The Crucible From Night Fire Theatre is a Powerful Production That Broadcasts a Warning for Today

Looking around the sanctuary at the Living Spirit Methodist Church where Night Fire Theatre has mounted its production of Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible, I had one thought. This play is criminally under attended. Which puts me into full The Stages of MN action. This is why I started this, to share with people great shows they might not know were running. This is a great production, this is one you need to get to. I know what you are thinking, isn’t that a slow old timey play? No, it isn’t. It is a riveting production that, though written in the 50’s as an allegory for McCarthyism, feels frighteningly relevant today. How does a play written about events that occurred in the late 1600’s to shine a light on events in the 1950’s feel like it was written for today? Because as the play itself proclaims, “we are what we always were”. There will always be those among us that will use fear to stoke hatred in order to obscure their own faults. The Crucible tells the story of a group of young women led by Abigail Williams, whom it’s interesting to note that by the views of her society is guilty of sexual misdeeds, who prey upon the superstitions of a community whose critical thinking skills have been removed through religious indoctrination, at first to distract from the rules they broke and avoid punishment, and later as revenge against anyone that displeases them. Remind you of a certain President, convicted of sexual abuse and linked to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who stokes fear among the religious right and Fox News cult to distract from his 34 felony convictions and other crimes against Immigrants, Transgender people, and anyone who disagrees with him?

Arthur Miller’s script stands on it’s own as a masterpiece of the American theater. It is perhaps the supreme example of the allegory as a technique to comment on society. Director Penelope Parsons-Lord has staged a compelling production against Scenic Designer Keven Lock’s simplified set constructed of wooden pallets. Parsons-Lord isn’t content to let the script speak for itself and present it straightforwardly on stage she takes advantage of the space having actors enter from every possible route, even using the balcony briefly. There are Directorial flourishes that help to create an emotional understanding of what is happening in the play. Such as the use of the Janis Joplin song “Piece of My Heart” in an early scene to convey to the audience that the young girls are simply being teenagers, dancing in the woods with their friends in a small display of private rebellion against their elders. Or the black ash that falls upon Salem in the final act, it has no explanation in reality, but it’s a striking visual to convey the sense that the soul of the city has been destroyed and what remains are the ashes of a once vibrant community.

There is nothing quite as thrilling as seeing great performances in an intimate space and this play gives us that. Derek Dirlam conveys an intensity and power as John Proctor, the everyman who must battle the irrationality of the court’s reasoning and blindness. Lizzie Esposito as Reverend Hale and Aaron Ruder as Deputy Governor Danforth are both fantastic at portraying their characters logic and beliefs whether accurate or misheld, their performances keep the tension mounting, giving glimmers of hope, and pangs of frustrated hope. Patti Gage as Reverend Parris seemed to be stumbling with her lines in the opening scenes, but soon overcame that and by the end her near hysterical performance was extremely effective at conveying her characters encroaching sense of doom and damnation. Isabelle Hopewell successfully gets us to despise her conniving and malignant Abigail Williams. Penelope Parsons-Lord along with directing and designing the costumes plays John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth broadcasting fear, intelligence, and finally a quiet air of nobility and bravery in the face of madness. Stephanie Kahle plays Mary Warren, The Proctors servant girl who is initially with Abigail but repents and tries to do the right thing. Her performance in the scene where she must face the Deputy Governor, Abigail and the other girls is heartbreaking. She vividly captures the emotional rollercoaster of fear battling conscience, her final act is made sympathetic by the emotional reality of her performance.

The Crucible is a must see show! Those who took in the recent production of The Messenger at Six Points Theater will find this to be a great companion piece. Night Fire Theatre’s production of The Crucible runs through April 12th at Living Spirit United Methodist Church in South Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.nightfiretheatre.com/the-crucible

Now more than ever in the wake of the most recent election and the hailstorm of stupidity and hate it has unleashed, Theater companies need you and we need them. Buy tickets to shows go out and support work that reflects diversity and inclusiveness. Donate to your favorite theater companies, don’t wait until they are on the brink of shutting down. We all need to stand up and fight for our Theaters whose funding is under attack for promoting inclusion, equality and diversity.

