Finding J Mitchell is a Fun, Light Whodunnit With a Nicely Constructed Script.

Finding J Mitchell is a new comedy murder mystery play by Kiernon James having its world premiere this month at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul. The setting is the Shady Oak Lodge in Wisconsin run by Shelly and Jerry Brenner. It’s a quite place, where nothing ever happens at least according to the young errand girl, Molly. That is until now, with thirteen characters two of which will be dead before the end of the play there are plenty of suspects and lots of clues to mislead the audience.

Alison Anderson, Edwin Strout, Ward Eames, Nicole Wood Photo by BTE Media

Rounding out the locals are Chuck, Jerry’s hunting buddy who is also the town Sheriff and his deputy and Molly’s father Rob (no relation). Guests include Diane, a Senator whom Shelly used to be an Aid for; Kyle, her current aid; Alex, a P.I. from Chicago whose on the trail of a burglar known as J. Mitchell; Belinda, who is Alex’s client and wants the burglar who also killed her husband caught; Victoria Reichert, the governor’s wife who arrives a day early unexpectedly; Nate, her driver; Heather Sullivan, a journalist on the trail of a story; and a mysterious psychic named Jolie Donavon who arrives without notice. There is a survey in the program that allows you to keep track of the characters and make your guesses during intermission to compare with your friends afterwards. I got one of the who dunnits right, but didn’t quite have the motive figured out. It’s a very well scripted mystery with red herrings and real clues aplenty. The solution(s) make sense but are anything but simple and straight forward, which makes it hard to solve, but possible, which is the best kind of mystery.

The performances are good enough for what this is. Special shout out to my favorite performer of the show, Elliot Mayne who plays the young errand girl Molly, whom I’d guess was about 10 years old give or take 2 years, great job! If you like whodunnits, which I do, this is something to check out. If you do not, there’s not going to be anything to recommend this to you. There is definitely a community theater feel to the production. It has a solid set design by Marvin Jonason, some nice lighting effects and sound design from Ariel Pinkerton and Robert Hoffman, I’m a sucker for an effective thunderstorm. The costumes by Genevieve Kafka are nicely realized I really thought the garb worn by Jerry and Chuck helped telegraph their characters nicely right from the start. The show is directed by Brian P. Joyce effectively moving the multitude of characters in and out of the space leaving you always a little off balance in terms of remembering who was where and when. I brought the Aged P with me for Mother’s Day and we both really enjoyed the mystery and trying to figure out the solution. It’s a show best suited for Britbox junkies and Murder She Wrote fans, if that sounds like you, this should be a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

Finding J Mitchell runs through June 1st at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://kiernonjames.com/fjm-show/

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. In short, theaters are being threatened for sharing stories that reflect our countries cultural and racial diversity.

Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithm to insure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. 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.

Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. New things are in the work! Click here to go to The Stages of MN YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Right now there is just a short introductory video, but there will be much more coming this summer. For now, check out the intro video and subscribe to the channel so that when we fully launch you’ll be the first to know!

No Sisters Completes a Unique and Rewarding Theatrical Experience

**Marci Lucht, Derek “Duck” Washington** Photo by Alex Wohlhueter

No Sisters is a companion play to Chekhov’s Three Sisters written by Aaron Posner. It is designed to be performed simultaneously in separate spaces in the same facility as Seven of the Actors in Three Sisters also play their characters in No Sisters. It’s amazing how precisely they are timed so that they reach the end of each act at the same time, they reach intermission at the same time and they finish at exactly the same time. The setting for No Sisters is listed as an existential greenroom and I don’t think I could say it any better. The seven characters that carry between the two plays are Andrei, the brother of the three sisters; his wife Natasha; Baron, who is in love with the youngest sister Irina; Vasily Solyony, Baron’s best friend who is very strange and also in love with Irina; Alexey Fedotik, a young soldier who also loves Irina; Fydor Kulygin, who is married to the middle sister Masha; and Anfisa, the elderly Nanny who has worked for Andrei’s family for 30 years. The Actors play the roles straight in Three Sisters but in No Sisters, while they do stay in character, they are also aware that they are in a play. It’s all fairly meta, slightly participatory, very funny, but also provides a deeper insight into some major characters and other lesser ones. Posner’s play also makes room for a more positive outlook on life. The character Alexey Fedotik rejects the opinions of his elders and espouses his belief that people are capable of change. Played by Jonathan Edwards who so joyfully delivers a speech with shining optimism that he got a rare mid-scene applause from the audience.

