Of Pigs and Pianos is an evening I will cherish and carry in my soul. It’s not often you can say you were in the room with true genius, but that was surely the case last night as I sat in the Jungle’s intimate little theater and listened to Sara Davis Buechner share her story and her talent. What resounds most throughout the evening is her love of music. We often hear people say they love this or they love that. Here’s an instance where you actually watch someone embody their love for something. When she talks about her love of music and then sits and plays a piece from Mozart, Chopin, or her own composition, she isn’t playing music, she’s playing her love, and it is beautiful. I came to this production primarily because Ms. Buechner is transgender. As regular readers know, my youngest son is transgender and so these stories always hold an extra draw for me. Seeing the stories of transgender artists shared is important, it speaks to and can be an inspiration for those who share that journey and it creates empathy and understanding in a world that seems increasingly hostile to the diversity that should be enriching our lives.

Sara Davis Buechner opens by telling us about the piano teacher who asked her at a very young age what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her reply was a piano player, and a pig farmer. She spends the all too brief evening sketching out her life, from a young boy who wants a blue dress and yellow hat like Madeline, to award winning concert pianist. As with most on the transgender journey, Buechner’s story is not all piano concerts and happily ever afters, she bravely shares the unhappy alongside the happy as they were frequently coinciding. This helps the audience to get some understanding of the dysphoria that can be so much a part of someone trying to understand their place in the world and to find themselves. What resonates most keenly is the moment when she becomes herself, the moment she looks up into the sky and becomes Sara. After that moment, though she begins to see all she has achieved slip away, she’s OK with it, because at last she is herself. I’ve seen the release that understanding can bring, the weight that can be lifted, the joy that can be found from figuring out who you are and being able to live as that person. Buechner communicates that moment and how that feels so eloquently and clearly.

I came for the trans but was enraptured by the music. I enjoy classical music. My first exposure that left an impression was Disney’s Fantasia in the theater when I was five. I don’t come into regular contact with it aside from covering the occasional Opera, so I was confident I would enjoy the musical portion as well as the personal story aspects of the production. I underestimated the effect the musical interludes would have upon me. It’s one thing to attend an orchestra concert and enjoy the piano solo; it’s nice, how lovely, what talent. And then, there is sitting with maybe 100 other people and watching Buechner play. It’s like a completely different art. I read in the press release that the performance was an hour with no intermission. Thankfully, that isn’t accurate, it was closer to an hour and a half, and too brief at that. I could listen to Buechner tell her story for hours. Shockingly, I think I could sit and listen and watch her play for days. I don’t think I’ve been transported by classical music this much since seeing Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” brought to visual life by the wonderful Disney animation artists in 1977.

Is this for everyone? Probably. I can’t imagine anyone not benefiting from seeing this show. Sara Davis Buechner is brilliant pianist and a remarkable role model for the LGBTQ+ community, do not miss this opportunity to see a musician of this calibre in person. But, do heed the content warning on the Jungle theaters website which states “CONTENT WARNING: OF PIGS AND PIANOS contains strong adult content and language. Recommended for audiences 16 and older.” I would agree with that age recommendation. The Jungle Theater has a wonderful program called “Pay as you are.” The suggested ticket price is $45 dollars, if you cannot afford that, you can pay what you can. If you can afford to pay a little more, that allows them to continue this program making amazing performances like this accessible to everyone. When you go, I recommend getting seats house left if possible, I was house right and many of the projections were obstructed by the Piano lid. Now, if only house right seats are still available take em, its the Jungle Theater, there isn’t really a bad seat in the house. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.jungletheater.org/of-pigs-and-pianos

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It must be Monster Month because the Twin Cities Horror Festival starts up next week, and I for one cannot wait!!! For the uninitiated, the TCHF is a Festival which uses the Fringe Festival model but on a smaller scale. For example, instead of multiple venues every performance takes place at The Crane Theatre in NE Minneapolis. As an added bonus, it’s actually possible to see every production unlike Fringe, so you don’t have to pick and choose. This year for their 11th season there are 11 different productions each scheduled for multiple performances over the 11 days of the Festival. I don’t know about you, but I’m noticing a pattern there. On each given evening or day of the Festival there is a new performance every 90 minutes. Each of these little staged horror themed plays runs a little under an hour, then they have about 30 minutes for the show that just performed to clear the stage and the next production to set up. This will be my third year covering the festival and believe me, some of the shows are fairly sparse when it comes to sets and design, but others are surprisingly elaborate given the restrictions.

