There is a new theater company in the Twin Cities, Stage North based at the newly renovated Capri Theater in North Minneapolis. They have chosen as their first production King of the Kosher Grocers a play written by a native of North Minneapolis Joe Minjares. The play is set in 1991 in the same neighborhood where it is now being performed. When I learned of this new theater company, where it was located, and what show they were opening with, I had an experience similar to what happened to me several times while attending the performance last weekend, I got a little misty eyed. We all lament the 18 months of shuttered theater, the performances we missed, and the great shows that closed early. As we go back, we reflect on the pandemic and all it took from us. Now 18 months later, it’s easy to forget in our excitement to be back in the audience, that the pandemic is not the only major thing that happened in the world or specifically in our city in the spring of 2020. Our city erupted after the murder of a black citizen by Minneapolis police officers. And so that we do not forget, let us mark that citizens name, George Floyd. I struggle at times as a middle aged white male theatre blogger to identify how to show my support without seeming to appropriate the burden of others. It is not my place to speak for people whose reality I cannot possibly really understand. I need to cede the floor to those who live it so that they can be heard. The only thing I can do is to try and boost their signal when they send it out if I can. There are many people, activists, advocates, and artists all trying to speak to what is wrong in our city and in our country, I look forward to the art that will come from them. This is a play that is about 30 years old, that speaks to some of the underlying issues that brought us to a city on fire. But the real message is about how we care for our community and it showcases a world that is real for some, will seem completely fake to others, but seems almost ideal to me.

The premise of King of the Kosher Grocers sounds like the set up to a joke that will get you canceled. a Jew, a Mexican, and an African-American… I take that from the press release, but you see what I mean. So let me lay it out in a different way. Izzy Silvers, an elderly jewish man, has been the owner of Silver’s Grocery. It’s the neighborhood store that still delivers phone orders to customers as it has for 50 years. Izzy has part-time help from Jamar Mooney a young black college student whose grandfather Elvis Mooney seems to also help out around the store. Elvis is basically just Izzy’s friend who takes deliveries to an old widow that lives nearby that he is a little sweet on. Another friend who brings Izzy fresh homemade tortillas to sell every morning is Joe Chavez who also thinks nothing of making the odd delivery for Izzy as needed. The conflict comes into the story in the form of a city electrical inspector who has issued a 30 day warning of repairs that need to be made to the building or it could be shut down. The thing about this play is it isn’t about the conflict. The play is about the community that we are witness to. It’s about the way a Jew, a Mexican, and an African American co-exist as a community and as friends. It’s about the benefits of continuity but also about change and the renewal that can come from bringing in new blood as represented by Jamal and his friend Billy. The conflict comes from the city inspector but the solution to that also comes from the city. The play isn’t about identifying the villain, even if superficially there is one. It’s focus is on showing us what works. How a neighborhood can remain a neighborhood, how people can be important to each other when they simply think of them as people and not as a skin color. It doesn’t ignore the cultural differences it just treats them as things that make us different and more interesting to each other. Even the resolution to the conflict comes through communicating with respect. Talking person to person and compromise.

It all sounds kind of heavy doesn’t it? And yet it isn’t. It’s a comedy and like most really good comedy the laughs come not from punchlines but from character. I mentioned getting misty eyed, but it was the good kind. This is an uplifting play that makes you long for a neighborhood like this. For a Grocery store where three old friends spend their days reminiscing about the old days. A place where they know the people in the neighborhood they run them their groceries and notice if they haven’t called in at their usual time. A place where as an old man is reaching the end, there is a place for a young man to come in and carry on these practices that have created and nurtured this community. I hope that people who are now part of the neighborhood where this takes place come to the theater. I hope they can see something in it that they recognize or if they can’t that they see it as an example of something to strive for. Minjares has written a play that speaks to so many things while hardly seeming to acknowledge them. It does what we should all strive to do in life, model the actions and behaviors we want to see. It doesn’t talk about the problems with society that led to the outraged protest and howls of anger and despair in the spring of 2020. It models what our neighborhoods should be. People of all races and religious backgrounds, old and young all caring for and respecting each other.

The cast was all excellent. Anchored, in the performance I saw, by Michael Tezla as Izzy and James A. Williams as Elvis who establish from their first exchanges the familiarity of old friends. The third character Joe is usually played by the author of the work Joe Minjares, sadly Joe was hospitalized that weekend but I’m told he will be fine and should return to the play later in the week. Until then, the role was being played by Pedro Bayon who stepped in at a moments notice and performs on stage with script in hand. From what I could see the script was there just in case as he seemed to have the lines down, and having performed the role previously, knew the character. He did a fantastic job and if we hadn’t been informed of the substitution I probably wouldn’t have even realized it. All three of these veteran actors are shining examples of what experience and a lifetime of practicing a craft can result in. There’s never a false moment on stage between the three of them, even with one of the trio jumping in at a moments notice. They bring an authenticity to the characters that prevents them from simply being reduced to a Jew, a Mexican, and an African American who walk into a grocery store. Like their characters in the play one hopes they are modeling what they have learned for the younger performers in the show Ian McCarthy as Jamar, and Domino D’Lorion as Billy. In act one McCarthy’s Jamar is little more than a background character. In Act two he and D’Lorion take on a more prominent role, almost as if this is Act one for their characters and the final act for the older characters. Both McCarthy and D’Lorion bring an energy to their roles that is in contrast to the older characters but not in conflict with them and both are perfect in their roles.