As with Three sisters, probably because it’s the same actors, there isn’t a weak performance in the entire cast. As noted in my Three Sisters review Duck Washington and Sean Dillon are great as Andrei and Baron. Here they get to add greater depth to their characters and fill in motivations and backstory. Jeremy Motz gets to really go full scary about to go postal with the character of Vasily Solyony, he not only addresses the audience directly but actually criticizes and shows distain for us. As they used to say in the early days of 20th Century Russia, “that’s so Vasily of him”. Motz is funny, but also intense and truly a little scary, it’s a great performance driven by an underlying current of volatility. Meri Golden plays the elderly Nanny Anfisa, and she gets to do so much more than we see in Three Sisters. We get greater insight into her relationship with Andrei and we even get to see her face her younger self via a video with May Heinecke playing a young Anfisa. There is a wonderful lesson contained in that video scene, one that contains as an important a message as Edwards’ speech as Alexey. The two performers that already had nice juicy roles in Three Sisters get the opportunity to clarify and deepen their characters. They are Marci Lucht as Natasha and Matt Wall as Fyodor Kulygin. As much as I enjoyed Lucht’s performance in Three Sisters, this one tops it. At times she is a complete bitch and then at others she becomes so incredibly emotionally open and vulnerable, it’s a revelation. Wall’s character in Three Sisters is pitiable, but in No Sisters the character is revealed to have more intelligence, and depth. While in the other play he is amusingly boring, in this play he is genuinely fascinating.

If you can only see one, see Three Sisters. And if you do want to see both, which I highly recommend, I encourage you to see Three Sisters first for the most rewarding experience. But book early, because of the space available in the theater lobby, there are not as many tickets to No Sisters. In fact some performances have already sold out. I went into No Sisters expecting it to be good, how could it not with this cast, but was also prepared for a decent sized dip in quality between the plays. And there is no denying that Three Sisters is the better individual play. For one thing it can stand on it’s own better than No Sisters could. But while Posner’s play is not the Masterpiece that Chekhov’s is, it is very good, very very good. Smartly it isn’t trying to do what Chekhov’s play is doing, it’s something entirely new that comments on the original play, in fact could not exist without it, but does so in a fresh and non traditional way. Julie K. Phillips’ direction is as perfect for this play as Carin Bratlie Wethern’s was for Three Sisters.

This is the sort of theatrical situation that doesn’t happen very often and so it’s important to jump on it while you can. Three Sisters and No Sisters runs through May 24th at the Crane Theater in North Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreprorata.org/2025-season

Violet From Ten Thousand Things Is a Bus Trip Worth Taking

Annika Isbell, Tom Reed in the background Photo by Tom Wallace

Violet is another tribute to the inventiveness and creativity of the artists that gravitate to Ten Thousand Things (TTT). This is the company whose modus operandi is that their entire set, props, and costumes have to fit in a U-haul trailer. They do this so they can travel with the shows making theater available to all. They travel all over from senior living homes to recovery centers and correctional facilities. They perform in the round with all the lights up and they rely on the actors to create most of the world in which the shows take place. It takes creativity to direct and skilled actors to help paint the world of the story on the canvas of the audiences minds. While they eschew the use of lighting they do, as you may suspect, utilize music, which is very handy when performing a musical. And here is where I issue the words of caution I have shared before, but failed to heed myself this time. Don’t sit next to Music Director Sanford Moore. I’m sure he’s a lovely man, it’s not that, it’s just that being right next to the music at a show performed in the round with no mics, some of the lyrics get drowned out. It’s my own fault, I know better, I just forgot, but I encourage you to sit on the opposite side of the room for a more balanced sound.

The story follows a young woman named Violet who is taking a Greyhound bus from Spruce Pine, NC to Tulsa, OK in 1964. She is going to see a healing televangelist in hopes that he will use the power of God to remove the large scar she has on her face that was caused by an axe head. On the bus she meets two soldiers one black and one white named Flick and Monty, they are dealing indirectly with their own issues concerning race and the Vietnam war. Those are not the focus of the show, they are just part of setting the place and time of the story. She befriends the soldiers and they form bonds and find solace in each other. The story is intercut with scenes of young Violet and her father, which help to inform the 1964 scenes. Violet feels like an outsider because of the disfigurement, but one of the things I liked about the show is it doesn’t paint her as a victim. There are scenes that could have been told in a way that would make her appear that she was taken advantage of, but the musical doesn’t go there. She gets what she needs from interactions and she knows how to take care of herself.

