and Pillsbury House + Theatre came to be, listen to episode 2.3 of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers' podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat, in which my blogger friends from Minnesota Theater Love and I interview the co-directors of this piece, longtime friends and synchronized swimming teammates Signe V. Harriday (Pillsbury House's Artistic Director) and Suzy Messerole (co-Artistic Director of Exposed Brick). Then get your tickets and head to "the jewel of South Minneapolis" to see this thought-provoking and engaging play.

"bull-jean / we wake" at Pillsbury House Theatre

This season, Pillsbury House Theatre has been presenting work by playwright Sharon Bridgforth, whose play Dat Black Mermaid Man Lady / The Show they produced in 2018, about which I wrote "It's a piece that defies explanation, that maybe shouldn't be explained, but rather experienced." That description applied to their January production of the bull-jean stories, "a beautifully lyrical look at love and resilience through the lens of a Southern Black lesbian woman in the early 20th century," and even more so to the conclusion of this series. bull-jean / we wake is described on the website as "a new performance installation and invitation" that "envelopes the senses with incantations, memories, and future visions that invites audiences closer to their deepest questions and longings." It's more ritual than theater, and is a joyful and life-affirming experience. The short run concludes this weekend.

"the bull-jean stories" at Pillsbury House Theatre

This year, Pillsbury House Theatre is presenting the work of playwright and author Sharon Bridgforth, whose work Dat Black Mermaid Man Lady / The Show they produced in 2018, about which I wrote "It's a piece that defies explanation, that maybe shouldn't be explained, but rather experienced." Their current production the bull-jean stories, to be followed by bull-jean/we wake this summer, is a little like that. The amazing Aimee K. Bryant plays a dozen or more characters, all telling stories about a woman known as bull-jean, or bulldog-jean, in a lyrical and non-linear way. It's really beautiful, moving, and almost dreamlike storytelling (continuing through February 5).

"Charlie (Brown) Black" at Pillsbury House Theatre

In his first solo show, #TCTheater artist Mikell Sapp tells the story of his life, career, and experience working in the local theater community. The 2015 Ivey's Emerging Artist has not had as smooth of a path as one might expect is granted to such an award-winner, which he talks about so openly and honestly. He's as funny and charming as he is vulnerable and heart-breaking, engaging and personable throughout it all. In just 90 minutes we learn so much more about this artist, who's been appearing on stages around the Twin Cities for 11 years, as he explores the ideas of grief, self-doubt, dating, family, perseverance, and what it's like to be a young Black actor working in theater today. See Charlie Brown Black through June 12 at Pillsbury House Theatre.

"What to Send Up When It Goes Down" at Pillsbury House Theatre (outdoors)

Pillsbury House Theater returns to live theater with the play What to Send Up When It Goes Down by playwright Aleshea Harris (who also wrote the powerful revenge fantasy Is God Is produced by Mixed Blood Theatre a few years ago). Though written in 2019, this play could not be more relevant to this time and place. The time: coming out of a tumultuous year-plus that saw a devastating global pandemic, the continued murder of Black people by police that led to a racial reckoning, and an attempted violent overthrow of our government by white supremacists. The place: the parking lot outside Pillsbury House Theatre in south Minneapolis, just a few blocks from where George Floyd was murdered just over a year ago. This play was created by Black people for Black people as a safe space to gather, release, mourn, and celebrate the experience of being Black in America. Described as "part ritual and part theatrical experience," it's one of those rare plays that transcends theater to become an experience of real connection and communion with each other and what's going on in the world around us. This is the kind of profound, relevant, truly meaningful theater that I expected to come out of this last year, and I hope it continues.

