Helen, Ten Thousand Things, Need I Say More?

Liv Kemp, John Jamison II, And George Keller Photo by Tom Wallace

Helen, the latest production by Ten Thousand Things (TTT) and the last under the purview of exiting Artistic Director Marcela Lorca, ends soon. I was able to squeeze in a late run performance but if you are going to catch this one you’ll want to act fast as the final performance is November 10th. That being said
I’m going to keep this short and sweet. My experience with Greek tragedy isn’t abundant, my first exposure was in Jr. High seeing something at the old Guthrie Theater, this would have been mid 1980’s, my second was actually Helen during my first year of college at NDSU either Fall 1991 or Spring 1992. Both of those were amazing looking productions, but If I remember correctly they put me to sleep. I’d say two out of three Greek tragedies have put me to sleep. I bring that up to point out that in my limited experience, and as is the case with Shakespeare, TTT is how you want to experience it.

They have a way of making centuries old works feel fresh and invigorating. Surely the adapters of Euripides classic John Barton and Kenneth Cavander have something to do with that, but I’ve seen enough TTT productions now to know they bring their own source of magic to the works. Marcela Lorca directs the play and choreographed the movement. She leaves the companies helm on a high note and we hope that the new incoming Artistic Director will be able to carry on with the extraordinary quality of TTT work. Working here with Composer and Music Director JD Steele, they have added an element of soul to that of the traditional Greek Chorus, which usually jarringly taking us out of the play. Here it makes the narrative sing. George Keller is fantastic as Helen but then everyone in every TTT production I’ve ever seen has been amazing. So just a couple of others to single out and then I’ll let you click on the link and see if you can score tickets for one of the last remaining shows. Lynnea Doublette, John Jamison II, and Bradley Greenwald all play a named role but also form the chorus, they all bring something special to their characters but also shine vocally.

For more information about Helen and to purchase tickets go to https://tenthousandthings.org/helen/

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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day 8 Review: Schaulust

With this final show I have attended all of the TCHF XIII productions and yet somehow I still didn’t get a Bingo. Oh well, sometimes it just isn’t in the cards. Besides I think the prize was a toothbrush and who the hell wants that, am I right? We want candy!!! I have to say that for the first time in my TCHF attendance which began in 2019, there wasn’t a single show that I had to write a bad review about. Hey they weren’t all great, but there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch. The more amazing thing, and what shows that this years producers were real risk takers, is that Allison Vincent wasn’t in any of them. Last year that was the one ingredient that guaranteed a hit show, so for no one to have cast her in a show was a very ballsy move. You can read my reviews of everyone of the productions in this years festival which continues through 11/4/24 at The Stages of MN. For more information and to purchase tickets to the remaining shows go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

Schaulust written and performed by Keith Hovis is part musical, part horror show, and all character study of an unstable mind. Hovis plays Wyatt a man who likes to watch, not in a creepy sexual way, but in a creepy everyday kind of way. He describes how it led to his break up with his boyfriend, though it wasn’t the watching part, the boyfriend was fine with that, it was something else, his need to not be needed. After the break up he finds a couple of people online who need money and agree to install a camera in their homes so he can watch them in exchange for money. Again not in a creepy sexcam way, just watch them playing video games, cutting their nails, sleeping on the couch. I’m not sure who to credit with the scenic design but it’s extremely well done. Wyatt’s home is a window into his fraying and disintegrating mental health. You can see the benefit of Schaulust playing in the Studio space, it has allowed for a fairly elaborate design, which really does inform our understanding of the narrator. It’s also one of the handful of shows that has some real horror elements, which I always think is a nice touch at the horror fest. It’s well written and acted, Hovis’ performance is all in and his songs were perfectly suited to the material. It’s one of the most polished and effective shows of the entire festival and I can say that because I saw them all!

Terrified of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself afraid and all alone in the dark 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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.

Mauritius a Tense Edge of Your Seat Production From Stage North of Minneapolis

Sarah Dickson and Peter Moore Photo by Toni Solie

The best way I can think of to describe Mauritius is to say if the Coen Brothers wrote a pla, this is likely what it would be. A great script by Theresa Rebeck that ratchets up the suspense scene after scene. Filled with characters of questionable morals, the audience is kept off balance as you are never sure who can be trusted or what they are capable of. Not a comedy by any means despite an opening that feels like it could go that way, it does contain a dark vein of black comedy running through it. In fact, this script is so good and it’s relatively simple to stage that I’m amazed I hadn’t heard of it before and that it isn’t performed more frequently. Peter Moore, who directs as well as performs in Mauritius, has staged the show in the round with minimal set. For those familiar with Ten Thousand Things productions, it very much has that feel. Moore uses the space very effectively and the minimal set and proximity of the audience to the performance space allows us to really focus in on the performances which are outstanding. I attended a matinee performance on opening weekend which was at best 1/4 full. It reminded me of one of the reasons I write this blog, to try and shine a light on shows that the average theatergoer hasn’t even heard of. This is one of those shows that should be playing to sold out houses, you couldn’t ask for a more rewarding and entertaining thriller to attend.

