"The Cottage" at Gremlin Theatre

It's the summer of Noël Coward in #TCTheater, and after the long hard winter we had, we deserve some summer escapist comedies. Last month, Theatre in the Round brought us the ghostly and hilarious Blithe Spirit, about a man who is haunted by his ex-wife, much to his current wife's dismay. The Guthrie is about to open Private Lives, about exes honeymooning with their new spouses. And Gremlin Theatre is throwing their hat into the ring with a new play that, according to Wikipedia, is "described as a modern take on a Noël Coward comedy." The Cottage is a straight up farce that is definitely reminiscent of Coward's plays, but since it was written by a modern female playwright (Sandy Rustin,* one of the most produced playwrights in America last season, in part because of her adaptation of the movie Clue) it gives a bit more agency to the female characters, with an atypical ending for a romantic comedy. Gremlin's regional premiere production of The Cottage, that premiered on Broadway just a few years ago, is perfectly cast, impeccably designed, and utterly delightful from start to finish. Playing now through August 2.

"Red" at Gremlin Theatre

'Tis the season for red. No, not because February is American Heart Month and Valentine's Day, but because this season there have been several productions of the 2010 Tony-winning play Red, the first since the regional premiere at Park Square Theatre some 13 years ago. I love a two-hander, i.e., two people sitting in a room talking, and Red is a most excellent example of the form. So even though I saw Lakeshore Players Theatre's wonderfully intimate and intense production just a few months ago, I was more than happy to spend a little more time with Russian-American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko and his (fictional) assistant via the talented cast and design team at Gremlin Theatre. Since first seeing Red in 2012, I have been lucky enough to see several Rothko paintings in person in museums in New York and/or Chicago; in fact I seek them out whenever I'm at a museum that houses modern art. At first glance, they're simple blocks of color, usually dark rich reds. But when you look deeper, they're so layered and endlessly mesmerizing. So is this play - just a simple two-hander, but so layered in the way it explores the life of an artist and the meaning of art, and in a broader sense ideas of legacy, grief, friendship, purpose.* This production features two fantastic performances, emotionally true direction, and gorgeously messy design. See Red now through March 1 at Gremlin Theatre in Vandalia Tower, where you can also enjoy a fun, delicious, and convenient dinner-and-a-show pairing at Lake Monster Brewing / OG ZaZa Pizza / King Coil Spirits, or SK Coffee before a Sunday matinee.

"Souvenir" at Gremlin Theatre

Florence Foster Jenkins was a wealthy woman in early 20th Century America who decided she wanted to sing, so she started performing recitals of classical music. And she didn't let the fact that she couldn't sing stop her! She became a bit of a phenomenon, in a The Producers "so bad it's good" kind of way. But the play Souvenir, which premiered off and then on Broadway about 20 years ago, doesn't treat her as the butt of the joke. It's actually kind of inspiring and heart-warming as it tells the story of someone who performed for the love of it, and didn't care what anyone thought. Music isn't about perfection, theater isn't about perfection, art isn't about perfection. And it isn't reserved for the select few; we're all artists, even if it's just for ourselves. Florence sums it up in this quote: "People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing." She did the thing. Gremlin Theatre's production of Souvenir is excellently done; the cast and creative team stay true to Florence's spirit of love for the art, although they are objectively more talented (continuing through November 30).

"Proof" at Gremlin Theatre

The 2001 Tony winner for Best Play, Proof ran for two and a half years on Broadway, had a national tour (rare for a non-musical), and was adapted into a 2005 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jake Gyllenhaal. There have been several local productions, but not in 5+ years, so it was time to revisit this brilliant play, and thankfully Gremlin Theatre is doing just that. I fell in love with the play when I saw it on tour 20+ years ago; in contrast to my current nearly 15 years as a theater blogger, I was a math major, so I love all of the math references and discussions of proofs and higher mathematics. But it wasn't just math nerds who made this play so popular. Despite the fact that I like to call Proof my second* favorite math play, it's about so much more than math. It's about family dynamics, caring for aging parents, relationships between very different siblings, mental illness, and what we inherit from our parents vs. making our own life separate from them. As per usual, Gremlin's production is practically perfect in every way - an excellent cast, clear direction, and spot-on design. See it in their Vandalia Towers theater (in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood) between now and March 30, and for one of the best and most convenient dinner-and-a-show pairings in town, visit Lake Monster Brewing in the same building, where you can now order delicious OG Zaza pizza from across the patio (bonus: as spring weather arrives, you can enjoy your beer and pizza al fresco).

