by CHRISTINE SARKES Cardboard Piano at the Park Square Theatre is a powerful drama about love, human cruelty, redemption and forgiveness. The play’s themes stand in stark contrast to the happy Winter Carnival and Super Bowl festivities taking place now in the Twin Cities, but they are timely and profound. The four actors, who play seven…
by CHRISTINE SARKES The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence, a 2014 finalist for Pulitzer Prize for Drama at Park Square Theatre, is truly a curious case. It is a lightly entertaining and well-acted confusing mix of steampunk meets Sci-Fi time travel meets Sex and the City. The website’s synopsis won’t help much either: “Four…
by CHRISTINE SARKES Inclusiveness and gratitude were the themes of the 12th Annual Ivey Awards held last evening at the Historic State Theater, downtown Minneapolis. Theater professionals honored their own and one of ours–Star Tribune theater critic Graydon Royce–as they reached beyond the typical candidates by awarding a non-actor, costume designer Trevor Bowen, with the Emerging Artist Award. Bowen got his…
tot is Mu Performing Arts‘ 50th World Premiere of a new play; in this case, playwright Victor Maog‘s quirky piece about a ten-year-old boy who immigrates from the Philippines to the San Francisco Bay Area to be reunited with his parents. Tot’s parents had departed from then military-ruled Philippines to seek a better life, leaving their only son…
BY TAMAR NEUMANN: I learned a couple of things about myself on Saturday night. First, I don’t really know anything about deaf culture. Second, if there are subtitles I can’t help myself—I must read them!! These two new pieces of information were discovered when I attended Park Square Theatre’s production of Love Person. It’s their newest…
By ELLEN FERRY. I took my seat before the Andy Boss Thrust Stage fearful that what I was about to witness—a 90-minute rendition of one of the finest plays ever written—would feel severely truncated. Romeo and Juliet’s star-crossed love is archetypal. The tale need not be explained, but would such a short run-time leave me…
by CHRISTINE SARKES This is not your dreaded high school AP English version of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Director Joel Sass’s adaptation at Park Square Theatre is instead alive and accessible, with diverse casting and dynamic staging that highlight the humor and humanity of the play. My daughter, who was my guest to the opening…
BY TAMAR NEUMANN: A couple of years ago I was on a play selection committee for a theatre company. I suggested that we read and consider Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue for our next season. At our next meeting my choice was callously disparaged as confusing and boring, and the group moved on in favor of more…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE The Matchmaker, now on Park Square Theatre’s Andy Boss Thrust Stage, is writer and playwright Thornton Wilder’s (Our Town) satirical and humorous take on class differences, new wealth, love and the importance of having adventures. This is the play that was later turned into the iconic Tony-award winning musical, Hello Dolly!, starring Carole Channing and the 1969…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Cyrano, at the Park Square Theatre, offers swoon-inducing romance and swashbuckling action in this modern adaptation by Michael Hollinger. J C Cutler in the title role and Emily Gunyou Halaas, as Cyrano’s love interest Roxane, deliver poignant and tender performances that had many audience members sniffling during several romantic exchanges. The small cast takes on…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 