Twin Cities Horror Festival Day 5 Reviews: Gudlung, Gospel Gus’s Godly Good Time Get-Together

Two more TCHF reviews for you! Just eight days left to see these amazing shows and experience the unexpected and the uncanny. Go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/ for the full schedule and to purchase tickets.

Those of us who’ve been going to the TCHF for years now recognize the large tarp stained over the years with stage blood. We know when we see it on the floor that we’ve entered Dangerous Productions show. There’s one company each year that you know is gonna push the envelope when it comes to blood and guts, and this year is no exception with their entry Gudlung. Gudlung is some sort of demon whom the father of a family gives sacrifices of blood to in order to relive Christmas Eve over and over until it’s perfect. But Gudlung seems to be a bit like Siri in that it doesn’t always understand what you want. We’re not quite sure What’s happening when the show begins, but by the third go around we’ve clued in. It is the third time through the evening for us, but something like the 620th for the characters in the play. I don’t always enjoy the over the top blood shows but I can handle a little bit and this one seems almost a little restrained by Dangerous Productions standards it’s also a very funny script given how dark the humor is at times. There’s a mom who’s dying of cancer which clearly annoys her husband. And the grandma who’s brought back from the dead to hopefully add a little joy to the evening! The blood work is effective but also played for laughs, when someone gets disemboweled it’s more likely to tickle your funny bone than induce your gag reflex. When I started The Stages of MN six years ago, I never imagined writing a sentence like that.

Gospel Gus’s Godly Good Time Get-Together is hands-down the most elaborate large scale Incredible production design I’ve ever seen at a TCHF show. This makes The Neverland production design look like a kindergarten classrooms designs. The other thing it has over that show is a script which progresses the story from start to finish. The show is Created and Directed by Kyle B. Dekker and written by Sam L. Landman, yes that Sam Landman, making this the third show in this years festival that he is involved in. It’s reminiscent of 2023 when I think Allison Vincent was in every other show. Damn that was a good year and so is this! Gospel Gus’s Godly Good Time Get-Together is filled with satirical elements and it gives its competent cast something to work with. The script is inspired by a bit from Dekker‘s Fringe show He-Man is the Devil & Other Satanic Panic Tales from 2022. Its so elaborate, it’s not just the gigantic puppets, the crazy set pieces, and the wild puppetry effects. It’s also a multi media extravaganza! There’s video portions that interact with what’s happening on stage there’s projections, there’s entertaining use of black light technology. It also relies on the cell phone flashlight in the eyes of the audience, it basically uses every Technique we see in any TCHF show but uses every one of them in the same show and it actually seems to be in service of the script. I really like the cast, particularly Natavia Lewis who plays Nina and Angela Fox who plays Izzy. I forgot he was gonna be in there, even though he’s in the program, and giving a completely unhinged performance is Andrew Erskine Wheeler. All I can say is I hoped that the fluorescent liquid he ingests is not toxic. If you’re a fan of TCHF you owe it to yourself to check out Gospel Gus’s… I’m not gonna say it’s the best, but it is very good and is undoubtedly the largest spectacle you’re gonna see at the festival.

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The Stages of MN YouTube channel is home to the weekly Stages of MN Show. You can watch it by clicking here. Be sure to check out the latest episodes and subscribe so you’ll always know when a new one drops. Not sure you agree with one of my takes? I’m also part of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can find review roundups from my colleagues and me. Follow us on Facebook at @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

Twin Cities Horror Festival Days 3 & 4 Reviews: The Walls, Bay Creek, Familiar, The Neverland: a Horror Fantasia, Murder. Murder. Murder. Murder.

I’m struggeling to keep up so here’s a link to the Horror Fest which runs through 10/30 at The Crane Theater https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

Now on with the reviews!!