"Flip the Script: The Great Divide IV" an audio play series by Pillsbury House Theatre

"During the 2016 presidential election, the American political landscape ruptured into one of the most heated divides in recent history. In response, Pillsbury House Theatre began The Great Divide project, commissioning five new ten-minute plays each year tackling the rising political tensions in America. As we head towards the 2020 election, on the heels of a pandemic and a global uprising, that divide has grown even larger. For the fourth and final installment of The Great Divide, Pillsbury House Theatre has invited five former Great Divide playwrights to write a companion piece to their earlier work that imagines a way to move forward, beyond the divide. By pairing playwrights' earlier work with pieces written in this election year, Flip the Script is a powerful examination of the past, present, and future of our political divide."

"Jimmy and Lorraine: A Musing" at Pillsbury House Theatre

I couldn't describe Pillsbury House Theatre's Jimmy and Lorraine: A Musing better than playwright/adapter Talvin Wilks does, calling it "a meditation on the American political climate of the late '50s and '60s through the lens of two significant artists of the time, James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry. Following their impactful careers as artists, their call to social activism and the challenges of wrestling with the balance of an artistic career and politics, their lives give us an opportunity to look at this rich period of political and social upheaval." This is a brilliantly constructed 90 minutes of theater that gives us a clear picture of these two artists/activists in all their complexity, with much (or all?) of the text coming from their own writings. It's really quite impressive how Talvin cobbled together all of these different sources to form a cohesive and dramatic story, like the most complicated jigsaw puzzle coming together to form a picture that was always there. A picture of a very specific time in America that still resonates today.

"Blood Knot" at Pillsbury House Theatre

Despite being written almost 60 years ago in a country on the other side of the planet, Blood Knot, currently playing at Pillsbury House Theatre, feels very relevant to the here and now. Through the story of two brothers, one dark-skinned and one light enough to pass for white, South African playwright Athol Fugard explores the complex issues of racism and white privilege, before that term was in our collective consciousness. It's remarkable that this play was performed (for one performance only) in Johannesburg in 1961, with it's strong anti-apartheid message. But even in Minnesota in 2019, we still have lessons to learn from it. This is a powerful, intense, and sobering play, beautifully acted by two beloved #TCTheater veterans.

"She Persists: The Great Divide III" at Pillsbury House Theatre

For the third year in a row, Pillsbury House Theatre is presented a collection of short plays that speak to our divided nation. The 2017 collection was subtitled Plays for a Broken Nation, 2018 was Plays on the Politics of Truth, and 2019 is an all-female collection/creation called She Persists. The series has been a really wonderful way to examine what divides us in a non-judgmental, non-threatening way, while offering a path towards hope and greater connection and conversation with each other. With most theater companies planning their seasons out a year or more in advance, it's difficult for them to immediately respond to what's happening in the world. But this series allows for that, with five brand new 10-minute plays that could not be more timely and relevant.

"West of Central" at Pillsbury House Theatre

A thrilling mystery in the classic noir style set in LA in the '60s sounds fun, but add in the fact that the smart and savvy detective is an African American woman and the play deals with issues of racism, segregation, riots, and changing neighborhoods, and you have a uniquely engaging and thought-provoking new play that only favorite #TCTheater playwright Christina Ham could write. West of Central was developed at the Playwright's Center, where I saw a reading two years ago as part of their Playlabs Festival. It was great then, and it's even better now after some tweaking and fully staged at Pillsbury House Theatre with precise design. Directed by Haley Finn (who also directed the PWC reading) and featuring a fantastic cast of local faves, West of Central is not just super cool and fun, but also has some interesting things to say about race relations then and now, as well as how we choose to live where we live and where we call home.

"Dat Black Mermaid Man Lady / The Show" at Pillsbury House Theatre

"This is why we're here." The final refrain of Pillsbury House Theatre stirring production of Dat Black Mermaid Man Lady / The Show, which one could call a play-musical-poetry-storytelling-dance-concert, is still ringing in my ears. It's a piece that defies explanation, that maybe shouldn't be explained, but rather experienced. In just about an hour we're taken on a journey into the past, into the Southern African American culture, into stories with various archetypal characters that come alive through the voices of the ensemble. Pillsbury House consistently produces new, relevant, innovative, thoughtful work, and this show is another example of that.