Annika Isbell plays Violet in her TTT debut, she has a nice voice and I was particularly captivated by her song “Lay Down Your Head“, which to my mind was much to short, as it’s a very beautiful bit of music. I’m not sure if other productions create a scar on Violet and if TTT doesn’t in keeping with their lean approach, but I don’t think seeing the scar would add anything to the production. Mitchell Douglas and Ryan London Levin play flick and Monty and both get moments to take the spotlight. Douglas’s big song is “Let it Sing” and boy does he, I also liked the movement that Director Kelli Foster Warder designed for that song having Douglas up on the seats of the bus in his uniform had a classic feel to it. Levin’s character seems like he’s going to be the typical jerk just out for a good time, but a turn to sincerity, when it comes, feels very authentic. Tom Reed who plays the Preacher, brought me right back to the one of the first times I saw him on stage in what I still consider one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen Interstate: The Musical by Melissa Li and Kit Yan. He’s so good at playing Preachers, and bus drivers, and… oh who am I kidding, he’s always great in everything and this is no exception. The cast is rounded out by very talented cast playing multiple roles including the divine Lynnea Doublette fantastic as a Gospel Singer. Sophina Saggau who plays Young Violet, Kate Beahen as an older woman who befriends Violet on the bus, and Charlie Clark as violet’s father.

Violet is creatively staged by Director Kelli Foster Warder with Music Direction by Sanford Moore, whom I will remind you again not to sit next to. The costumes by Samantha Fromm Haddow have a great period feel to them and the sets and props by Sarah Bahr while simple are extremely versatile and perfect for a TTT production. Violet runs through June 1st at various locations. To learn more and to purchase tickets go to https://tenthousandthings.org/violet/

The Birds From Theatrex Will Get Into Your Ears at The Hive Collaborative in St. Paul

The Birds, a play adaptation by Conor McPherson from the story by Daphne du Maurier, which was also the source material for the famous Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. Aside from a world turned upside down by the sudden revolt of birds against humanity, the title and source inspiration are the only things the play and the film have in common. Which was actually a nice surprise. I am a very devoted Hitchcock Fan but of his films that most people list as among his greats, The Birds is the one that I like the least. I’d downgrade it from classic to very good. In terms of the play, I would also characterize it as very good, not quite great. Which frankly, if a story about a world in which society has crumbled and being attacked by birds is just one of the life threatening challenges you are facing, along with starvation and fending off other humans for whom survival has trumped civility is your kind of story, very good is more than worth it for you. It was for me! The only real criticism I have is that it does feel a little long, at times the contemplative silences from the cast seem like they could be cut down a little bit. That said the cast is very, very strong.

The story is set in a farmhouse out in the country, narrated by Diane a novelist who was on her way to her grown daughters birthday party, when the birds began to attack. She found her way to this house along with Nat, a man she doesn’t know but is running a very high fever, and she is caring for him as best she can. Time passes and Diane’s wariness of Nat soon dissolves as they work together to survive. For some reason the birds respond to the tides, so they have 6 hour windows in which it’s safe to be outdoors to scavenger for food. At one point a young woman named Julia appears, she has been injured when attacked by a man who was trying to rape her. Her presence adds a new tension to the farmhouse and threatens the harmony that’s been established between Diane and Nat. There is also a stranger living in the house across the lake. He has been spotted on occasion but ducks out of sight when spotted, so he’s talked about but not seen until he comes along when he knows Diane is alone. A lot of the tension is built on our expectation of the worst thing that could happen, happening. McPherson’s script and Joe Hendren’s direction plays on our darkest suspicions of human nature. Giving us space to sit with situations long enough to assume we can read the thoughts of the characters.