I only caught this one show on day 3 and it was The Walls by Strike Theater and The Improv Movement Project. It features a fantastic cast of local favorites Mike Fotis, Rita Boersma, Sam Landman, Peytie McCandless, Jay Kistler Many of them are masters of longform Improv. Now this isn’t improv, it is written and directed by Fotis, but what makes this group great character actors is their ability to Make the interplay between the characters feel real in genuine, a skill they have honed doing their improv. The set up has a young woman at the urging of her meth dealing father‘s partner trying to get money from the bank to ransom her father from a rival group of dealers. They go into the bank where the newly promoted manager and her husband, the recently retired Sheriff are opening up for the day. To be honest everything in the bank is completely fascinating even before things go south. Just listening to the Boersma and Landman, as the Manager and her husband, bicker is brilliant. Once this go off the rails the play changes into something different which includes some really interesting movement, which I don’t wanna spoil or explain the reason for. The sign of good character building is that even if things hadn’t gone south I think I would’ve really enjoyed the show. Just listening to these actors play these characters and interact with each other was time while spent.

Day 3 was a very interesting day at the TCHF particularly in terms of the balance between script and production design. First up was Bay Creek written and performed by Derek Lee Miller which is essentially a one person monologue. Miller’s character is in an interrogation room being questioned by members of the entire alphabet of law enforcement from the FBI to the DEA. We occasionally get recorded voice overs from those agents asking questions but for the most part it’s Miller on his own. The script is in places inspired by stories Miller was told by his family growing up. The story Miller’s character unfolds about his family is one of demonic protection. Miller is never less than completely hypnotizing the script like Miller himself doesn’t have an ounce of fat on it. It’s super tight, while the production design is extremely simple, a man sitting in a chair next to a table with a microphone and folders on it. The lighting and sound cues are not elaborate but are among the most effective I’ve ever seen. The final moment of the show is truly awesome. To be sure this is one of the best of this years TCHF thanks to Miller’s powerful storytelling through script and performance.

The Artistic Director of TCHF Nissa Nordland’s show Familiar felt similar to her Minnesota Fringe show this year in that we are in the world of a teenage girl and her adolescent obsessions. She is or at least fancies herself a witch and her familiar is her cat Zelda. In my mind I break the show up into three parts. The first is getting to know the young teenage Rosemary. This is filled with humor including the content creators she follows on TikTok played by special guests Sam Landman as Virgil Vermillion and Jonathan Feld as Orion. The second part is more emotional when her familiar, Zelda, who is 17 years of age, one year older than Rosemary passes away. I know from listening to other audience members that those who had recently lost pets found this segment particularly devastating, so trigger warning for dead pets. The third section is completely unexpected given it the lightheartedness of the first portion and the emotional reality of the second. The third goes dark and supernatural in an effective and very creepy way. The show featured several musical performances by Nordland on ukulele and Clarinet, which for me, ever since I first saw her sing on stage, is always a treat I look forward to.

The Neverland: A Horror Fantasia takes elements of the Peter Pan story and flies in the much darker direction with them. It has a ton of production design elements, much of it in the arts and crafts vein, but overall it’s very effective and appropriate for the story it’s telling. It’s impressive how they get this set up and taken down in the time allotted between shows. But there’s a rather large cast and I assume they all help out. Excellent costumes and even some shadow puppetry helps this show scores big points in the production design category. The production design however seems to be compensating for a lack of a solid script. While the performances are all solid what they have to do is wander around the stage repeating the same things over and over again. one fellow audience member commented that it’s a show of vibes which I would agree with completely. As such I think my son Alex, who really gets in the mood and vibes of films and plays, might really enjoy the show more than I did. I’m generally looking for a story that holds my interest this one, while the idea or concept, of Peter Pan guiding lost children from life through limbo to death certainly is filled with possibilities, the execution just felt meandering and repetitive.

murder. murder. murder. murder. is by this years one traveling artist company of the TCHF. murder. murder. murder. murder. has a double meaning in its title. First, there are four stories, which is why there are four murders in the title. Secondly, all of the stories contain crows and as we know a group of crows is called a murder of crows. And if you didn’t know that, you’re welcome. This is another story that had a pretty tight script while set design was fairly minimal, but always enough to set the scene. It does have have some very good costume work as well. The first three stories use a framing device of a radio DJ we hear before and after each story and then the fourth story features the DJ and her producer. Some of the stories are comic, some dark, and some darkly comic. It was nice mix and I think each story was the perfect length, nothing felt rushed but likewise nothing felt like it was padded out.