Tired of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself left out when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.

But that’s not all! You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

The Mousetrap Will Keep You Guessing Until the Very End at the Guthrie Theater

The cast of The Mousetrap Photo by Dan Norman

The Guthrie Theater’s production of The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie is a luxuriant, thrilling, and witty production of one of the greatest mystery plays of all time. I’m a huge Christie fan, so I try and see any adaptation or play of hers that comes along. That usually ends up meaning that I just see the annual Christie adaptation at Theatre In the Round. But, lately there seems to have been an upswing in Christie productions including a wonderful adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express two years ago at the Guthrie, but also productions at Park Square Theatre and Yellow Tree Theatre. The Mousetrap has been playing in London’s West End for over 70 years since it opened in 1952, making it the longest running play in history. I have seen the play twice before, first when my college mounted it about 30 years ago, and then more recently when Lyric Arts staged a production in 2022. In 2022 I couldn’t remember the solution of who the killer is, but my memory isn’t so poor that it has faded from my mind in just three years. The plus for audiences to this production is, that unless you’ve seen the play performed before, read the play or had some rotter spoil it for you, you’ll be going in blind. You see part of the original contract for the play states that no film adaptation can be produced until at least six months after the West End production has closed. One begins to suspect there will never be a film of The Mousetrap. Given that, I’m going to give very little detail of the plot as I do not want to inadvertently tip anyone to the solution. The Mousetrap is a well plotted mystery full of red herrings and plot twists. It’s a great whodunnit with a nice amount of character driven humor along for the ride.

The setting is an English Manor which a newlywed couple is converting into a guesthouse, this would be what we would consider a boarding house I suppose, as bedrooms and common rooms are provided along with all of the meals. They have four guests arriving for their first week in business. Those four will be joined by a mysterious guest who is seeking shelter after his car is stranded in the blizzard that will soon cut off the residents of Monkswell Manor from the outside world. They will be joined by a police Sergeant who makes an heroic attempt to reach them via skis as the police believe that one of the people now at Monkswell Manor is a murderer!!!! Each of the guests seems to have something to hide making it near impossible to guess who’s in danger and who is a danger.

The Guthrie’s cast is superb and Director Tracy Brigden stages the action very effectively. Monette Magrath making her Guthrie Debut joins local favorite Peter Christian Hansen as Mollie and Giles Ralston, the proprietors who have their hands full running a new and unfamiliar business as well as dealing with difficult and eccentric customers. For instance, Mo Perry who plays Mrs. Boyle, possibly the most contrary and judgemental old biddy in England, plays it so perfectly that you get a little thrill everytime someone upsets her. My favorite is the over the top in just the right way, Greg Cuellar as Christopher Wren the architect, but not that architect, Christopher Wren. He’s a bundle of affectations that endears him to the audience and Mollie, but rubs the manly Giles the wrong way. Cuellar is the most out there character of the group and he doesn’t hold back in his performance, and as such brings the most humor to the show. Matthew Saldivar plays Mr. Paravicini, a mysterious foreigner seeking shelter from the storm. Another very stylized performance but one that belies an intelligence rather than eccentricity, he is also a source of much comic relief, but of a more sophisticated and witty type. Matthew Amendt plays Detective Sergeant Trotter who arrives to save the day only to find a house full of people who refuse to be up front with him, putting their lives at risk by keeping secrets. Amendt, plays the Detective with mounting exasperation, he is trying his best to root out the killer before he or she can strike again, but continually discovers that secrets are being kept from him.