People ask me are the plays really scary? Well, there is usually one or two of the shows that will give you that fear rush or make you scream. The others vary from creepy to humorous but all have some sort of connection to horror. In general, I’ve had very few if any, that I didn’t think were worth my time. It’s almost always enjoyable in some way. If you are looking for scary or the not as scary ones you can go on the festival website, click on the lineup, and then the learn more button under each production. From there besides a description of the show and the dates and times of its performances, you’ll see a rating system. This will help you determine which shows are right for you, your children, and grandmothers. But the 11 various productions are not all the Festival has to offer there are also things to do in the lobby between performances. There is Tarot Readings by Nissa Nordland Morgan as well as some yet to be announced activities by Amber Bjork and Lauren Anderson (YES!!!). Visit the website for times, options, and details and to reserve your Tarot reading time. There is also some wonderful merchandise on sale, previous years have had everything from T-shirts and hoodies to bars of soap.

I have had a great time covering this festival in the past and look forward to it every year. If you enjoy spookables and bumpities as much as I do, I hope you’ll join me for a few or 11 of these unique and creative productions. I think it’s safe to take a chance on any of these shows so I’m posting my schedule here so you can join me, if you do please be sure to say hi. If you like to play it safe though I’ll be posting brief reviews of each production within a day of seeing it so watch this site for day to day reviews.

The Stages of MN TCHF Schedule:

Thursday 10/20
6:00 PM: Edgar Perry
7:30 PM: Stabby Stab stab
9:00 PM: The Shrieking Harpies
10:30 PM: Gillman Genesis

Friday 10/21
6:00 PM: Spooky & Gay Cabaret
7:30 PM: Writer’s Room

Sunday 10/23
1:30 PM: Victor Invictus
3:00 PM: Bad Egg
4:30 PM: All Your White Darlings

Thursday 10/27
9:00 PM Ted’s Talk

Saturday 10/29
1:30 PM Dead Mountain

Now to make your own schedule and to purchase tickets, each performance is $15 but you can also purchase a 5 punch pass for $70 (it looks like on the website that the $120 all access Skeleton Key passes are sold out) go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

And remember, it’s only a play…right?

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The Guthrie Theater hosts its first of two world Premieres of the season which also marks their 60th year. Sally & Tom is a play about a play about the relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. There are basically two stories being told, that which is the play being rehearsed and then, the story of the theater company that is mounting the production. It’s an extremely effective way to comment on the historical through the contemporary mindset and the parallels keep revealing themselves the more you meditate on them. A powerful and playful script brought to life by an exemplary cast. As with their first production of the year Vietgone, the only fault I can find with the cast is the under representation of local talent. Only Guthrie regular Sun Mee Chomet and relative newcomer to the Twin cities Daniel Petzold in a cast of eight are not imported for the production. Of course once again they are all brilliant so it’s hard to raise too much of an issue. The season is off to a positive start as the Guthrie seems to be embracing diversity, not only in cast, but in the stories it is telling and the behind the scenes talent who are bringing these stories to the stage.

Sally & Tom is written by Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/Underdog, which is just one of the many honors her writing has garnered. After seeing this play, it’s not hard to see why she is such an honored writer. Each of the stories on view are more or less straightforward and not overly complex in and of themselves. The complexity comes in the way in which the stories interact, and the commentary that isn’t stated but implied between them. The play that the theater company is putting on and of which we see large portions of performed during rehearsals is powerful and thought provoking as you can imagine. The part of the play that takes place outside of the play within a play is more light hearted on the surface but on reflection there are some modern day parallels. To be fair, there is nothing equivalent to the impact of slavery in the modern thread. But what’s clever is the way we are given real everyday relatable problems that help us understand that world of the past while also showing us the different option the modern day counterparts have. Just Looking at the relationships between Sally and Tom and the actors who are playing them, Luce and Mike, who are also the Writer and Director of the play. Luce has options Sally doesn’t in terms of her relationship. Mike uses financial excuses to try and justify his worst behavior just as Jefferson did. There is also along the way a nice examination of how art is created and in what must be a playwrights dream, there is a speech in the play within the play that is powerful and wonderfully performed. Parks, finds a way to have her cake and eat it too, by having the speech which really is too long and on the nose, performed in rehearsal and then cut from the play as it rightly should be.