The play opens when Jackie, a young woman whose mother has just died, enters a stamp collecting store to ask the owner Phil to look over a stamp collection given to her by her mother who thought it might be worth something. This innocent inquiry puts her into contact with Dennis who hangs out in the store as a lookout for a wealthy but dangerous collector named Sterling. It turns out she has a couple of stamps that are quite valuable and she needs the money. But the ownership of the stamps is disputed by her half-sister Mary, who despite not having been around for decades wants to claim ownership as they came from her Grandfather on her father’s side which is of no relation to Jackie. The tension arises and builds as we watch to see if the stamps are genuine, how much they are worth, whether Jackie will be able to sell them, if she’ll get fair value, or if she will even survive to the end of the play.

Sarah Dickson leads the superb cast as Jackie bringing an intelligence to the role that believably cracks into damaged desperation at times. It’s raw and genuine and generates an empathy for the character that leads to real concern for her characters well being. Peter Moore, is chilling as Sterling, who in one scene takes off his suit jacket revealing a shoulder holster. He never pulls the gun out or even mentions it in the scene but, the audiences awareness of its existence ratchets up the feeling that things could go horribly wrong at any moment. Corey DiNardo as Dennis is charming as any conman and one is never sure where he stands and how far he is willing to go. Bill Schoppert is Phil the stamp expert, whose dry and sarcastic responses to Jackie’s initial inquiries makes the first five minutes of the play worth the price of the ticket. Mary, who could easily have been named “Karen” is played with the perfect air of entitlement by Bonni Allen. This whole cast is just perfect and brings this brilliant play into sharp focus, and is one not to be missed!

Mauritius runs through November 17th at 480 arts in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mauritius-tickets-1007942421917

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day 4 Reviews: Gh0stChaser04, The Regular, Campfire Stories

This will be my last batch of reviews until I see the final show Keith Hovis’ Schaulust on 10/30. As I prep this I’m told there is a single ticket left for the final performance of Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s, it’s not to be missed so snatch it up if it’s still available. To read more about all the shows and to purchase tickets goo to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/tchf-xiii-schedule.html Now without further ado here are my reviews for the three shows I saw on Day 4 of the festival.

Gh0stChaser04 plays like an old episode of the Twilight Zone crossed with Scooby-Doo, yet taken almost entirely seriously. It’s another in the increasingly rare shows that attempts some actual scares and creepiness and for that it is very welcome. This one has a great cast including a couple a favorite comedic performers Rita Boersma and Heather Meyer. The script by Rachel Teagle is clear and witty, particularly in the opening dialogue between the three ghost chasers. Jenny Moeller pulls off a tricky directing job, keeping it mostly grounded but also giving in to the more absurd aspects of the script, the Scooby-Doo aspects if you will. It’s hard to change tone from the realistic to the absurd and then come back to a reality established in the opening, but Moeller makes it work. The plot follows three ghost chasers in the late 1990s and simultaneously a journalist and a spiritualist from the early 1900s. How the two intersect and the surprises in store I’ll leave you to discover in wherever it is that signpost up ahead reads as the next stop.

The Regular is best explained as an episode of Cheers, which it openly acknowledges as an inspiration, gone horribly horribly wrong. Wait, let me amend that, it’s like the funniest fucking episode of Cheers getting hijacked by Kevin Spacey’s character in Seven. Josh Carson writes and directs the show and I’m not sure why he isn’t writing his own number one sitcom, or maybe that’s in the works. I thought the script was brilliant as was the staging including some great fight choreography by Annie Enneking. Filled with clever music cues that add repeated laughs throughout the show. Set in a bar an hour before closing the brilliant Sam Landman plays Charlie who sees himself as the loveable Norm character of the local bar. He banters with the bar staff, the bartender Teddy played by Claire Chenoweth, and the server Wes played by Lukas Ramsey, who humor him. Things take an odd turn though when a stranger arrives played by Jay Melchior who once left alone with Charlie informs him that he’s going to kill him when they leave the bar. Charlie doesn’t know why or what to do with this information or whether the stranger is being serious or not. The four person cast is top notch they make Carson’s jokes feel fresh and spontaneous like the best comedy. Special spotlight though on Landman and Chenoweth, they have the meatiest roles to be sure, but both have that something extra that makes it impossible not to believe their performances. This is a genre mashup of sitcom, thriller, horror, not the most naturalistic performance styles generally, and yet, for an hour they were Charlie and Teddy. This is so far, the best show the Festival.

