by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN Lee Blessing’s Perilous Night is a peculiar play. There is a sensation of being pushed headlong into a combination of Octavia Butler’s time traveling race critique Kindred & Don Coscarelli‘s poignant absurdist Bubba Ho-Tep (which finds two extended care patients, who believe they are, respectively, JFK and Elvis, fighting a mummy). The…
A child of the ‘80s, I prepared for Children’s Theatre Company’s production of Charlotte’s Web by recalling the ‘70s animated movie. Templeton the rat rolling in fair food came to mind, and so too did Wilbur the runt prancing around the farm with a duckling on his snout. As the day came closer, I began singing “Lots in Common”…
by SOPHIE KERMAN The 2013 Ivey Awards, the Twin Cities’ celebration of the best of theatre, have been awarded! How many have you seen? Lifetime Achievement Award: playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, nationally-renowned playwright, the Lifetime Achievement Award, Aisle Say reviews of a few of his plays: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, Standing on Ceremony (contributor),…
by SOPHIE KERMAN David Lindsay-Abaire‘s Good People is a funny, scathing commentary on class privilege – but not for the reasons you might expect. Set in South Boston, Good People sets itself up as an answer to the classic question of whether social mobility is based on the all-American ideals of intelligence and hard work, or whether you…
The 2013-2014 season at the Guthrie Theater‘s Wurtele Thrust Stage opens with a production of the Russian classic Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov. It’s a fairly safe bet, since the play has enjoyed considerable popularity and critical acclaim since it first debuted in Moscow in 1899. This is with good reason; Chekhov‘s story is comic enough to be entertaining, and dramatic enough…
by SOPHIE KERMAN In the artistic process, from the initial spark of an idea to the final performance of a show, a lot can go wrong. Moon Show 143, in a limited run at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio, began as an intriguing idea: an exploration of humankind’s relationship to the moon. Adding puppets and an electronic soundtrack to…
It seems that everyone has decided to open their shows around the weekend of September 20 this year, and we just can’t cover it all! You can stay tuned for reviews of Moon Show 143 at the Guthrie (Sept 14-18), Good People at the Park Square (previews Sept 13, opens Sept 20) and Uncle Vanya at the Guthrie (again, previews…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 