30 Top Tickets
The fall Events you need to see — by any means necessary
By Tim Gihring and Courtney Lewis
Photo by David J. Turner
(page 4 of 4)
The Pillowman
September 20 – October 14Frank Theatre
WHAT TO EXPECT: Frank Theatre is political, but political doesn’t have to mean dogmatic. This Broadway hit, for instance, about a writer who comes under question in his totalitarian homeland when his stories begin sounding uncannily like real-life crimes that have been committed, is as viciously funny as it is disturbing.
WHY GO: With local favorites Chris Carlson, Luverne Seifert, and Jim
Lichtscheidl in the cast (and Joel Sass doing the scenery design), the only way this show could have higher expectations is if it were set in a typically funky Frank locale (read: condemned industrial space). But the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio stage is nice, too.
WHERE: Guthrie Theater, 818 S. Second St., Mpls., 612-377-2224
The Home Place
September 28 – November 25Guthrie Theater
WHAT TO EXPECT: The Guthrie, which had originally slated Brian Friel’s acclaimed play (now a movie) Dancing at Lughnasa for this season, has landed the next best thing: the U.S. premiere of the Irish playwright’s newest drama. Set in 1878, it’s about a father and son both in love with their housekeeper in an Irish village. It’s also about the English relative who comes to visit—a guest whom just about everyone in town wishes would leave.
WHY GO: Friel may be Ireland’s best playwright right now, and perhaps no one, even in Ireland, directs Irish plays as evocatively as Dowling.
WHERE: Guthrie Theater, 818 S. Second St., Mpls., 612-377-2224
Home
October 5 – November 3Pillsbury House Theatre
WHAT TO EXPECT: “Home sweet home” takes on new meaning when Cephus Miles, the main character in Samm-Art Williams’s play, heads north to the city from rural North Carolina at the onset of the Vietnam War. When he decides to return, he finds redemption and comfort in the town of his youth.
WHY GO: Home’s director, Marion McClinton, won over critics and patrons with last year’s Yellowman at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio. His Broadway credits include Tony, Obie, and other award nominations.
WHERE: Pillsbury House Theatre, 3501 Chicago Ave. S., Mpls., 612-825-0459
The Deception
October 13 – November 25Theatre de la Jeune Lune
WHAT TO EXPECT: The Jeune Lune is either in a rut or on a roll, staging yet another show about manipulative, cross-dressing aristocrats.
WHY GO: It’s probably a roll. In this update of an 18th-century romp by Jeune Lune funnyman Stephen Epp, a woman disguises herself as a man to see if her husband is being faithful. It’s a setup that savvy Jeune Lune protégé Nathan Keepers, ingénue Emily Gunyou, and past City Pages’s Actor of the Year Casey Grieg will surely make the most of.
WHERE: Theatre de la Jeune Lune, 105 N. First St., Mpls., 612-333-6200
Agnes of God
October 19 – November 11Park Square Theatre
WHAT TO EXPECT: An emotionally challenging script, Agnes of God tells the story of a neurotic 21-year-old nun accused of killing her newborn. Verbal attacks between the court-appointed psychiatrist (an atheist) and the mother superior (obviously not), who’s protecting Agnes, venture into matters of faith, misfortune, and the powerful affects of altered neuroses.
WHY GO: The show premiered on Broadway in 1982, but previous productions have often struck out in execution. Park Square has a chance to succeed with director Mary Finnerty and star Linda Kelsey, a five-time Emmy Award nominee, at the helm.
WHERE: Park Square Theatre, 20 W. Seventh Pl., St. Paul, 651-291-7005
Richard III
November 2 – 18Ten Thousand Things Theater
WHAT TO EXPECT: Yes, all-male casts were de rigueur in Shakespeare’s day, but wethinks the point here is humor as much as authenticity. Why else stack the stage with the Twin Cities’ most capable comedic actors: Jim Lichtscheidl (playing Lady Anne), Luverne Seifert (as Queen Elizabeth), and Bob Davis (as Richard)? ’Tis brilliant.
WHY GO: TTT Theater frequently performs classical-era plays in prisons and homeless shelters. If anyone knows how to make iambic pentameter engaging, it’s these guys.
WHERE: November 2 to 11 at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Mpls.; November 16 to 18 at Minnesota Opera Center, 620 N. First St., Mpls.; 612-203-9502
Shining City
November 9 – December 23Jungle Theater
WHAT TO EXPECT: Director Joel Sass pulled terrific tension out of last year’s Jungle hit I Am My Own Wife. Here, he’s working with ghosts and the bedeviling relationship of a patient and his therapist, both of whom are struggling to restart their lives.
WHY GO: The script was hailed by the New York Times as “absolutely glorious” and “as close to perfection as contemporary playwriting gets.”
WHERE: Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave., Mpls., 612-822-7063
