"Village Wooing" by The Orchard Theater Collective at the Germanic-American Institute

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is over, and the 2023-2024 #TCTheater season is still a couple of weeks away (watch for an episode of Twin Cities Theater Chat about that). But if you need a theater fix in this quiet time, have I got a show for you! Newish theater company The Orchard Theater Collective began a few years before the pandemic, started by some Guthrie/U of M BFA grads. They've mostly done small cast classics in non-traditional spaces. In the first show I've seen of theirs post-pan, they're doing another small cast classic in a non-traditional space. Specifically the two-hander Village Wooing by George Bernard Shaw outside and inside of the Germanic-American Institute on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Everything about this show is charming - the classic but unexpected rom-com script, the intimate setting, the lovely and natural performances by the cast, even the snacks at intermission! But there are only 5 performances left, with 40 seats per show, so get your tickets now!

"True West" at Theatre in the Round

Continuing their excellent 71st season, Theatre in the Round is bringing us the dark comedy True West. No one writes the dystopian modern Western like Sam Shepard, with complex, flawed, fascinating characters in the darkest of situations. The cast and creative team at TRP have brought this dysfunctional family to life in the best way. The in-the-round space makes it feel like we're watching these brothers in a fish bowl, surrounding them on all sides with nowhere for them to escape. It's gritty and brutal, and so much fun to be on the outside of it watching this family descend into chaos. True West continues at Theatre in the Round through May 14.