Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "Gasthaus"

Day: 6

Show: 21

Title: Gasthaus

Category: Drama / Original Music / Historical content

By: TROMPE L'OEIL

Written by: Kevin Bowen & Lynn Bowen

Location: Phoenix Theater

Summary: The story of an inn on the border between West and East Germany not too long after WWII.

Highlights: Inspired by a true story, the playwrights tell the fictional tale of a family trying to run their inn and dealing with border patrol inside their home. It's a compelling story, if a bit cliche, in which the West German daughter falls in love with one of the East German soldiers. The charming German-themed set, authentic period costumes, and live accordion music help set the scene, with the cast speaking Germlish (English with a few German words thrown in like Nein, Guten Morgan, Ost, and Danke - the language I used to speak with my friends when studying abroad in Austria). Directed by Amanda Weis, the cast is talented and engaging in this look at a fascinating time in history in which families and friends were separated by an arbitrary border (which has happened a lot throughout the history of this planet). An overall enjoyable show, even if the ending is a bit too easy and abrupt.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

"A View from the Bridge" at Theatre in the Round

If you're a fan of American theater classics, get yourself to Theatre in the Round (which happens to be the longest running theater in town) in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis. Their excellent production of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge features strong performances from the whole cast (particularly the leads), a really cool set with vintage props, and great staging in their intimate in-the-round setting. This completely engrossing and tragic story of flawed and very real characters navigating hard times and tricky family relations in 1950s working class Brooklyn will get under your skin. It's one of those experiences that makes you feel like you've been on a journey with these characters, one that's hard to shake when you leave the theater. It's probably the second best play I've seen at TRP (the best being the gorgeous production of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke in 2012). Don't let this one fly under your radar.