The scenic design by Walt Spangler is stunning in every detail. If it’s one thing the Guthrie Theater has over most others in the Twin Cities area, the space and resources to really wow us from a production standpoint. It has to be seen to be believed, the photo above looks great, but doesn’t do it justice. I sat in the front row, a location I highly recommend, and the vastness of the set, the ceiling that seems to be four stories above the stage was an awesome visual. But it’s success was also in the details, such as the snow falling outside the Great Hall windows, the light and smoke from the fireplace. Every technical element was superbly realized including John Gromada’s sound designs and musical compositions. The lighting design by Rui Rita and the wonderful period costumes by Susan Tsu. I especially loved Tsu’s various costumes for the flamboyant Christopher Wren.

If you’ve never seen The Mousetrap it would be hard to imagine a better introduction to it than this. The stunning set populated by this wonderful cast brings the classic whodunit to life in a very rewarding way. Fans of Mysteries and thrillers will find this ingenious script keeps them guessing right up until the end. Just remember, once you learn the truth, you must keep it to yourself just as audiences have been doing for 70 years! The Mousetrap runs through May 18th at the Guthrie Theater in Downtown Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2024-2025-season/the-mousetrap/

The Book Club Play is a Literary Blast at Lakeshore Players

The Cast of The Book Club Play at Lakeshore Players 2025 Photo by Kara Salava

The Book Club Play contains all the elements you might look for in a good book; drama, comedy, social commentary, romance. It touches on all the qualities of the books it’s characters read. But above all, it’s a comedy, one that draws much of it’s humor from the best possible well, that of character. The play is written by Karen Zacarias, whose ability to create characters that can be summed up as a type, but then refuse to be simply that character’s tagline. This is my second exposure to this play by Zacharias. The first was a couple of years back at Theater in the Round and it was a favorite, in fact my wife loved it so much she went back with a group of friends to see it again. This production was just as enjoyable and I’m thrilled to highly recommend it! This is the sort of play that I like to recommend for couples who don’t get out to the theater often or as a great night out with a group of friends. The type of show where there is no way you’re not going to leave the theatre saying “we should go to the theater more often that was really fun!”

Ana is a Type A personality who lives in a letter-perfect world with an adoring husband, the perfect job, and her greatest passion: Book Club. But when her cherished group becomes the focus of a documentary film, their intimate discussions about life and literature take a turn for the hilarious in front of the inescapable camera lens. Add a provocative new member along with some surprising new book titles, and these six friends are bound for pandemonium.”
plot summary From the Theatre in the Round Website

That’s basically all you need to know of the plot because the humor and heart of the play comes from the characters and their relationships. Lakeshore players has gathered a very talented group of actors who know how to bring Zacarias complex characters to life, always avoiding making them into caricatures. With 7 actors appearing on stage and all of them so good it’s hard to choose who to highlight. What I noticed most about the ensemble was the way they genuinely seemed to be listening to each other. They were exceptionally good at showing us their character’s thoughts and feelings when the attention wasn’t on them. A great example is Mitch Kiecker’s portrayal of Rob, Ana’s husband. Ana played by Laura Knobel is frequently seeking the spotlight or the one holding court. It was fascinating to watch Kiecker at these times and how natural and in the moment he appeared at those times. If I had to choose a favorite it would either be Lewis Youngren who plays William or Katie Rowles-Perich who plays Alex. William co founded the Book Club and was Ana’s first romance and Rob’s roommate back in college. William plays him humorously immaculate, and his line reading when he makes a revelation in the second Act is uproariously funny. Rowles-Perich plays an interloper to the book club that Ana sees as a threat to her perfectly curated group of people. Rowles-Perich blows through the book club like a breath of fresh air and full of intelligent insites. Her reactions to the group in many ways mirror our own.

One of the little touches that I love about this script is these inter scenes between book club meetings where Erika Soukup performs as different characters giving testimonials. Director Jess Yates stages these brief little bits cleverly, even having one of them off to the side on a wall above some of the audience. Sarah Brandner’s set design is perfectly suited to the play with the audience placed where the Documentary’s camera would be. The Book Club Play runs through March 23rd at Lakeshore Players in White Bear Lake. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lakeshoreplayers.org/bookclubplay-season-72-1

*Portions of this review come from my previous review of the play.