Campfire Stories like Rev. Matt’s performances will be different every night. The line up changes but the structure is the same. Each night a group of four to five storytellers will take their turn at the microphone and tell true ghost stories. If the opening night is any indication they will run the gamut from funny, to moving, and even genuinely spooky. The show is accompanied musically by its curator and storyteller at each performance Nissa Nordland along with the multi talented Sam Landman. Here is the lineups for the remaining performances:

Monday, October 28th at 6:00 PM

Lauren Anderson

Jex Arzayus

Nissa Nordland

Shannon Twohy

Wednesday, October 30th at 9:00 PM

Lauren Anderson

Shanan Custer

Matthew Kessen

Heather Meyer

Nissa Nordland

Friday, November 1st at 7:30 PM**

Jex Arzayus

Nissa Nordland

Shannon Twohy

Derek “Duck” Washington

ASL Night

Saturday, November 2nd at 10:30 PM

Shanan Custer

Matthew Kessen

Heather Meyer

Nissa Nordland

Drawing Lessons Explores the Power of Finding yourself Through Art at Children’s Theatre Company

Jim Lichtscheidl and Olivia Lampert Photo by Kaitlin Randolph

Drawing Lessons which runs for a couple more weeks at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis caught me a bit off guard. I was hoping to enjoy it, but I wasn’t expecting to be moved by it the way I was. My favorite audiobook of all time is On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. Stay with me here, it’s going to make sense. My favorite part of the book is when he sells the paperback rights to first novel Carrie, I cry everytime and I’ve listened to it four times at least. It’s not because now he will be rich and famous, it’s because of the difference it will make in his life to succeed at his art. The fact that now he will be able to more than scrape along an existence for he and his family. That he wont have to hope a short story sells and brings in that extra little bit of cash before one of the kids get sick and needs a bottle of the pink stuff. Drawing Lessons has a moment that felt similar emotionally, and it had the same effect on me as listening to Stephen King recount that moment that freed him from a world of simply existing into one in which he could let go of those concerns and devote his life to creating, the thing he was born to do.

Drawing lessons tells us the story of Kate, a twelve year old Korean American girl who has moved from St. Paul to Minneapolis, is starting a new school and is terribly shy, to the point of not even being able to speak in class. The one thing she has is her drawing. After school she walks to her father’s music studio where he gives music lessons, and through those she slowly makes friends with two classmates over the course of the play. But the person she meets that has the greatest impact on her is Paul who owns a local art supply store and draws a Sunday cartoon for the Star Tribune. Paul’s partner Matt encourages Paul to give Kate drawing lessons, which he is reluctant to do, though she wears him down over time. These lessons not only teach Kate how to grow as an artist but actually teaches the audience something about the artform of cartooning. It’s handled extremely well with video projections on the flats of the stage sometimes even showing us what the actors are drawing live. Kate’s school work is suffering particularly in Social Studies where the teacher threatens to fail her unless she can stop drawing, talk in class, and the worst, give a 5 to 7 minute speech about a cultural topic. Her father forbids her to go to Paul’s store and to stop drawing and focus on school and making friends. Kate’s Gomo (Great Auntie), comes to visit for her Dad’s birthday, and decides to stay as Kate and her father are no longer speaking. During her time there she at first seems like she will be strict and pull Kate further away from her passion but to Kate and our surprise, she encourages her and even teaches her about Manhwa, the South Korean comic form similar to Japan’s Manga’s. When she learns of a drawing contest for which first price is to have your comic book published on the internet and $250 she decides to go for it.

