Have you ever done something without knowing why? –so asks a character in If You Don’t Weaken, and it comes at a very timely moment, for the audience may just be asking themselves why this woman is making such inexplicable, illogical decisions in her life. So is the character’s friend, for that matter. After all, why…
by Adam M. Schenck Have you ever been sitting there in the audience, Live Theatre Goer, and wondered, “Why are there so few people here and so many people at home watching television?” Well, this critic has had that thought, and let me say that I can’t recall having a solid belly laugh at a…
At one point during The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible, one of the titular performers asked an audience member if he had ever wanted to be a magician. “Yes,” the man answered, and when asked why he never pursued this, he explained, “Well, I was 8.” The implications were obvious — being a magician is not…
Walking into the Southern Theater to see a retelling of a story first performed on stage over two millennia ago is a wonderful experience. The contrast of the exposed modern lighting and minimalist set pieces to the beautiful, century-old proscenium arch is a fantastic metaphor for the show itself, blending old and new. These are the Men is a…
by Rebecca Halat As a youth, Beauty and the Beast was one of my favorite movies, so the child in me was very excited to be able to see the Orpheum’s production, bringing my old memories to the stage. This performance certainly matched my expectations, and I was reminded of what a pleasure it is…
By Rebecca Halat and Adam Schenck Even before the film Selma, and before President Obama’s return to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in that Alabama town, we all knew the story of Martin Luther King, Jr. Many of us even know that the heroic orator’s persona has been sanitized to quell our worries about race and…
By LIZ BYRON. Leah’s Train is officially the first play I have ever seen that included time travel without a trace of science fictioniness (real word). It’s also the first production I’ve seen that involved Jewish migrants during wartime that didn’t depress me, and one of the only times I’ve seen an actor under the age…
The Pillsbury Production of Death Tax: Living On By ADAM SCHENCK and BECKY HALAT Imagine a world where instead of death being the great equalizer, one can live on—“be preserved”—if one has the money to maintain care. Lucas Hnath’s script offers a somewhat frightening look at the future of elder care, showing the awkward discussions…
By LIZ BYRON. “So, what’s the play about?” a friend casually asked me, when I told her I’d seen Mixed Blood Theatre‘s production of HIR. It took me a moment to compose an answer for her, because this play is just so full of story that I didn’t even know where to start. It’s about gender identity and sexuality…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 