Episode 16 is Up… and Has Been for several Days. Features a Chat With Joel Sass of Open Eye Theatre About The Hit Show Lizzie: The Rock Musical

Sorry for not getting this out sooner, but there is still a day or two before the next episode is up and there are still a few tickets left for a few performances of Lizzie: The Rock Musical which has extended it’s run to 11/8. Watch the episode here https://bit.ly/TSOMNEpisode16YouTube

Or listen to the podcast here https://bit.ly/TSOMNEp16podcast

Episode 16 features an interview with Joel Sass the Producing Artistic Director of Open Eye Theatre about their latest production Lizzie: The Rock Musical which now has an extended run through 11/8 go here for tickets and details https://www.openeyetheatre.org/ We also have a review of that show as well as Chap Snatchers at Bryant Lake Bowl go here to get tickets for this weekends final performances https://www.bryantlakebowl.com/theater

Jill Schafer of Cherry and Spoon provides a Guest Blogger Review of Prime Productions To Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday https://www.primeprods.org/ Check out Cherry and Spoons reviews here http://www.cherryandspoon.com/

We also have details on how to win tickets to an upcoming show at History Theatre thanks to Erica Skarohlid of Lettered in Theatre. You can read her blog here https://letteredintheatre.wordpress.com/ and check out the season lineup at History Theatre here https://www.historytheatre.com/

The Twin Cities Horror Festival Day Two! Madness and Betrayal: A Grand Guignol Double Feature and The Last Menagerie

I can confidently recommend every show I’ve seen so far at this year’s Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF). But if you put a hatchet to my noggin and made me pick just one, it would probably be The Last Menagerie. Thankfully, you don’t have to choose. One of the great things about TCHF is that, unlike the Minnesota Fringe Festival, it’s not only possible but easy to see every show. For the full schedule and tickets, visit tchorrorfestival.com.

Madness and Betrayal: A Grand Guignol Double Feature delivers exactly what the title promises, and then some. While it presents two main stories, it also includes a surprise interlude between them that I won’t spoil, but trust me: it alone is worth the price of admission.

The first story is titled The Lighthouse Keepers and was written in 1905 and tells of a father and son who are lighthouse keepers together, when one of them becomes sick hours into their 30 day shift, things turn from bad to worse quickly. follows a father and son tending a lighthouse. When one of them falls ill early into their 30-day shift, the situation spirals from bad to worse. The second, The Final Kiss written in 1912, tells of a woman disfigured by acid at the hands of her fiancé. When he’s released from prison, he visits her to express gratitude for her forgiveness, an encounter that doesn’t go as planned.

Both tales use impressively effective blood and other effects. The first story lands with more impact; the second telegraphs its ending a bit too much. my favorite section was that bonus interlude, which I thought was rather ingenious..

Minnesota Fringe Festival favorites Melancholics Anonymous make a triumphant TCHF debut with a script by Stages of MN favorite Jeffrey Nolan and Managing Director Timothy Kelly. The Last Menagerie reimagines Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie, with zombies.

It’s been years (high school, to be exact) since I’d seen The Glass Menagerie, but the broad strokes came back as this undead version unfolded. It works remarkably well. Don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with the original; my plus-one had never seen it and declared this her favorite show she’s ever seen at TCHF. High praise indeed.

After this past summer’s Our Zombie Town (a zombified Our Town) turned out to be one of the weakest shows of the Fringe, leave it to Melancholics Anonymous to redeem the concept. Everything in this production clicks, from the pumpkin-headed projectionist using an overhead projector to create sound effects and title cards, to the outstanding ensemble led by the always-brilliant Jeffrey Nolan as Tom, the narrator.

So far, I’d recommend every production I’ve seen at this year’s festival. But if you can only fit one show into your schedule or your credit card, The Last Menagerie is the one to beat.

The Twin Cities Horror Festival Opening Day! Songversations: We Have Been Told the Veil is Thin, Camp Bludde the Musical, and Scrimshaw.