I loved the way this story took the time to also teach us about the techniques and concepts of cartoon drawing. I loved the Scenic Design by Junghyun Georgia Lee and the Projection design Elizabeth Barrett. I loved all of the illustrations by Blue Delliquanti that bring Drawing Lessons to life. I loved the cast with particular kudos to the performances of Olivia Lampert as Kate, Jim Lichtscheidl as Paul, De’Anthony Jackson as Kate’s friend Omar, and Katie Bradley as Kate’s Gomo. I loved that the show opened with the song Wonderwall, which as a Minnesota United fan is very dear to my heart. Most of all I loved the script by Michi Barall which feels authentic, grounded, and uplifting without being corny. I love the fact that Paul and Matt are casually presented as a couple and that the teacher is allowed to be a bitch. I loved the direction by Jack Tamburri, which gives us such creative staging that at times mirrors the lessons that Paul is giving Kate. We see scenes from four different perspectives, we see transitions where we have the actors in poses like different panels in a comic strip that seems to say meanwhile in various location…it all works perfectly

Drawing Lessons runs through 11/10/24 at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://childrenstheatre.org/whats-on/drawing-lessons/

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day Three Reviews: The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons…, Fractured Remembrances, Ghostrunners

Okay, so those paying close attention will notice that I labeled yesterday day one and today’s reviews day three. Well I wasn’t counting the Wednesday Cabaret, but I see from the TCHF posts they count that as day one, so I’m adjusting to their lead. If you want to see Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s, good luck! As I prep this post the final performance lists, the tickets as almost gone. I suspect by the time I post this it will be sold out, making it a completely sold out run. Remember you can see the entire schedule and purchase tickets at this link https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/tchf-xiii.html . All Shows take place at the Crane theater in NE Minneapolis. I’ll be seeing all of the shows, so check back here for further reviews. I recommend seeing them all but if you are new to it at least plan a day or night to come and see three or four shows at once, there is such a variety of shows. When you do come they have some great mocktail additions to their concessions this year, I’ve tried the Cosmo and the Margarita so far and loved them both. Also don’t forget to purchase your merch, t-shirts, hoodies, even earrings, and dresses. That’s the pitch, now on with the reviews!

The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons for those of you familiar with Rev. Matt’s Monster Science you should know this years TCHF entry comes with a twist. Matt Kessen is joined by The Winding Sheet Outfit who act out elements of his humor filled lectures. If you’ve never seen Rev. Matt perform before you should, he’s a staple of the TCHF, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and he performs monthly at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater. For most of us horror fans he’s like that favorite sweatshirt, it’s not your fanciest, it’s not your warmest, but it’s comforting and makes you feel warm inside. To describe the content would be pointless as each of his performances is a different topic. I will say that the addition of The Winding Sheet Outfit adds to the fun in all the right ways. For our performance the highlights was a parody song to the tune of “The Leader of the Pack” and they will be performing a different song for each program. I may try and catch another performance if I can, I enjoy these so much.

Fractured Remembrances is written and directed by Executive Director/Ticketing Director of the TCHF Duck Washington. Don’t worry his show is not the result of string pulling, it’s more than deserving of its place in the festival. Of the seven shows I’ve seen so far, this was the one with some real moments of unease and creepiness. The story of a young woman named Aster, played beautifully by Angela Fox, who undergoes a traumatic experience when she and her boyfriend disappear for five days. She is found but her boyfriend is not, but he’s not the only things missing, her memory of the five days is also gone. The show deals with her trying to recover her memories with the help of a hypnotherapist. This has a complex script, brought to life with minimal sets but with truly creepy lighting and sound design. The Make-up and special effects by Kyle Decker add an ooze factor that doesn’t go over the top like Dangerous Productions shows do, but just adds to the overall tone of dread. There are fun supporting performances from Tim Uren, Ariel Pinkerton, and Jean Wolf. This is one for horror fans!

Ghostrunners certainly has some effective and horrific moments, but at its heart, it doesn’t want to scare you, it wants to amuse. At that it succeeds admirably, the main focus is on word play. For example those words that have more than one meaning like bat, as is baseball bat or the flying rodent. Another example is words that sound alike, “I see”, being mistaken for “Icey”. If you enjoy this type of clever writing and it is clever, though like the magicians trick or Sherlock Holmes deductions, it seems simple once explained. But coming up with all of these variations and then fitting them into a story, they only make it look easy. The story centers around an accountant who, appears to have OCD and be on the spectrum, spends his spare time playing a baseball game that he invented with dice, which relies heavily on statistics and tables. This rang very true to me, I’ve a son on the spectrum and I remember the elaborate games he would create on his own when he was younger. The game he is playing is then acted out by performers who are representing what is happening in his head. Everything begins to go south when he rolls three ones, a triple snake eyes if that’s clearer. This roll takes him to a table that is hardly ever referenced and the results are murderous. It’s a great cast including, in for one of the actors who has been benched due to an injury, the Director Kevin Duong at some performances and Playwright Kyle Munshower at others.