As I’ve said, the cast is fantastic. Kristen Ariza as Luce and Sally Hemings, Amari Cheatom as Kwame and James Hemings, and Luke Robertson as Mike and Thomas Jefferson shine in the largest parts. Cheatom in particular gets to have that speech I wrote of earlier and he delivers it brilliantly as the character James Hemmings, but he’s also equally convincing playing the almost too cool for the production actor Kwame. I’d like to spotlight our local talent a little. Sun Mee Chomet plays Scout who in the play within a play is performing the role of Polly, Jefferson’s youngest daughter while also stage managing the show. she gets a nice little story thread of her own and makes the most of it. She comes to the realization that having worked her way up in the company to an onstage role, that is where she truely aspires to be. When she declares that in the show it’s a testament to the performer that the moment moves us. Chomet is a wonderful character actor, always finding a way to make an impression and endear herself to the audience even without a lot of dialogue or stage time. Daniel Petzold plays, as the actor character Geoff states, many different roles. I don’t know what it is about Petzold, but he’s quickly becoming a favorite. This is his third performance I’ve seen and in each one he brings something special. Sometimes there are performers that just become your favorites, the ones who you’ll go to a show just to see what they will do with a role. Petzold seems destined to join that list for me alongside other local favorites Tyler Michaels King, Sally Wingert, Nissa Nordland Morgan, Sam Landman, Joy Dolo Anfinson, Tom Reed, Lily Tung Crystal…. OK there are more but I digress. Petzold does indeed play many different roles within the play within a play, but it’s his role as the actor Geoff that really captures the audience’s attention. Making the most of the comedic relief bits he’s given, he also has a wonderfully sweet romantic thread that works perfectly due to the vulnerability he infuses the character with.

Director Steve H. Broadnax III makes his Guthrie debut, hopefully they coax him back for future shows. This is a wonderfully staged production, Broadnax uses the space creatively allowing the stage to be a stage for a play with scenery that drops in as needed, but it also becomes the stage of a rehearsal in a theatre, we have lights that drop down, when we suddenly hear the stage manager call to take 10 (minutes). The flow between the actors performing the play and the actors working on the play is masterfully worked. At times it so jarring because we forgot that the play within the play, was a play within a play (my God the play within a play thing is getting ridiculous isn’t it?) we are so wrapped up in it. The Scenic Design by Riccardo Hernandez and Lighting Design by Alan C. Edwards are as flawless as we have come to expect from a Guthrie production. They work beautifully together to create this world of theatre onstage, backstage, rehearsal, performance, they get the feel of all these moments just right.

Sally & Tom runs through November 6th at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for more information and to purchase tickets got to https://www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2022-2023-season/sally–tom/.

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I attended the world premiere of the MN Opera’s brand new opera Edward Tulane based upon the novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by celebrated Newbery Award winning Minnesota author Kate Dicamillo. The Production Design is simply stunning and the episodic nature of the story allows for that aspect to really shine. What struck me as well about the Opera is it’s generous use of humor. It’s a children’s tale told in a way that could appeal to children but also plays well to the mainly adult audience. Performed in English and with English captions projected above the stage. The captions are needed, not just because the operatic style can make it difficult to catch every line, but also because much of the humor comes from what it is said not simply the gist and the emotions behind it. I found it to be a thoroughly enchanting production, accompanying Edward on his journey was magical.

The Libretto is by Mark Campbell with music by Paola Prestini, having not read the novel I cannot comment on how faithful the adaptation is. I can say that the story as told, works. We meet Edward, who is a large China rabbit doll, when he is received as a christmas gift by Abilene. Abilene loves Edward from the moment she lays eyes on him, he is more reserved. That first night Abilene’s Grandmother tells her a bedtime story that is wonderfully dark and very cleverly acted out for us, it’s a highlight of the production. When Edward is lost overboard on a sea voyage he begins a journey that will take him in contact with many characters and bring him into very different lifestyles. Along the journey he will spend time under the sea (beautifully realized), then rescued by a fisherman and his wife who are empty nesters. Next with a drifter and his dog, riding the rails and finally with a young girl named Sarah Ruth, who is gravely ill, and her brother Bryce in a home with an abusive father where Act 1 ends. Act 2 begins with the revelation that Sarah Ruth has died and Bryce and Edward run away to become street performers. Finally after a violent attack on Edward in a diner, he ends up in a doll store, repaired but one of many dolls all hoping to be adopted. These various homes and owners all teach him how to appreciate love and how to show it. By the end of the story he is ready to love unreservedly when he once again comes into the possession of a new little girl and her mother.