King of the Kosher Grocers is directed by Peter Moore the Artistic Director of Stage North clearly with an eye to welcoming the community into their neighborhood theater. It is an excellent choice to launch their inaugural theater season with and I hope they connect with their neighbors. This is a play that everyone can relate to in some way and the production is full of warmth and compassion and genuine humor. They have certainly priced it to do so, tickets are $20 ($10 if you’re under 30 years of age). For more information and to purchase tickets go to http://stagenorthmpls.org. The production runs through November 7th 2021.

The Old Log Theatre in Excelsior MN launches it’s first play since the Covid-19 shutdown with the hysterically funny, The Play That Goes Wrong. Excelsior may sound like it’s a ways to travel for a show, but it’s really just a 30 minute drive from the cities and believe me, this production is worth the trip. I was a big fan of this show when the touring company came through a few years ago for the Broadway on Hennepin theatre season. I liked it so much I took it in twice in it’s one week run. I was worried how well Old Log Theatre would be able to stage this much loved show. My fears were groundless, Old Log Theatre have pulled off the production perfectly, which is ironic given the nature of this play.

This is basically a play within a play, in the tradition of Noises Off. Like that modern classic, it relies on split second timing to work. It’s not a show for a timid cast, as much a highwire act as it is a performance. The conceit of the show is that we, the audience, are attending opening night of an amatuer theatrical society’s production of The Murder at Haversham Manor. What we are there to actually see is a performance of a play in which everything that can go wrong does, and then some. To describe the specific mishaps that occur would rob you of the enjoyment in store but they range from set and prop malfunctions to missing performers. And while a tremendous amount of humor comes from things the cast cannot control, it also comes from the characters themselves. From hammy actors to reluctant stagehands, they all share one thing in common an unwavering belief that the show must go on. The fact that they’re an amatuer theatre group is key. They know enough to stay in character but not enough to cover over errors in a way that shields the audience from the mishaps. Instead of altering course to get the play back on track, they simply plow ahead. For example, if they are sent into a room to get a pencil, and cannot find one on the desk, they simply pretend to pick up a pencil as a professional performer would do. They feel like they must pick something up from the desk and pretend it’s the option they were sent for so for a pencil, they pick up the keys. Of course the keys will be asked for next but those being gone, something else will be taken instead. Their blind commitment to the the script and blocking turn singular mishaps into snowballing catastrophes. One thing you can say for this group of “actors” is, they will not quit.

The cast is a true ensemble and all of them work together to keep the mistakes coming at a breakneck pace. Neal Beckman as Perkins the Butler, brings a comic verbal quality to his role that goes beyond his characters penchant for mispronunciation. Audrey Parry as Annie one of the stagehands, provides one of the best nonverbal moments of the show when she has to take the place of a piece of the set that has broken. Michael Terrell Brown plays the actor with a double role in the show within a show, he plays two distinct characters but still allows us to see the same attention seeker actor playing both. Carl Swanson and Luke Aaron Davidson are put through the ringer physically particularly their time in the library, to say more would be to spoil the fun. Emily Scinto is surely the most bruised performer after each performance showing a true gift for taking bumps and milking them for laughs. The cast is rounded out by Greg Frankenfield and Neal Skoy doing their best to keep the show on track, usually in giggle inducingly and misguided ways.

As I said this is a true ensemble cast, there is no star but if there was, it would be the set. The set was the aspect of the show I was unsure they would be able to pull off. I’m happy to say that Erik Paulson’s scenic and lighting design is worthy of the star role. Assisted by Technical Director Evan Sima, Sound Designer Nick Mrozek, Costume Designer Amber Brown, Props Designer Abbee Warmboe they recapture the essence and the functionality of the very polished touring version. It is an environment that is a marvel to watch disintegrate before your eyes. A key to getting the most out of your attendance at this show is to get there early and watch the stagehands get the set ready, also make sure to pay attention during intermission. This is a show that is as much about the behind the scenes of putting on a play as it is about telling a story. There are easter eggs for the observant audience member. The show was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, & Henry Shields who have made a franchise out of these productions with “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” and a TV series, “The Show That Goes Wrong”. This production was directed by Eric Morris who finds the right balance for his cast of “staying in character” while also trying to communicate as the “actor ” with each other while on stage. He does a great job of keeping a clarity of what is happening at any given time in what could be a very confusing play.

This is a favorite show and I cannot recommend it enough. I suggest sitting as centered as you can and as close as possible to the stage, front row is not to close. I don’t usually have dress suggestions for readers, but if you have a weak bladder you may wish to invest in some adult undergarments. I had moments where I had trouble breathing I was laughing so hard. If you’ve been waiting for a fun show to head back to the theatre, this fits the bill. It’s hard to imagine a show that will give you more fits of laughter and sheer delight than The Play That Goes Wrong.

The Play That Goes Wrong play through February 26th 2022 for more information, for Covid policies, and to purchase tickets go to http://oldlog.com/Shows/The-Play-That-Goes-Wrong