First off, it has some of the best sound design I’ve heard especially in a theater as intimate and DIY as The Hive. Forest Godfrey who did the sound design has utilized a surround sound approach so you hear near constant bird noises but perfectly balanced so that you never miss a line of dialogue. The lighting design by Bill Larsen and the prop designs by Heather Edwards help to create a sense of claustrophobic reality. The cast is excellent beginning with Kari Elizabeth Godfrey as Diane, she does a great job of letting us read her thoughts through her performance and making some of her characters less noble choices understandable. We may not agree with what she does, but her performance has put us in this world and in these circumstances, we can see where she thinks this might be the right decision, considering what the world has become and what she needs to survive. Tim Reddy as Nat and Ankita Ashrit as Julia, both give good performances; Reddy lets linger a fog over his character from the initial fever and revelations about himself, that keep us questioning how he’s really doing. Ashrit, perfectly walks the line between seeming to be sweet while showing us her true nature. Finally in a single scene, Jon Stentz as Tierney, the man across the lake, makes a strong impression creating a mystery of a man that causes fear and pity.

The Birds runs through April 27th at The Hive Collaborative in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatrex.org/

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical Should Please Fans at Stages Theatre Company

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is an adaptation of the first book in the Percy Jackson book series by Rick Riordan. Riordan’s series inspired a generation of kids, my youngest George included, to take an interest in Greek Mythology. From what I remember of the film version, I’m afraid I never read the books myself, it felt as if the book by Joe Tracz for this musical version adheres fairly closely to the plot of the book. Young fans of the series should get a kick out of seeing their favorite characters brought to life and singing on stage. There’s a fair amount of stage magic used to create some moments of wonder but audiences shouldn’t go in expecting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child level effects. Still for the scale of a Stages show I was impressed with what they did and the scenic design by Joe Stanley, props by Marc Berg, sound design by Gretchen Katt, and costumes and make up by Samantha Fromm Haddow are all well done. The lighting design by Tony Stoeri however, seemed to leave the characters in the dark on several occasions though there were also some very effective lighting queues. The songs by Rob Rokicki unfortunately are for the most part forgettable and a lot of them do seem to be pushing many of the performers ranges, so that aspect of the production isn’t ideal.

The story follows a group of half bloods, meaning they are half human and half God, known as Demigods. The main character Percy doesn’t know that he is a half blood he just thinks his father abandoned him and his mother before he was born. When he is attacked by a Fury during a field trip his mother takes him on to a camp for half bloods and he learns who he really is. Unfortunately, they are attacked on the way by a Minotaur and Percy’s mother is presumed dead. Percy’s only friend Grover from his former school turns out to be Satyr, he has the legs of a goat, and accompanies Percy to the camp. There he meets other Demigods including Annabeth who is the child of Athena, and Luke who is the son of Hermes. When Percy is accused of stealing the lightning bolt of Zeus ha must go on a quest to the underworld with Grover and Annabeth to try and retrieve the lightning bolt and avert a war between the Gods. Percy takes on the task in hopes of also reclaiming his mother from Hades in the underworld.

The performers are all confident and handle the the fight choreography by Anna Crace well. George Wellens as Percy really belts out the songs reminding me a bit of performances I’ve seen of Roger in Rent. The role doesn’t always hit his vocal sweet spot and can sound at times slightly discordant, but when it does hit his range perfectly he’s very strong. Other favorites are Willa Breen as Annabeth, who brings the character to life as a formidable and resourceful young woman, exuding quiet strength and imbued with resilience and intelligence. Her vocals are among the best. Another favorite is Henry Halverson who plays Luke, he’s solid in the first half of the play but then disappears as we follow Percy and his friends on their odyssey. But when he comes back at the end of the play, he gets a really nice scene with a song that is just right for his voice. It was probably the best performance in the play his anger in the moment feels authentic and I wish we’d gotten more of him in the show, definitely one to watch for in future productions.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical runs through May 11th at Stages Theatre Company in Downtown Hopkins. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.stagestheatre.org/the-lightning-thief-the-percy-jackson-musical/

Fun Home is Dead Brilliant at Theater Latté Da

Eve Scharback (Small Alison), Sara Masterson (Alison), Monty Hays (Medium Alison). Photo Dan Norman