I cannot with any confidence evaluate the quality of the various performers singing voices. I can say that for me the stand outs vocally were Jack Swanson as Edward, Brian Vu as Bryce, and Jasmine Habersham as his sister Sarah Ruth. Swanson, a native of Stillwater MN is said to be a rising star on the Opera scene and it’s not hard to see why. There is a sequence in the second act that wonderfully showcases his range in a way that even a novice operagoer like myself can appreciate. But in addition to his voice it was his performance choices that brought to full force the dry humor of the script. Edward is a character that watches and listens, and never really gets to interact verbally with the other characters, he shares his thoughts, mostly directly to the audience. We feel like we know the character and more than anything else his temperament, which is a testament to Swanson’s nonverbal performance as much as to his vocals. Of the other performers there was definitely a volume issue with some of the performers, making again the captions a necessity rather than an occasional convenience.

Certainly a production like this the other creative departments deserve equal praise with the performers. The magnificent set designs by Walt Spangler create a larger world for Edward to traverse. Whether it’s that wonderful under the sea sequence, which also highlights the brilliant costumes designs of Victoria (Vita) Tzykun and lighting design of Marcus Doshi, or the Fisherman’s crooked home, it all looks like a children’s story book come to life. And not the broad cartoonish illustrations of most children’s books but the detailed and textured illustration like those of the novels illustrator Bagram Ibatoulline. Tzykun’s costumes are wonderful throughout, the standout being those of the undersea creature, that sequence is so wonderfully realized that we wish more of the story took place there. It’s simply a stunning production design from top to bottom and the entire productions comes together seamlessly under the stage direction of Eric Simonson and Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya. With so many location changes happening fluidly it seems fitting to also give some praise to the Stage Manager Jerry K. Smith.

Edward Tulane is a great introduction to the Opera for young audiences. It is a story they may know, it has wonderful sets and costumes which can introduce them to the creativity and real world magic that live performances can embody. The Opera runs through October 16th for for information and to purchase tickets go to https://mnopera.org/season/2022-2023/edward-tulane/.

Here are few more photos by Cory Weaver from the production to wet your appetite:

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This was my third Theatre Pro Rata show and they have yet to disappoint me. They seem to specialize in productions that really focus on the roles of women in society offering at times some of the most thought provoking and challenging theatre in the Twin Cities. After Top Girls and Orlando last season, it was nice to see them continue in the vein of those plays of questioning gender roles throughout history. It was also nice to see them switch things up with a more comedic approach, it’s a testimony to their work that though lighter in tone, it still retains a sense of powerful social commentary. When you are doing 46 plays in two hours, you have to get in and out of each First Ladies story fairly quickly and humor has always been the best tool for identifying inequalities by identifying absurdities. The five person cast all share the lead, each playing multiple First Ladies as well as other supporting characters. It’s a mashup of every conceivable approach from comedic, musical, to the occasional straight dramatic scene. It’s like a sketch show, if one scene isn’t working for you, no worries, it’ll be over in three minutes or less and there will be another one you might enjoy more. To my mind of the 46 scenes or plays, there isn’t more than two or three where I ever thought “let’s move on to the next one now”. If you think think about that, Saturday Night Live would kill for that ratio.

Written by Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Sharon Greene, Chloe Johnston, Bilal Dardai, and Andy Bayiates the script is all over the place in the best possible way. Each scene is about the next First Lady chronologically, in some cases there are more than one woman that fits that role for a President. Filled with facts I didn’t know and assuming are true, it’s like a kaleidoscope of ignorance. As an audience member you are surprised at some of the information you learn, you are also confronted by the uncomfortable knowledge that you didn’t know more than half of the names of the 46 First Ladies. What it does, besides shaming you, is wet an appetite to learn more about some of these women. Let’s face it, being married to someone doesn’t make you interesting, but that’s all we ever hear about most of the First Ladies, at least prior to the 20th century with a couple of notable exceptions. The man they married shouldn’t be the definition of who they were, they had their own accomplishments, their own identities and it’s wonderful that this show gives us some hint as to who they were.