"The Great Divide II: Plays on the Politics of Truth" at Pillsbury House Theatre

Last year, just a few months into this divisive presidency, Pillsbury House Theatre presented a series of short plays commissioned from local playwrights titled The Great Divide: Plays for a Broken Nation. Utilizing art not to judge or blame, but to explore where we are at this present moment, how we got here, and how we can move forward. One year later, it feels like we're more divisive than ever (although not without a few glimmers of hope), and Pillsbury House has yet again commissioned five short plays, this time under the title The Great Divide II: Plays on the Politics of Truth. They asked the playwrights, "What does truth have to do with our us vs. them mentalities? What is the difference between fact and truth anyway, and does it matter? What happens when our firmly embedded emotions become facts?" The result is five very different and very thoughtful plays, all dealing in some (more or less obvious) way with truth.

"≈ [almost equal to]" at Pillsbury House Theatre

Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri's* work makes its area debut with Pillsbury House Theatre's excellent production of the odd and oddly titled ≈ [almost equal to]. But odd in a good way, odd in that it's uniquely structured and covers many topics and doesn't always entirely make sense. In fact pre- and mid-show announcements break the fourth wall a bit and tell us what to expect (or not). According to the program, the play "is a commentary on the constraints and effects of living within a capitalist economic system." A mix of economics, sociology, and family drama, ≈ [almost equal to] will leave you questioning the very meaning of money. In a world with vast inequalities of wealth, that's a worthy thing to think about in a play that's also engaging and entertaining.

"Pike St." at Pillsbury House Theatre

Pillsbury House Theatre is hosting New York based theater artist Nilaja Sun's acclaimed one-woman show Pike St. for three weeks, and my Minnesota theater friends - this is an opportunity you don't want to miss. A native of the Lower East Side, Nilaja brings all the beauty, diversity, community, and difficulties of her neighborhood to life in a show so all-engrossing, it's a shock to the system to be returned to reality after 90 minutes. She tells one specific story of a family in a hurricane, playing all of the different characters, but it's so much more than one family's story. It's about returning war vets, the joys and frustrations of living in a close community, the joys and frustrations of caring for a child with special needs, family, love, loyalty, and New York City - "the greatest city in the world.*" Pike St., which Nilaja also wrote, is a remarkable piece, and hers is a remarkable performance. Reserve your ticket now, it's the best $5-25 you'll spend today.

"The Great Divide" at Pillsbury House Theatre

Tension. Authentic. Provocative. Humorous. Hope. Uncomfortable. Despair. Familiar. These were some one-word audience reactions to the performance of Pillsbury House Theatre's collection of new short plays last night, titled The Great Divide: Plays for a Broken Nation. I think we're all aware that the world is not the same as it was a year ago, or even six months ago. Theater is a great way to explore the issues that we're all grappling with, to understand them, to process them, to look for solutions. Pillsbury House jumped right into this by commissioning five local playwrights to write a ten-minute play with the title as their only prompt. The result is a diverse collection of stories and characters that are all of the above things, as well as incredibly relevant, timely, and necessary.

"The Children" at Pillsbury House Theatre

Medea. Even if, like me, you've never seen or read the play, we all know the story of the mother who kills her children. Worst mother ever, right? But maybe, as they say on Crazy Ex Girlfriend, the situation is a bit more nuanced than that. Maybe there's more to the story, maybe other people in the story see it differently. Playwright Michael Elyanow (see also the beautiful play with music Lullaby) wanted to explore the story from the children's viewpoint. He writes in the playbill, "I started writing The Children as a response play where somebody does take action to defend those kids. In the writing, the piece revealed itself to be a fever dream, a time-traveling mystery, a fish-out-of-water comedy, a theatrical event with a perception shift in every scene until we get at what the play is ultimately, singularly about: trauma survival." That's about as good of a description as I could imagine. The Children is not an easy play to categorize, but it is a wonderful one to experience for 80 minutes. It'll challenge your perception of Medea, as well as your perception of time and space.