"Waking Miss Daisy" by Combustible Company at The O'Shaughnessy's Frey Theater

#TCTheater veteran actor James Craven starred in Jungle Theater's production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Driving Miss Daisy in 2013, a play that I (a White woman from Minnesota) saw and loved, seeing it for what it is on the surface - the story of an enduring lifelong friendship. But James, with his experience as a Black man, looked deeper, and asked questions about what was going on just outside the action of this play, in the American South in the mid-20th Century. He did not get satisfactory answers, but it did inspire him to write his own version of the play, which 13+ years later he has done, along with Combustible Company's Kym Longhi who also directs the piece. The result is an unflinching look at the ugliest parts of American history. The parts that we don't like to remember, that we like to pretend are over and done with, the parts that the current administration is trying to erase. But now more than ever it's important to remember all of our history, even or especially the ugly parts, to ensure they don't happen again. It's time for Miss Daisy, and all of the Miss Daisies out there, to wake up to the reality of what her dear Hoke's life was like, what his family's life was like, when he wasn't driving her around. As with all of Combustible's work, this piece uses movement to help tell the story, with the addition of historical images to really bring this history to vivid life. Unfortunately this is a super short run, and only three performances remain, but if you're able, please go see this powerful, sobering, and important new work (through March 14 at the O'Shaughnessy's Frey Theater on the campus of St. Catherine University).

"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.

"Parks: A Portrait of a Young Artist" at History Theatre

When I saw a reading of the then-titled The Gordon Parks Play Project three years ago, I wrote: "Friends, this is one of those experiences that transcended theater." When the reading is that good, and the playwright is one of #TCTheater's most talented and prolific, Harrison David Rivers, adding in acclaimed director Talvin Wilks, you know the finished product is going to be something special. Parks: A Portrait of a Young Artist, which has finally opened at History Theatre, is just that. Beautifully written, directed, and acted, with evocative images, well-chosen period songs, and an almost constant underscoring of music, Parks traces the origin of photographer, musician, and filmmaker Gordon Parks during his decade or so living in St. Paul as a youth. Once again his great-niece Robin P. Hickman-Winfield, a collaborator on the piece, was in attendance and spoke before the performance I attended, and it's clear that Gordon's legacy of Black artistry lives on in her, the students at Gordon Parks High School in St. Paul, and any other Black youth who picks up a camera, or a paintbrush, or a pen as their weapon against racism and injustice.

"The White Card" at Penumbra Theatre

"Perhaps this play might seem an odd choice, with such a [mostly white] cast, during Black History Month. But for me it is exactly the point. Rather than spend the month extolling the accomplishments of African Americans, it seems critical at this juncture of American history that we instead task white people with the fight against rising racism and bigotry in this country. That fight must be waged in living rooms and dining rooms as well as the Senate and the streets. That fight begins with critical self-examination." So notes Penumbra Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy in a note in the program for The White Card, which does exactly as she describes. The difficult conversations that arise when a black artist has dinner with white patrons of black art, who think that they're helping the cause of racial equality and justice but don't fully comprehend the problems or their place in them, are exactly the kinds of difficult conversations we need to be having right now. This is a play that white people need to see to gain some perspective and further that process of critical self-examination. It's very smartly and succinctly written, and sharply brought to life by the team at Penumbra.

"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.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "Stoopidity"

Day: 5

Show: 18

Title: Stoopidity

Category: 

By: Domino D'Lorion, Ian McCarthy, and Michael McKitt

Created by: Domino D'Lorion, Ian McCarthy, and Michael McKitt

Location: Rarig Center Xperimental

Summary: Three young black men use rap, rhyme, spoken word, dialogue, and song to explore their hopes, fears, and dreams.

Highlights: These three recent grads from the Guthrie/U of M BFA program overflow with talent and charisma. They represent the next generation of black artists (mentored by Talvin Wilks, no less), and the future looks good. They've created a show that feels sort of stream-of-consciousness as it flows from one scene to the next, almost all of it in rhyme. Each of the artists gets a chance to show their skills solo, and they also have great chemistry as a trio. The various scenes are funny or sobering or poignant or powerful as they express what it means to be young and black (and queer) in America today. They make great use of the space at the X, with the stairs on either side representing the titular stoop, and walking around the audience and across the balcony. There is great young talent on display here, and I hope they stay in town!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"Benevolence" at Penumbra Theatre

Five years after producing The Ballad of Emmett Till, Penumbra Theatre returns to the 1955 horrific murder that became a catalyst in the Civil Rights movement with the second installment in playwright Ifa Bayeza's trilogy - Benevolence. While Ballad was about Emmett himself - his life, family, and community as well as his tragic death, Benevolence explores the lives of two couples involved in his story. The first act focuses on the white woman who accused Emmett of assaulting her, and her husband, one of his murderers who was acquitted and then later confessed. The second act focuses on a black couple whose lives were touched by violence in the wake of the trial. The playbill notes, "like the land in its time, the play is segregated." It almost feels like watching two different plays, or two one acts around the same theme. Both are, like the first part of the trilogy, devastating and engrossing, and shed more light on this important historical event and the people involved. This world premiere play continues at Penumbra through March 10.

"This Bitter Earth" at Penumbra Theatre

Playwright Harrison David Rivers is having a moment here in #TCTheater. This spring he's had two world premieres (History Theatre's A Crack in the Sky and Theater Latte Da's Five Points, with music and lyrics by Ethan D. Pakchar and Douglas Lyons), and his play the bandaged place was the final reading in the Playwrights' Center's (where he's a core writer) Ruth Easton series earlier this month. And now, the jewel in the crown of Harrison David Rivers' 2018 #TCTheater productions is Penumbra Theatre's regional premiere of This Bitter Earth (which premiered at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center last fall). This brilliant play artfully combines the political (referencing several of the killings of young black man in recent years, interracial relationships, and gay rights) with the personal (an achingly beautiful love story). The talented two-person cast and creative team have created a visually and emotionally stunning production that engages the mind, the conscience, and the heart.

"The Dutchman / The Owl Answers" at Penumbra Theatre

In one of those strange theater-going coincidences, the night after I saw two one-act plays at the Guthrie, I attended opening night of Penumbra's presentation of two one-act plays. Both paired plays by different playwrights linked by a common theme. But unlike the theater comedies The Critic and The Real Inspector Hound, The Dutchman and The Owl Answers are dense and meaty dramas dealing with heavy issues. They might not make you laugh (except, occasionally, uncomfortably), but they will definitely make you think. Written in the '60s as part of the Black Arts Movement, these plays take an unforgiving look at the racism, sexism, and classism of the day, that still have implications in today's world. A stellar ensemble cast and top-notch production design tie the two very different plays together and highlight the playwrights' messages. Though they are not easy to watch and I can't say I understood everything that was going on, I certainly came away with much to chew on, and a greater understanding of our shared history. Which is pretty much a given at Penumbra Theatre.