The World is Burning So I Made Smores One of the Funniest Shows Yet at The Brave New Workshop

Photo Courtesy of Hennepin Arts and The Brave New Workshop

If you’ve never been to the Brave New Workshop (BNW) for one of their sketch comedy shows, The World is Burning So I Made Smores is the perfect show to take the plunge with. The humor is topical but perfectly MAGA friendly; no seriously, if you are a Trump supporter don’t have any qualms about attending this show, none of your wrongly held believes will be questioned or joked about even in the slightest, sincerely. In fact, what a perfect way for liberals to extend an olive branch to their former MAGA friends, invite them to this light comedy show that looks for the silver lining in today’s overcast days. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to thank all those who voted for Trump than to take them to this show and watch their responses. You know that uncle of yours who’s always going on about the transgender mafia’s attempts to take over the WMBA? You know the one you faked having Covid so you wouldn’t have to see him at Thanksgiving and Christmas? Yeah, bring him and Aunt Karen to this show, they’ll just eat it up, trust me.

Like all of the BNW shows telling much about it can only lessen your enjoyment. I will say that there seemed to be more musical numbers than usual, all of which are very funny. The cast is great as always, missing from this show is longtime performer Doug Neithercott, but who we do get are fantastic. Without saying too much, here are some favorite bits. Dora the Explorer played by Isabella Dunsieth. Katy McEwen as a sportscaster interviewing Donald Trump, played by Jeffrey Nolan, about his draft day cabinet picks. Lauren Anderson as a mother explaining to her daughter that grown ups don’t know what to do either. Denzel Belin as Captain America and his run in with Captin’ Merica. And one of my favorite portions of the night was Act III which was all improv, which of course means it will be different every night based on audience suggestions.

The World is Burning So I Made Smores runs through May 17th at The Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepinarts.org/events/the-world-is-burning-so-i-made-smores-2025

Tolkien an Examination of a Friendship Between Two Literary Giants At Open Window Theatre

Caleb Cabiness and Shad Cooper Photo by Richard Mailand (Up North Creative)

Tolkien by Ron Reed makes it’s U.S. Premiere belatedly at Open window Theatre, a faith based theatre company operating out of their own space in Inver Grove Heights. The play chronicles the friendship of the authors of the beloved Lord of the Rings and Narnia books, J.R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. We do witness and gain insight into the creation of both of those worlds, but the play is not about that, it is about the two mens friendship. The play deals a lot with their religious beliefs and touches on their politics as well. Fans coming hoping for a play about hobbits or lions will be disappointed. But people interested in these two men, in adult friendships, in exploring the genesis of art, and religious beliefs, will be as fascinated with this play as I was. This is not the play to bring your young child or most teenagers who are interested in fantasy fiction. At nearly three hours with an intermission, it is for mature audiences, not because of the suitability of the content but because it requires a thoughtful audience that is curious about interpersonal relationships more than orcs and elves. A good comparison might be the film Shadowlands, which was also a play which I haven’t seen, it tells of C.S. Lewis’s later life after most of the action in this play, but it is for adults who want to know about the man, his relationships and his beliefs.

I was completely captivated by the show and in no small part because of the very strong cast. Shad Cooper plays J.R.R. Tolkien and Caleb Cabiness is C.S. Lewis. Cooper and Cabiness play off each other well, in the early scenes, when they are just getting to know each other, you sense their surprise at actually connecting. Tolkien was somewhat stuck in his ways and Lewis was new to teaching at Oxford. They discover to their delight that they actually get on really well and inspire each others creativity. The growing friendship feels genuine as does their eventual growing apart. Also doing standout work is Corey DiNardo who impressed me last year in Stage North Theatre’s production of Mauritius. Here he plays Charles Williams a member of Tolkien and Lewis’ informal literary club, the Inklings. DiNardo is quiet effective at portraying Williams’ intelligence and perfectly modulates his performance so that we can see why Lewis is taken with him and Tolkien is not.

