The Hatmaker’s Wife is only my second show from acclaimed theater company Ten Thousand Things and they are quickly becoming one of my favorite Theater Companies. Performed in the round with minimal sets, props and costumes, basically whatever they can fit in a Van, the focus on connection with the audience. The lights are on the only concession to creating mood or atmosphere is the accompaniment of live music, the focus is on the story and the performers skills in communicating it. One of the goals of this company is to provide access to theater to those who would not ordinarily have it. Part of the reason for the way they stage their shows is so they can travel with them and perform anywhere. Their schedule is divided into traveling dates out in the community which are free of charge and then two Thursday thru Sunday Weekends and two Minneapolis location which are paid admission, which help to fun the free performances. It’s a beautiful mission and it aligns perfectly with that of The Stages of MN, which is to create new theatergoing audiences. There are two steps to accomplishing that goal, the first is to get people who don’t make theatergoing a regular part of their lives into a seat at a performance. The second is to present something that will make them want to see another show. Ten Thousand Things does both of these steps incredibly well.

The Hatmaker’s Wife is at once complex and simple. Like a fairytale for adults with a straight forward message, but told through jumps backward and forward in time. The narrative technique does not confuse the audience but enriches the story adding layers of meaning and emotion in what is otherwise on the surface mainly comedic. This blend creates an entertaining work that has an emotional resonance by the end beyond what one expects given the humorous tone of the play. This is a story not of our world, but one very similar. Voice played by Michelle De Joya moves into a rental house with her boyfriend Gabe played by Clay Man Soo only to discover that the Wall, who is played by Tyson Forbes, has a story to share with her. Feeding her pages that flashback to the story of Hetchman, the Hatmaker of the title, and his Wife, who are played by the wonderfully physical comedic actors Jim Lichtscheidl and Kimberly Richardson. Hetchman loves his hat more than anything else in the world, his wife longs for a hat of her own, but Hetchman does not provide her with one. One day his hat goes missing and Hetchman is sad, next his wife goes missing and Hetchman is sad that his hat is still missing. His neighbor and best friend Meckel, played by Pedro Bayon, tries to help Hetchman to find his wife and convince him that she is the more important of the two things that have gone missing from his life. It’s a story that uses fantastical ideas to remind us of what is really important and how we can lose sight of that at times in our lives.

To engage an audience fully and tell a story without the usual trappings of lighting and sets means you have to have the best material and talent. The Hatmaker’s Wife Written by Lauren Yee is a wonderful script and the direction by Joel Sass displays that has a perfect understanding of the material and how to bring it to life. You couldn’t ask for better casting than Jim Lichtscheidl and Kimberly Richardson. They open the play with a nearly, perhaps entirely, wordless scene that relies on the their gifts as physical performers, of which they are among the very top in the Twin Cities. I have noted and wondered at their talents in Physical Comedy in past performances, Lichtscheidl recently in Dinner For One at Jungle Theater and Richardson so memorably in The Red Shoes at Open Eye Theatre, which impressed me so much I went back a second time. For them alone the show is worth seeing, everyone else is gravy on top, but it’s a rich and flavorful gravy that brings out all the nuances of the play. Tyson Forbes along with playing Wall, which magically talks, also plays Golem a symbolic creature from Jewish folklore is a costume designed by Sonya Berlovitz. Forbes does nice work covered in a massive costume without a face giving the Golem a personality and presence through movement and body language alone.

The Hatmaker’s Wife is a thoroughly entertaining and magical night at the theater with a superb cast performing a work that feels timeless in the way a fairytale does. It runs through March 17th at various locations, for more information, performance locations and to purchase tickets go to https://tenthousandthings.org/our-season/hatmakers-wife/

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