We’re halfway through Monster Month, which means it’s time for the Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF). Now in its 14th year, TCHF is the longest-running horror theatre festival in the country. To see the full lineup, schedule, and to purchase tickets, visit tchorrorfestival.com. Check back here between October 16–30 for my reviews of every show at this year’s festival.

Opening night began with Songversations: We Have Been Told the Veil is Thin, written and performed by Rihannon Fiskradatz and Shanan Custer. Unlike the other shows in the festival, this ran only once as an opening ritual. Fiskradatz and Custer will return to close the festival with another ritual, a bonfire outside the Crane Theater at 10:00 p.m. on October 30.

Camp Bludde: The Musical has a little of everything I’ve come to expect at TCHF over the years, and also things you don’t expect, which is also something you expect. It’s a story of a camp for wealthy children founded by a man who has to sacrifice a child regularly in order to appease some dark creature. Don’t worry, the rich kids aren’t the pool from which the sacrifices come. Each year, the camp offers a scholarship to one underprivileged child, and that’s who ends up on the altar. So everything is right with the world and this basically reflects our reality.

But here’s the thing that makes this show otherworldly, it’s a musical!!! I know I’ve seen TCHF shows that have had songs in them or used music effectively, but my memory isn’t coming up with any full on break into song musicals. Director Denzel Belin makes effective use of some TCHF technical staples, the flashlights under the face, and the blackouts with lights shining out toward the audience. The cast is a blast, with Will Schroeder standing out as Counselor Alex, making appropriately comical use of his trademark over the top smile. It’s a perfect TCHF kickoff, songs, blood, scares, and laughs. A little bit of everything.

Duck Washington Photo by Dan Norman Photography

Serving as a great counterbalance to Camp Bludde’s campy chaos, Duck Washington’s Scrimshaw leans literary and psychological. Set in a remote Pacific whaling village, it follows Lemrich, a whaler driven mad by what he encountered at sea. Someone arrives searching for a stolen book—one that guided Lemrich’s ship captain to awaken an ancient darkness.

Washington, who also wrote the piece, gives a compelling performance as the tormented sailor struggling to clear his mind of the madness forced upon it. His script is tightly written, and the set design transforms the small studio into a claustrophobic nightmare. The walls are covered in chalk drawings that mirror Lemrich’s unraveling mind. The strong supporting cast and detailed design make this one of the more polished TCHF productions I’ve seen. Performing in the smaller studio allows the set to remain intact for the full run, enabling a more immersive design, which Scrimshaw fully takes advantage of.

Scrimshaw runs through October 20, then hands the space over to Dolly Who’s Cursed Objects, which runs October 25–30.

The Cherry Orchard a Co-Production By The Moving Company and Jungle Theater

Nathan Keepers, Tracey Maloney Photo by Lauren B. Photography

This was my first experience with Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. I’ve seen three Chekhov adaptations over the last few years, but before that, I only knew him by reputation and the titles of his plays. With this production, I’ve now seen an adaptation of what Wikipedia calls “the four outstanding plays by Chekhov.” Out of curiosity, I read the synopsis there to see how faithful this version might be, but I resisted reading any analysis or criticism as I didn’t want to be told what I was supposed to think or feel about this revered work. I wanted my reactions to reflect how I responded in the moment, not through the lens of 1902 Russia when it was written.

These are my initial gut impressions, which I think are valid if you’re deciding whether The Cherry Orchard is something you want to experience. We all want to know up front: am I going to enjoy this? I did. I found it surprisingly funny, which sent me back to the synopsis to confirm whether that was typical. I’d never heard Chekhov described as funny; I always imagined his work as dark or depressing. This isn’t a straight-up comedy, but I didn’t expect the amount of humor in this production. The internet tells me Chekhov considered it a comedy; “dramedy” might be the best descriptor. Like Shakespeare, the play seems flexible allowing directors and actors to lean into either the drama or the humor depending on their interpretation.