Director Joe Hendren does a nice job of utilizing Robin McIntyre’s set design which is spacious and easily allows for multiple settings with little scene change activity. There are also some interesting projections designed by Lighting Designer Alex Clark that give a sense of snow or leaves falling, and the faces of fallen friends appearing on the ground, an inspiration for a section in The Lord of the Rings. MaryBeth Schmid captures the period of the play with her excellent costume designs. Hendren creates subtle little flashes throughout that bring to mind imagery or characters from either the Narnia books or Tolkien’s Middle Earth. While the runtime does push the limit a bit, I was never less than fascinated by the play and this production. For anyone interested in these men and their friendship I recommend Ron Reed’s play enthusiastically.

Tolkien runs through March 30th at Open Window Theatre in Inver Grove Heights. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://owtheatre.org/plays/season-11/tolkien/

Patience From The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company at The Howard Conn Theater

Sam Vinitsky as Reginald Bunthorne, Mallory Rabehl as Patience, and Joe Allen as Archibald Grosvenor

Patience is I believe my fifth Production of The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company (GSVLOC) and while it turns out to be my least favorite so far, it was still a very enjoyable evening. Perhaps it’s that it seems like they took a little less creative license with this one or maybe it’s because it’s one I was completely unfamiliar with. There is no “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” or resetting of the action to the Scottish highlands. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a thoroughly enjoyable production, because it is. Two things remain constant across all of the GSVLOC productions, the exquisiteness of the music from the orchestra under Musical Director Randal A. Buikema and the vocal quality of the actors. In fact this show may have contained my favorite vocal performance so far in that of Mallory Rabehl in the title role of Patience. Director Gary Briggle has done an excellent job of staging the opera and again as is always the case with GSVLOC productions, everything from the sets by Wendy Waszut-Barrett, costumes by Barb Portinga, lighting design by Carl Schoenborn and Choreography by Tinia Moulder, is top notch.

The plot of Patience involves 20 lovesick maidens who are all in love with the local aesthetic poet Reginald Bunthorne. Reginald however loves none of them but rather Patience, a dairy maid. Reginald does however love the attention the 20 lovesick maidens bestow upon him daily. When the Dragoon Guard return to discover that their former sweethearts are all now infatuated with Reginald they are at a loss. Enter Archibald Grovsvenor, whom loved and was loved by Patience when they were just five years old. Unfortunately, Archibald in the intervening 15 years, has become by his own modest estimation the most beautiful man in the world. Realizing that love needs to be unselfish they conclude that there is nothing unselfish about loving a perfect being and therefore, cannot marry. As you might have guessed the 20 lovesick maids on seeing Archibald, transfer their affection to him, all except Lady Jane, the oldest of the maids, who retains her devotion to Reginald. I don’t want to say any more about the plot but if you guessed that Jack and Larry have to pretend to be aesthetic poets to convince Mr. Furley that the women he saw them with down at the Regal Beagle, were just inspirations for their poems, then you get where it’s going.

The major theme of Patience is the satorizing of the late 1800’s aesthetic movement, and it is where much of the humor comes from. The portrayals of both Reginald and Archibald rely heavily on playing up the affectations of the aesthetic poet. Sam Vinitsky as Reginald is very funny playing up the role, not only as an actor but as the character who confides at one point that he hates aesthetic poetry as well. Joe Allen as Archibald, plays it with such elevated narcissism yet with just the perfect dash of charm that you don’t hate the character but affectionately roll your eyes at him. Allen does a complete about face towards the end and the change is striking and very fun. Another favorite in the cast was Lara Trujillo as Lady Jane, something about the way she played the character so devoted and so crushed when spurned was very amusing. As mentioned earlier Mallory Rabehl is extraordinary as Patience, her beautiful voice matches her characters purity and as my wife pointed out she’s cute as a button and uses it to instantly endear the audience to her character.

