November 2009

November 25, 2009

What to do with the relatives over the weekend!

So, having spent the past two weeks in southern Italy and Tunisia, I'm going through a bit of withdrawal: the streets here seem empty by comparison, what fun is it to cross a street without taking your life into your hands? And where can a person get a decent gelato around here?

On the other hand, the arts scene makes it that much more bearable to return, and this is the weekend when all the arts groups show what they're working with, aiming for a piece of the holiday show pie. So if you're looking for something to do with the relatives who didn't disappear along with the pumpkin pie, here are some ideas.

"Holiday Traditions," the annual displays in the period rooms at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, opens Friday. And... Read more »

Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 7, 2009

"Landscape of the Body" a Comic Tale to Die For

Eveyone loves a good ghost story—especially when it's funny, as is Landscape of the Body, a 1977 stunner being revived by the new Prufrock Theatre tonight through November 21 at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. It was written by John Guare, the playwright who coined an enduring cultural reference with his incisive Six Degrees of Separation.

The play is an ocassionally surreal headspinner following the heartbreaking longings of such characters as a ghost who wishes for the sensual pleasures of life, her sister who may be a murderer, and others in a large and eager cast. Leah Cooper, the erstwhile head... Read more »

Posted on Saturday, November 7, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 1, 2009

Review: "Ruined" Brings African Atrocities Home

When the Pulitzer Prize committee chose "Ruined," now playing at the Mixed Blood Theatre, for the drama award this year, it bypassed one of its own suggested stipulations to do so—that the play shed light on the American experience—presumably because it felt the play was too important (and too good) not to acknowledge. Of course, when a play is deemed "important," it does not necessarily mean it's engaging, much less entertaining—in fact, the opposite is often the case. With "Ruined," however, playwright Lynn Nottage has managed all of the above. The play is at once enlightening, galvanizing, and uplifting. 

The setting is the... Read more »

Posted on Sunday, November 1, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0)