Fun Home the 90 minute no intermission (is there a better theater term than that?) show based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel gets a fantastic staging at Theater Latté Da. A favorite of mine since I saw a performance of “Ring of Keys” on the 2015 Tony Awards and began listening to the Cast Recording. I saw the tour at the Orpheum Theatre in 2016, and have been anxious for someone to do it in town. The wait was worth it, Theater Latté Da has assembled a stellar cast particularly the trio of actors playing Alison at three different ages. That performance at the Tony’s of “Ring of Keys” that so captivated me that I began listening to the cast recording before even seeing the show, I didn’t think could be matched. But get your baseball gloves ready because Eve Scharback as Small Alison knocks it out of the park! It’s just one of several sublimely perfect moments in the show, but it’s perhaps the most powerful, when Alison clicks with herself. The penny drops and she doesn’t know what it all means yet, but she sees someone, an adult, and she recognizes herself in that stranger. It’s a moment of wonder, joy, and discovery and somehow, a very young actress, conveys all of that in her swagger and her bearing and her just right way of performing the song.

Fun Home is narrated by the Adult Alison who is a cartoonist. She’s turning her memories into a graphic novel and as she explores her past as one of three kids growing up in a house like a museum that is also a funeral home, known in the family as Fun Home. She wrestles with what is real as she doesn’t trust memory. Part of that is because our perspective changes at different ages. Our understanding of what might really have been happening becomes clearer, and new information gained later in life throws a different light on old memories. She states early on “My Dad and I both grew up in the same small Pennsylvania Town, and he was gay, and I was gay, and he killed himself, and I became a lesbian cartoonist”. That sums up what this musical explores, the ways in which two people who are in many ways similar, turn out so different because of the choices they made, and partly because of the times in which they were born it should be acknowledged. Bruce, Alison’s father lived his life in the closet and it ultimately destroyed him. Alison, came out, lived as her authentic self, and it made all the difference. It’s a powerful message in these dark days when we have taken such huge steps backwards as a society. One can see the temptation again to protect yourself by hiding who you are, this speaks to the importance of living your truth.

There are so many moments from this cast that blew the audience away. First up, the three juvenile actors playing Small Alison, Eve Scharback, her brothers Christian and John played by Truman Bednar and Brock Heuring practice a pretend commercial they are writing for the Funeral Home. “Come to the Fun Home” is a song that could go off the rails if any one of the three weren’t up to the task, but the three of them bring the house down, it’s so funny and fabulously choreographed by Katie Rose McLaughlin. Another favorite song is when Monty Hays (who is a The Stages of MN favorite, full stop), playing Medium Alison performs the song “Changing My Major” after their first sexual experience with college girlfriend Joan, played perfectly by the always great Emma Schuld. Lastly, I want to mention a song that has always tugged at my heart which is “Telephone Wire”. It takes place between Adult Alison played by Sara Masterson, who is standing in during this scene that actually took place on a car ride between Medium Alison and her father Bruce, played by Shad Hanley. There is a constant refrain “Say something, talk to him. Say something, Anything.” I think parents and children can both relate to that moment, when you want to be able to say something important to the other person and can’t find the moment or the courage. Adult Alison has stepped in because this is the last night with her Dad and the following lyrics explain why this moment is so important that she has inserted herself into the past to see if she can discover something she missed when she was young.

“Telephone wire, make this not the past.
This car ride, this is where it has to happen.
There must be some other chances.
There’s a moment I’m forgetting, where you tell me you see me?
Say something, talk to me.
Say something, anything.
At the light, at the light.
This can’t be our last-.”
“Telephone wire” Lyrics by Lisa Kron

Masterson is urgent and completely compelling in this heartbreaking moment where she is in the present pleading for a chance at a do over, but it isn’t that kind of show. She can reinterpret and reexamine a memory but she cannot change the past. Hanley is superb as Bruce, there are moments I hated how he behaved, partly because I hated when I behaved that way in my own life. Little parenting moments that every parent has where you didn’t handle things like you would if you were thinking about it rather than just living your life. But a lesson we can take from the show is that we cannot change the past, we have to move forward and move on.