Patience runs through April 6th at The Howard Conn Theater. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://gsvloc.org/on-stage/

Dear Evan Hansen Will be Found at the Ordway

Michael Fabisch Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

Dear Evan Hansen is the show you may know as the suicide musical. That is a fair description but it is also an extremely limiting one that doesn’t embrace the other aspects of the show. The show centers around the suicide of a troubled teenager named Connor Murphy, but what it explores is the need we all have for connection. The show doesn’t put its focus on Connor, the suicide happens off screen, he’s a character we see very little of before the suicide, and we are never told how or why it occurs. The focus is on the living and, through a misunderstanding, something positive can come of tragedy. That misunderstanding directly relates to the title of the musical. The main character Evan Hansen is inscructed to write himself a letter of positive reinforcements by his therapist. That letter his taken by Conner and is found on his body. His parents mistakenly assume that Connor is the author of the letter and that their friendless son was actually friends with the equally friendless Evan. Unable to correct the error and seeing the comfort it gives his parents, Evan creates a series of fake email exchange between himself and Connor that creates a fictitious friendship between the two. What starts as a well intentioned deception, snowballs into Evan who is raised by a single mother that works full time while also attending night school, becoming a surrogate son to the Murphy’s. This also brings Connor into close and frequent contact with Connor’s sister Zoe, whom he has a crush on. Eventually Evan and two fellow classmates, Jared and Alana create The Connor Project to shine a spotlight on Connor. The message Evan conveys in the song “You Will Be Found” with the lyrics:

You are not alone Even when the dark comes crashing through And you need someone to carry you When you’re broken on the ground You will be found
Lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

What the show does extremely well is capture the reality of being a teenager and a parent in our time. What parent can’t relate to the sentiments expressed in the first song “Anybody Have a Map?“

Another Stellar Conversation for the scrapbook Another stumble as I’m reaching for the right thing to say I’m kinda coming up empty, can’t find my way to you Does anybody have a map? Anybody maybe happen to know how the hell to do this?
Lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

It does a great job as well of allowing us to empathize with Evan’s actions. We know they are wrong and cannot end well. But the character of Evan is so well crafted that by the time when get to the initial misunderstanding, we know his character well enough to understand what he’s needing in his life, what his problems are, and what his desires are. The show portrays the incidents in a way that we fully understand how and why the character of Evan, young and fragile as he is, makes the choices he makes. When he feels like it needs to be ended another reward appears and lures him deeper into the lie.

In this production, the second that I’ve seen not including the disasteriously cast film version, I was extremely impressed with the younger members of the cast playing the teenagers. Michael Fabisch is excellent as Evan Hansen with a voice that seems perfectly suited for the range in which the characters songs are written. He is very engaging while also conveying the characters awkwardness and anxieties. Hatty Ryan King as Zoe also sounds great really shining on the songs “Requiem” and in the duet with Evan “Only Us”. Makena Jackson as Alana and Gabriel Vernon Nunag as Jared also capture their characters really well. Both bringing personalities that create moments of humor in their accurate portrayals of recognizable young high school types, both their positive and negative qualities. It’s the young cast that really stands out in this production.

The set design by David Korins which consists of a few tableaus that roll on and off the stage as needed, like a dining room table or Evan’s bedroom is simple but effective. The primary design element though is the projections designed by Peter Nigrini which are cast upon large screen panels staggered throughout the stage. On it, we see social media and texting messages which reminds us of the ways in which today’s teenagers have grown up with this technology. Its constant presence on stage reflects its role in their lives and in a show about alienated and disconnected youth it’s presence is a clue as to why that is. Interestingly, it’s also the conduit by which Evans message that you are not alone goes viral. Steven Levenson’s book for the show wisely shows us the dangers of the technology while also understanding that realistically it isn’t going to go away and so we need to use it positively as well.

Dear Evan Hansen is a very good musical with a lot of standout songs and a positive message. This is dark subject matter but the authors have found the appropriate level of humor to create an entertaining and rewarding night of musical theater. Dear Evan Hansen runs through March 16th at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://ordway.org/events/dear-evan-hansen/