"Julius Caesar" by Minnesota Shakespeare Theater at the Crane Theater

There's a new theater company in town, and they have the boldness to call themselves Minnesota Shakespeare Theater. But it's true that we don't really have a theater company dedicated exclusively to Shakespeare. Classical Actors Ensemble mostly does Shakespeare (including their annual outdoor Shakespeare in local parks), but as their name implies they occasionally do other classics. Great River Shakespeare Festival has been doing great work by the river in Winona for over 20 years, but they're a summer festival and also do non-Shakespeare plays. So maybe it is time that #TCTheater had its own Shakespeare company, and judging by their first production, the historical tragedy Julius Caesar, Minnesota Shakespeare Theater (from the people behind Shakespearean Youth Theatre) is the one to fill that niche. The play is very well done, with impressive design, a talented cast of #TCTheater veterans and newer actors, and most importantly, a clear presentation of the dialogue and the story. This Julius Caesar is compelling and urgent, and like so many things these days, feels like an eerily prescient warning call about the dangers of unchecked power. But MST's inaugural production runs for two weekends only, with pretty full houses on opening weekend, so don't snooze if you want to check out the new Shakespeare game in town. I for one am impressed and intrigued, and can't wait to see what they'll do next.

"Preferred by Discreet Women Everywhere" by Freshwater Theatre at the Crane Theater

This fall, Freshwater Theatre is featuring new work by women artists, and they couldn't have picked a better time. In rep with a short play festival called "The Feminine Surcharge," they're presenting a collection of three short plays set in a women's bathroom. A place where many of us spend a considerable amount of time. While my visits to the restroom are usually less dramatic than these, it certainly is a place for drama, for strangers coming together, for friends having intimate conversations, for women hiding from undesirable people or events outside the bathroom door (true confession: I've been known to spend a longer time than necessary in the bathroom when events are awkward or boring or uncomfortable). Ruth Virkus' three plays under the title Preferred by Discreet Women Everywhere explore these ideas. The result is funny and real and poignant, and feminist. An all-female cast and creative team shouldn't be as rare and novel as it is, but you can witness it now through October 28 at the Crane Theater in Northeast Minneapolis.

"Hamlet" at Park Square Theatre

The Guthrie is currently staging a fantastic production of Romeo and Juliet, and now, across the river, Park Square Theatre brings us an equally fantastic production of Shakespeare's other most popular and produced play, Hamlet. The two make a nice pairing; both are youthful and modern with fantastically talented and energetic casts. This Hamlet, adapted, directed, and designed by Joel Sass, features a condensed cast of just nine, some gender-swapping (which provides more roles for women in male-heavy Shakespeare plays), and what I would call a breakout performance by Kory LaQuess Pullam in the title role, except that he's been breaking out for a couple of years in #TCTheater. Last year the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers chose him as our favorite new artists/one to watch (a choice he's continually reaffirmed this year), and the StarTribune recently called him "the fastest rising prince of Twin Cities theater." If you're not yet aware of Kory's work, as an actor on various stages around town, as a playwright and artistic director of Underdog Theatre, or as a founder and improviser with Blackout Improv, you will be now. He leads a talented ensemble in an interesting and inventive new production of one of Shakespeare's best.