October, a Busy Month for Theater

by SOPHIE KERMAN Every weekend in the fall, there seems to be an endless stream of shows opening around the Twin Cities, and despite the best efforts our tireless band of volunteer reviewers, we can never manage to see everything. October feels like a record high for opening weekends this year: although Anna Rosensweig and…

Preview: 24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown

by SOPHIE KERMAN As Theatre Unbound‘s Artistic Director Stacey Poirier says, “24 hour plays are the Xtreme Sport of theatre.” With that in mind, the company is presenting the 24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown, a reincarnation of the 24-hour play project that has been a tradition for more than ten years. To gear up for the 24-hour…

Declaring a Truce: Bringing World War I Back to Life

by SOPHIE KERMAN Twin Cities audiences might notice an interesting phenomenon this holiday season: two different productions of the same story. Both the Minnesota Opera‘s world premiere of Silent Night and the reprise of the Cantus/Latté Da/Hennepin Theatre Trust production of All is Calm stage the incredible Christmas Eve of 1914, when German, English and…

Who Are Our Neighbors in a “Post-Black” World?

by SOPHIE KERMAN What could the Mixed Blood‘s production of Neighbors have to say to the New York Times Sunday Book Review? Quite a lot, I imagine, and I bet the characters in “Neighbors” would have some strong words for the Times. The NY Times article in question is called “The Post-Black Condition” (September 25, 2011), a…