Shanan Custer Directs the show which must be a logistical nightmare. Honestly, half the show is transitions to the next scene with new props, costumes, and pieces of furniture having to be orchestrated. Amazingly, it never felt anything but fluid, there isn’t a single moment where the show stops while a chair is put in place or a costume change completed. The only thing more fun than watching the show would probably have been watching rehearsals. I’ve seen Custer perform and she’d have been right at home in this cast so I imagine the rehearsals to have been, well probably too much fun. You know to the point where there has to be a speech about getting down to work now because we open in a week and while we’ve all had a lot of fun rehearsing, we gotta buckle down and get this thing blocked. The cast is so game, I mean, how do you keep that many characters straight along with doubling as stage hands? The cast, comprised of local performers that I see throughout the year Christy Johnson, Heather Meyer, Anjeline Ramirez, Sif Oberon, and multi-talented Nissa Nordland Morgan. They are all wonderful, but I just have to say Morgan never stops surprising me. I know she can write, I know she is a fantastically funny character actor, but I didn’t know that she was such a good singer. My favorite moments involve her singing with her guitar. I don’t know if this is just a talent I hadn’t been exposed to before or what, but I definitely want a heads up next time she’s doing a set somewhere.

46 Plays For America’s First Ladies runs through October 16th for more information on this wonderfully eclectic play and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreprorata.org/46-plays/

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Does everyone know how great Buddy Holly was? I’m serious. This is a conversation I had with my brother after seeing Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at History Theatre. We grew up knowing Holly’s music, our Dad exposed us to it from a very early age. He had a tangential connection. He grew up in Fargo ND and his neighborhood friend Robert Velline, better known as Bobby Vee, got his big break filling in for Holly at the concert in Moorhead Minnesota on February 3rd 1957, the day the music died. One of the first 10 CD’s I ever owned, I think I was in the 7th grade, was Buddy Holly From the Original Master Tapes. It contained 20 songs, all of them great, and I would discover throughout my lifetime that there were more great songs that weren’t even on that CD. As Minnesotans, we also collectively have a connection since he was flying from our neighbor state Iowa to perform in Moorhead MN. So for me personally, and I suspect for many of us regionally, we are aware of what was lost when the plane carrying Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens Crashed, killing them as well as their pilot. History theatre’s production resurrects the music, if only for a couple of hours. But in those hours we together as an audience experience the genius of Buddy Holly, and I as an individual, felt like I had my Dad there with me again.

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story is a jukebox musical written by Alan Janes which basically tells the brief biographical rise to fame of Buddy Holly. Holly having Died at the age of 22, there isn’t a lot of story to tell, but that’s OK because the real story is simply the music. It opens with local legend T. Mychael Rambo doing an acapella version of Don McLean’s “American Pie“. It’s a somber note which plants a seed that blossoms into the realization as we watch and listen of what exactly the world lost on that bitter February morning. Because what follows on from that moment is pure joy. We follow Buddy from January 1956 when he gets his first chance at a recording contract through February 1959 when he died at age 22. In three short years, we witness possibly one of the greatest musical outputs of all time. We are left at the end with the unanswerable question, what would have been? The show finds the best possible way to mark the death of Holly and then wisely gives us a flashback to hours before, an encore if you will, so that we can end on a high note with a couple more performances of Holly’s classic songs.

Buddy is played by Nicholas Freeman, this is the fifth time History Theatre has produced the show starting back in 2009 and Freeman has played Buddy each time. There is a reason you cast a man who has to be pushing 50 as a 22 year old, because he looks enough like, and sounds almost exactly like the real Holly. Buddy Holly had a distinctive vocal style which Freeman nails and since the story elements are short and really just a way to get us to the next musical performance, Freeman’s age wasn’t an issue. The show lives and breathes in the performances of the songs which are so good, the entire audience gets clapping along multiple times. Freeman, along with Adam Gauger and Matt Mcinytre who play the founding members of the crickets, actually play their instruments and they sound tight. They are assisted by Brandon Petron as the 4th Cricket on guitar and Jake Endres on keyboards. Their musical talents help to infuse the production with a vintage rock n roll concert feel that leaves you wanting more. Brendan Nelson Finn as The Big Bopper and Fernando Collado as Ritchie Valens are also wonderful at channeling the performances of their real life counterparts.

This was my first time seeing Buddy …, which given my affinity for the music might surprise you. The reality is that before I began reviewing shows, History Theatre was barely on my radar. Once I started and saw that I’d just missed Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story I kicked myself, then hoped they would produce it again in the not too distant future. Director Ron Peluso, who has been the Artistic Director of History Theatre for the past 27 years, likely as been fine tuning this show with each subsequent mounting. He’s done a remarkable job, it flows effortlessly and the moment of Holly’s death which I mentioned earlier could not be staged any more poignantly. If there is a stand out creative choice in the show that’s it. As I said the music is tight and that is due in no small part to the Musical Director Gary Rue. The set design by Justin Hooper is somehow perfect to stand in for a TV studio, recording studio, Concert venue and in a cute little moment a office building, with elevator.