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day One Reviews: The Wrench, Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s, The Alchemist’s Bargain, and Doctor Clown

TCHF XIII actually launched a day early this year on Wednesday night with the sold out, one night only, Leslie Vincent Presents: A Monster and Mayhem Cabaret. I think everyone in the audience that night is of the firm belief that this is the way to open every TCHF going forward. Here’s hoping that is in the works for next year. The Festival shows of which there are 11, began on Thursday, each will have 5 performances throughout the 11 days of the festival. To see the schedule and purchase tickets to any of the shows go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/tchf-xiii.html . But don’t wait to long, shows have already sold out performances.

The Wrench is a play written by Andrew Erskine Wheeler Who’s Whoosh!… remains in my memory as a highlight of my very first Minnesota Fringe Festival. Here again he dives into a real life event, but this time there is a dark side. A group of actors, most of whom were present at the 1849 Astor Place Riot, have been hired for a new production of Macbeth. The story of their experience with the riot and how it left one of them with a traumatic brain injury is recounted to the young understudy who will have to go on as Lady Macbeth after the leading lady met with an accident. Interesting how often the Scottish Play and it’s curse has been coming up lately, just Sunday it was a very fun antidote in Patrick Page’s All the Devils Are Here at the Guthrie and those of us on the theater beat know of the series of accidents that have plagued Theater Latte Da’s production of Scotland, PA. Wheeler is great as Roscius Denue, who was trampled by horses during the riot and now speaks gibberish most of the time, but has perfect recall of the Shakespearean roles he played before the accident. There is also nice work from Carolyn Pool and Shanan Custer as two actresses that have aged out of the Lady Macbeth role and into the three witches.

Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s is this years breakout hit, and it was so even before anyone saw it. By the time of the first performance four of its five performance slots have sold out. So if you are interested get online and get your tickets tonight, they will be sold out in the next day I’ve little doubt. Is it worthy of all the advance hype, yeah I think it is. The show opens on the home of Debbie, who lives with her menagerie of dolls whom she thinks of as her children. When her doorbell rings for the first time in 10 years and 27 days she is on her guard, but it turns out to be her old friend Cara, that she hasn’t seen in 25 years. Not since the day they and their friend Lucy tried to summon a demon in Debbie’s house during their senior year of high school. Is it scary? not really but it certainly has horrific elements. It’s really a pitch black comedy with some messed up stuff in it. Reagan Kay James is perfect as the uptight and slightly off her rocker doll loving Debbie. Julia Weiss as Cara wows us first by downing and entire bottle of wine in one drink, then with a story about catching her husband cheating on her that becomes more and more outrageous as it goes on and on, none of which can be repeated here for fear on violating some obscenity laws. Ashley Rose Wellman is Lucy whose entrance provides what is probably the plays one genuine moment of fright.

The Alchemist’s Bargain is a charming puppet show performed using blacklights, which really brought me back to my childhood, when you could get a blacklight bulb and blacklight posters at Spencers Gifts in the mall. I even had blacklight crayons that I used to color with and than look at using the blacklight. The story follows a man who seeks out a Alchemist who he hopes will be able to bring his true love back to life. The Alchemist sends the man on a quest to retrieve three ingredients that he will need in order to bring the loved one back. There is a lesson learned by the end but even if there wasn’t the journey itself is worth attending the show for. It’s a visual treat that ends with the alchemist’s trick. This is a great show for families, kids while marvel at the creativity of the medium, In fact so will their parents. I didn’t just enjoy myself, I was very much delighted by Phantom Chorus Theatre’s production. It’s a great example of the variety of styles and shows on view at the TCHF.

Doctor Clown is this years entry from Dangerous Productions. Typically the one show you can count on to be bloody and scary. Well, that is until this year, the blood is still there, but the scares have been replaced by laughs. Many of the laughs coming from the use of blood. Was I a little disappointed? yes, not because what they did wasn’t successful, it is. And it isn’t because it’s just a bunch of gross out humor, there is actually a fair amount of political and social commentary involved. No, it’s just that the one thing I’ve always found about the TCHF, and I do love the TCHF, is that very few of the shows actually even attempt to be scary. So it’s a little bit of a let down when the one company that can be relied upon to try and get the blood pumping, in more ways than one, doesn’t, at least, not in more ways than one. Of course the company should be allowed to do something different, and this clowning show if very well done. So it is a good show and my hope is that by setting your expectations accordingly you will be able to appreciate it more fully. If you have issues with blood and gore, this is not a show for you, it isn’t used to scare you but it could trigger a gag reflex or two all the same.