The Moving Company consistently delivers strong performances, and this production is no exception. Nathan Keepers, exquisitely dressed by costumer Sonya Berlovitz, is excellent as Lopakhin, a wealthy businessman who once worked for the family that owns the cherry orchard of the title. The story follows a once-wealthy family who, through denial and poor decisions, have squandered their fortune. Their land and its famous orchard are about to be auctioned to pay their debts. Lopakhin offers a plan to save their estate, but the family is too paralyzed to act.

The concept of a privileged but foolish family losing everything feels like a reflection of Russia’s shifting social order—The Cherry Orchard premiered just thirteen years before the Revolution. Director Dominique Serrand, who also plays Leonid, the aging uncle, brings both humor and pathos to the production. Alongside Tracey Maloney as Liubóv, his sister and head of the family, the two create characters we should want to shake some sense into, but can’t help pitying even as they bring about their own downfall.

I don’t know if this is a typical interpretation of the play, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and am glad to have finally experienced such an important work.

The Cherry Orchard runs through November 2 at Jungle Theater in Uptown. For tickets and information, visit jungletheater.org/the-cherry-orchard.

Don’t rely on Facebook or Instagram algorithms to keep you in the loop about great shows. Subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN delivered straight to your inbox—it’s the best way to make sure you never miss out on the theater action. To subscribe on a computer, enter your email address on the home page (right-hand side) and click subscribe. On mobile, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the same option. You can also follow me on Facebook @thestagesofmn and on Instagram thestagesofmn.

Two Gents Another Delightful Shakespear Interpretation From Ten Thousand Things

Kimberly Richardson and Michelle de Joya Photo by Tom Wallace

Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona is believed to be his first play, and many consider it one of if not the, weakest of his works. You can see the early seeds of plots and themes he would later refine, but as a whole, it’s undeniably problematic. Because of that, it’s performed far less often than his more popular comedies like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, or Twelfth Night. I’ve only seen one other production, at the Jungle Theater more than a decade ago, and the plot had completely left my memory. That’s fine, though, since this new version makes some changes, which feels like a valid way to approach it. One of the most remarkable things about Shakespeare’s work is its universality, which allows artists to continually reinterpret it in new ways.

Nobody does Shakespeare quite like Ten Thousand Things (TTT), and Two Gents, their take on Two Gentlemen of Verona, is no exception. Part of the company’s mission is to make art accessible to everyone. They create stripped-down productions that can travel easily, bringing theater directly into the community. But they also make Shakespeare accessible by casting performers who can make the language clear and engaging for a modern audience. Which is something not every actor can do as skillfully as this cast.

I won’t try to summarize the plot, it can be a bit convoluted, but I always understood what was happening in a general sense, even if the finer details occasionally blurred. With this particular play, perhaps more than any other, the pleasure comes from the performances rather than the story itself.

This five-actor ensemble plays roughly sixteen or seventeen roles, and that’s where much of the production’s joy lies. One character, Sir Thurio, is actually portrayed by four different actors throughout the show. That might sound confusing, but Caitlin Lowans, the new artistic director of TTT who is making her directorial debut for the company, ensures it’s always crystal clear who’s who at any given moment.

As usual with TTT, the entire cast is strong. The standout is Kimberly Richardson, who plays Launce, the play’s most beloved comedic character. Richardson, a gifted comic actor, brings her considerable talents to all eight of her roles, stealing nearly every scene she’s in. Don’t mistake me though, the rest of the cast, which includes Michelle de Joya, Kamani Graham, Kurt Kwan, and Sara Richardson, definitely hold there own. It’s a true ensemble piece and every player adds to the whole!

Faithful viewers of The Stages of MN Show may remember my interview with Ryan Lee and Tod Petersen back in Episode 4. This production was one of the projects Ryan hinted at but couldn’t announce yet. Here, he creates an unobtrusive soundscape that perfectly complements the action onstage.

This may not be the best Shakespeare adaptation I’ve seen from Ten Thousand Things—which makes sense given the play’s reputation—but even weak Shakespeare, in TTT’s hands, is always entertaining.

Two Gents runs through November 2 at various locations. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit tenthousandthings.org/two-gents