"Hamlet" by The Gray Mallard Theater Company at Sociable Cider Werks

Shakespeare at the Pub is back! This is the 5th year of The Gray Mallard Theater Company's summer Shakespeare productions outside Sociable Cider Werks, their only show of the year. For the 3rd year in a row, I sat on a folding chair in a parking lot enjoying a locally made cider and an intimate, accessible, and engaging production of one of the Bard's best works. And this is perhaps the best weather I've had for this outdoor production, with a lovely cool summer day in the '70s, a welcome break from the unbearable heat and dangerous smoke coming down from the fires in the Northland (which cancelled their opening night last week). I had to put on a jacket as the sun went down, the stars came out, and the stage lights went on, appropriate for this story of Prince of Denmark as it descends into darkness. Head to Northeast Minneapolis some Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday through August 2 to see this excellent production of Hamlet in a unique setting. Bring a chair or get there early to claim one of their padded folding chairs, grab a cider or other beverage inside of Sociable and/or a burger from Smashed Patty's (house-made tofu burgers also available), and settle in for some FREE Shakespeare.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2023: "Dock Work"

Day: 9

Show: 32

Title: Dock Work

Category: DANCE - MODERN / DRAMA / PHYSICAL THEATER / HISTORICAL CONTENT /NON-VERBAL / POLITICAL CONTENT

By: Jackdonkey Productions

Directed by: Zach Christensen

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: A multi-media performance around unions and workers' rights using dance, music, spoken word, and scenes.

Highlights: This is definitely unlike anything else I've seen at Fringe. An experimental devised work like this is exactly what Fringe is for. Directed by Zach Christensen, performers Caiti Fallon, Tessa Dahlgree, and Sri Peck represent dock workers, and really all workers. Wearing black pants and tank top with an orange hat, they dance, perform repetitive movement like someone might do on a dock or in a factory, and perform spoken word or storytelling, alone or as a trio. They're all incredibly expressive, in their movements, facial expressions, and emotional delivery of text. The dances are accompanied by recorded music and later, a live rock band in similar costumes (Karsten Mink, Leo Lerner, and Clark Amann). The only set pieces are three stools, sometimes used as stools, other times as props, and a ball of red yarn that becomes impossibly entangled in the stools and forms a triangle for performance. The spoken pieces are poetry or stories, including the attempts at unionization at a Starbucks. With the prominent current strikes by TV and film writers and actors, it's a timely, powerful, and affecting show that explores the theme of workers' rights in an unconventional way.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.