Fun Home runs through May 4th at Theater Latté Da in North Minneapolis. I absolutely loved this production and I’m going to see it a second time if I can. Every aspect of the production is inspired, but I do want to point out specifically the Scenic Designer Eli Sherlock who has crammed every nook and cranny of the stage and under the stage with old furniture. I recommend you get your tickets early I can see this selling out performances and besides, you might want to see it twice as well. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.latteda.org/fun-home

The Tin Woman Is All About the Heart at the Historic Mounds Theatre

Doug Thompson, Elizabeth Efteland, Matt Berdahl, Stephanie Wipf, and Dorian Chalmers Photo by BTE Media Co

100 Percent Human Theatre presents The Tin Woman by Sean Grennan, a title that has multiple meanings in regards to its protagonist Joy, a woman who like the Tin Man of Oz needs a heart. The play is directed by Joy Donley whose 16-year-old son Lewis’s organ donations have benefited 60 individuals. Donley knows first hand the power inherent in such a gift, in the comfort from knowing that something positive can spring from such so unimaginably tragic. She has poured all of that understanding and compassion into this project and it culminates in such a cathartic moment that we leave the theater feeling as if a weight has been lifted from us all. You will cry more than likely but it is not because something is sad, but because something beautiful and healing has occurred. For my money, those are the best tears, they cleanse and renew us, and that’s how I felt leaving the theater tonight.

Joy, the character is the recipient of a heart transplant from Jack who is a son and brother. While Jack’s family mourns, Joy isolates. Her friend Darla tries to get her to re engage with the world, but there was already something broken within Joy before her heart went bad. Grennan’s script reveals multiple metaphorical meanings, the Tin Woman is certainly a reference to the character from The Wizard of Oz but it is more than the fact that Joy physically needs a heart transplant. She not only literally needs a heart but she figuratively does as well. She is isolating and has broken up with her boyfriend. Judging by her reactions to her nurses inquiries about a boyfriend or fiance, and to a man asking for the cinnamon in a flashback scene set pre-heart surgery in a cafe, she isn’t interested in a relationship. We get a hint as to why Joy doesn’t let anyone into her heart from a conversation she has with her friend Darla about her childhood. Jack’s family is grieving, his mother, Alice, and sister, Sammy are trying to move forward and get excited at the prospect of meeting Joy after she has sent them a letter of thanks. His father Hank though has heart issues of his own, as Alice stated at one point, the next time Hank talks about his feelings will also be the first time. Hank doesn’t want to deal with his sons death and he doesn’t want to meet Joy. Present throughout the play, sometimes in flashbacks but mostly as an unseen and unheard presence is Jack. His minimal interactions as the spirit never take on a supernatural aspect, but they do lend an emotional element, Jack’s hands are like the hands of fate causing a person to finally hit the right button to access an image on a digital camera, or the touch that causes someone to finally feel connection and warmth.

At intermission my favorite performance was Greta Grosch who plays the Nurse and Joy’s friend Darla. Grosch is great fun in both roles providing much of the humor. I know that the description so far doesn’t sound like it’s a comedy, and I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is. But, like life itself, it has a lot of funny moments. The feeling on the rest of the cast was that they were good, but that’s because all of the other characters are for the most part shutting down their emotions. By the end of Act II, it would be hard to pick a favorite, everyone built up their characters defences so well that when they finally fall away it’s an emotional release for everyone in the theater. Joy is played by Elizabeth Efteland, Alice by Dorian Chalmers, Sammy by Stephanie Wipf, Hank by Doug Thompson, and Jack is played by Matt Berdahl. Efteland plays the closed off Joy as someone who seems used to having her share of food at the dinner table stolen, wary and unengaging. When she confronts Hank about his behavior it’s like she finally has decided to fight for her share of the food. Chalmers is great as Alice, her matter of fact dealings with the grumpy Hank feel authentic, Thompson’s responses feel a little more like line readings particularly in the first act, but he really comes through once Hank and Joy begin to interact. Wipf, is quite engaging as the free spirited, blog writing, preschool teacher, Sammy. Overly touchy with the hug averse Joy, and likely to begin crying at the drop of a hat, this is mostly played with humor, but our first one on one scene with her shows us a more subtle side as she conducts story time with her preschoolers, we see her getting a little sad, but she covers it well, a tricky thing to show us the emotions the character is feeling but at the same time, concealing.

The Tin Woman runs through April 13th at the Historic Mounds Theater in St. Paul. I was quite moved by this production and in that rare way where you are crying but because something is more beautiful than sad. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://100percenthumantheatre.com/

To learn more about organ donation and to register to become a donor if you are not already go to https://www.life-source.org/