"The Turn of the Screw" at Gremlin Theatre

It's just over a week past Halloween, and less than a week since we said goodbye to the 13th annual Twin Cities Horror Festival. But spooky season is still with us, for multiple reasons. One of those reasons is Gremlin Theatre's new production of The Turn of the Screw, a chilling ghost story that feels like a continuation of TCHF. So if you're not ready to turn the page from Halloween to Christmas yet, go see this expertly executed classic ghost story. an allegory about the very real evils in our world!

"The Thin Place" at Gremlin Theatre

Halloween may be over, but if you're still looking for a spooky theatrical thrill, look no further than Gremlin Theatre's production of Lucas Hnath's The Thin Place. Those of us who were lucky enough to see this play last year as part of Daleko Arts' final season know what a twisty psychological thriller it is, full of jump scares and real human emotion as the characters try to connect with loved ones they've lost. But even knowing what was coming, this production still got me! And if you haven't seen the play before, you're in for an even bigger treat as the story unfolds. Featuring a fantastic four-person cast, well staged in Gremlin's intimate thrust space, it's a delightfully chilling 90 minutes of theater. Pair it with a pre-show beverage at Lake Monster Brewing and/or dinner at King Coil, both next door in Vandalia Towers, and you have a perfect dinner-and-a-show evening. See it Thursdays (except Thanksgiving) through Sundays until December 3, plus a pay what-you-can-want performance on Monday November 20.

"Bakersfield Mist" at Gremlin Theatre

Head to the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul for Bakersfield Mist, a tight 70-minute two-hander that elicits both uproarious laughter and pin-drop silence with the revelation of real emotion. Most of the humor comes from the odd couple pairing of a trailer park dwelling bartender and an art expert from the big city, and much of the pathos comes from the fact that these are two damaged human beings who open up to each other in surprising ways. You couldn't ask for a better duo than #TCTheater vets Jen Maren and John Middleton, or a better director than Angela Timberman. The result is a really funny and entertaining dramedy that also explores themes of art, legitimacy, grief, and humanity. See it at the Gremlin now through April 2, and since it's only 70 minutes, you can make a night of it with a visit to Lake Monster Brewing (and food trucks) right next door.

"Samuel J. and K." at Gremlin Theatre

"A sports play written by Mat Smart? I'm in! (See also Tinker to Evers to Chance.)" I wrote this on Instagram last night, but as it turns out, Samuel J. and K. is not really a sports play. It's a play about brothers, family, betrayal, loss, and love. In the same way that Tinker to Evers to Chance (seen in a fantastic production at Artistry earlier this year) is not a sports play, but a play about family, grief, love, connection. There's something about sports that loosens people up and allows them to connect and talk about deeper things, and Playwrights' Center core writer Mat Smart uses that to great advantage in these plays. Here, two brothers (one adopted from Cameroon when he was three years old) bond over a game of basketball. Gremlin's production features two talented actors in their cozy intimate theater space, transformed into a basketball court and a hut in Cameroon by deceptively simple design.

"Dial M for Murder" at Gremlin Theatre

I concluded my unintentional Frederick Knott double-bill weekend with the fun and twisty murder mystery Dial M for Murder at Gremlin Theatre (see also Theatre in the Round's production of the English playwright's Wait Until Dark). It was fun to see the two plays back to back and notice the similarities: both take place entirely within an apartment with mention of a street door, both use phone calls to further the mystery, and both feature seemingly helpless maidens in distress who overcome their attacker and defend themselves, proving to their husbands that they are strong and capable and not so easily fooled. In Dial M for Murder, the husband plans the perfect murder, but if it were as easy as he thought to get away with murdering his wife, we wouldn't have a play. Gremlin's production is well cast and well designed, and tells an intriguing and engaging story.