For fans of classic rock-n-roll music and in particular Buddy Holly, you will not want to miss this spectacular production. The show runs through October 30th for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.historytheatre.com/2022-2023/buddy-buddy-holly-story

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Monster Month started a day early here at The Stages of MN with a trip down to New Prague for DalekoArts’ season opener The Thin Place. The first thing I always have to ask myself with a show that requires, depending on your location, a 40 to 80 minute drive, is it worth it? The answer, thankfully, in this case is yes! First of all, it’s a lovely drive down to New Prague particularly the last 10 miles or so once you exit 169. It felt like as we got closer to the theater the countryside had decided to begin changing into it’s Halloween costume. The leaves began to change, the small towns we drove through took on a Sleepy Hollow feel. By the time we reached the theater I was primed for a story that delved into the unknown. The Thin Place is not the type of show that tries to wow you with special effects, startle you with jump scares or thankfully, gross you out with buckets of blood. Instead, it tells a very simple intimate story that sucks you in and builds to a very satisfying conclusion, something that the genre fails at more often than it succeeds. This production succeeds because it is first and foremost a study of characters, which also doesn’t work well unless you have a great cast, which DalekoArts has certainly achieved with these actors.

The Thin Place is a relatively new play written by Lucas Hnath who’s play A Doll’s House Part 2 was nominated for a Tony Award in 2017. As with his continuation of Ibsen’s classic he has crafted a drama that focuses on characters, their motivations, and their relationships. The play opens With Hilda speaking to the audience describing her relationship with her Grandmother and the way they would practice communicating telepathically. They did this so that when her Grandmother passed away they would hopefully still be able to communicate. Hilda will continue to serve as narrator throughout the play sliding in and out of scenes that recount her friendship with Linda, a Medium whom she believed can communicate with people who are gone. She wants to communicate with her Grandmother but also with her mother who has gone missing. We sense that she wants to know if she is dead or alive. As Hilda and Linda become close and spend more and more time together we drop in on a party with Linda’s Cousin Jerry and friend Sylvia. What’s wonderful about all four of the characters is how much we learn about them through their conversation and behaviors. Very little is spelt out, one has questions about what exactly the relationships are between Linda and all three of the other characters. I really enjoyed the wonder and watching for clues that would more concretely define the connections.

What a wonderful opportunity for an actor to play these roles, where so much is implied, but left unstated. You really get to dig in and make choices, those choices help to lead the audience. But this cast is a tease, they stop short of doing anything that lets us into the inner circle, which is where Hnath wants us. he wants us to feel like Hilda, to be listeners, to be outside of the inner circle. Kayla Dvorak Feld is brilliant at using quietness to hold our attention. There’s a moment you have towards the beginning of the play where you start to wonder if it will just be this one actress sitting in a chair talking to us. And in that moment you think to yourself thank God she’s this good or it might have been tough going. About that time Lolly Foy enters stage left, Foy’s performance is the perfect contrast to Feld’s. Where Feld is quiet and her quietness draws you in, Foy plays Linda as someone who would be uncomfortable if she wasn’t the center of attention. She’s a real character but completely believable and her English accent sounds genuine, I was surprised to read she’s from Texas, raised in North Carolina. Rounding out the cast are Edwin Strout as Jerry and Siri Hellerman as Sylvia, their party scene interacting with Linda as Hilda watches is perfectly modulated, the three know how to step on each others lines just enough so that it sounds like old friends talking to and over each other.

Ben Thietje directs the play as a no frills affair. The decision to open the show with the house lights up and Feld simply wandering out on stage and beginning to talk with us was inspired. It immediately throws us slightly of balance, but then allows Hilda to connect with us as if we are just hanging out having a conversation. Momentarily, you lose the divide between performer and audience, on stage and off. He trusts in the actors ability to engage us and realizes that there is no need for superfluous stage business. We are with the actors, their performances and the script are all we need for the majority of the play. When the play calls for a little something extra he works it beautifully with the assistance of Ellie Simonett’s lighting design and Kevin Springer’s spare but well utilized sound design. Is it super scary? Well, no. But, it is kinda scary in a couple of parts and it builds ever so nicely. It’s perfect to take the wife who doesn’t like horror movies to as it’s got a little scariness, but not too much. It’s a great story and a fantastic lead performance by Kayla Dvorak Feld and equally impressive supporting work from Lolly Foy.

The Thin Place only runs for 5 more performance Oct 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 with Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM. It is recommended for ages 16 and older, I imagine that is due to the language more than anything else. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.dalekoarts.com/season-11

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