Information, reviews, and miscellaneous shorts focusing on professional, nonprofit theater—from a Southeast Minnesota perspective.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Piano Lesson

Penumbra

By August Wilson, directed by Lou Bellamy
Penumbra Theatre, St. Paul, Minnesota
March 19, 2008

August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play begins with a 5:00 A.M. pounding on the door, but Penumbra appropriately begins its production a generation before Wilson’s 1936 setting with a brief, wordless sketch. A woman polishes the family piano which is decorated with folk art carvings and then encourages her young girl to play. This prelude ends with a freight train thundering through the set. This opening emphasizes that while the play takes place over the course of 5 summer days in 1936 Pittsburgh, its real story starts much earlier.

The present day tension of the play is between Berniece, who has moved north to Pittsburgh with her young daughter, and her brother Boy Willie. The overbearing Boy Willie plans to sell the family’s heirloom piano in order to buy land from the family that once owned their ancestors. He sees this as an appropriate way to use the family heirloom. He firmly believes that if he owns land, he will then have something tangible to pass down to his children—something his father and grandfather could not do.

Berniece has brought the piano north with her because it carries the symbolic heritage of her family. It had, at one time, been traded for her great-grandmother and grandfather (the price of the piano was 1 and 1/2 slaves—a mother and child). Carved on its surface are the images of this great grandmother and son, along with scenes depicting the sale and other events marking the family’s history. Berniece will not allow her brother to sell it. Through the course of the play, the audience learns the history of the piano and the family, a history that includes murder, loss, and a tradition of imprisonment that suggests the existence of a system of indentured servitude long after slavery’s abolition.

In one of the most powerful scenes of the play, Boy Willie and his friend Lymon share the stage with Boy Willie’s two Uncles: Doaker and Winning Boy. The younger men have recently served time in a prison farm—Parchment Farm. Many years earlier, the older men had served hard time in this same prison. Boy Willie and Lymon begin singing a work song they learned at the prison, and the older men join in the spirited song, mimicking the fall of the pick by stamping their feet and banging on the table. While this scene highlights the shared experience of these two generations of men—almost a shared rite of passage—the men one by one withdraw from the singing in a painful recognition of grief and loss until Boy Willie is left alone singing and slamming his hands on the table, unaware he is the only man remaining in the song, desperately beating back the demons that have marked his personal and family history.

This powerful rendition of this scene is evidence that Penumbra is the perfect place for Wilson’s drama: not only was Wilson a friend and company member, he shares Penumbra’s commitment to presenting the lives of black people and culture with all of its complexity on the American stage.

The Penumbra Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize drama The Piano Lesson has been extended through March 30.

Visit the Penumbra for schedules and tickets: Penumbra Theatre

The Penumbra’s Gem of the Ocean to open on the Guthrie stage

Penumbra

by August Wilson, Directed by Lou Bellamy
Penumbra Theatre and Guthrie Theatre

Gem of the Ocean begins August Wilson’s journey through his 10-play cycle dramatizing black life in America in each decade of the 20th Century. Wilson was able to complete this ambitious cycle before his death in 2005. Penumbra Theatre, a long time collaborator of Wilson’s, will take this same journey, presenting all 10 of Wilson’s major plays in the next 5 years. Penumbra has previously performed eight of the 10, several of them more than once.

In the 2007-2008 season, Penumbra’s presented the Pulitzer Prize winning The Piano Lesson. They will end the season with Gem of the Ocean.

Gem of the Ocean, while the 9th play written in the cycle, serves as the opening to the cycle. It is set 1904 Pittsburgh and becomes a “prequel” of sorts, introducing characters and the ancestors of characters who will populate later plays. By the time he wrote Gem of the Ocean, Wilson had reached a clarity about his main themes and purposes for the cycle. The play is a powerful drama that captures the culmination of Wilson’s thinking about the black experience in America.

This regional premiere of Gem of the Ocean is a joint venture between Penumbra Theatre and The Guthrie and will be presented at the Guthrie Theater on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

Gem of the Ocean runs April 25 - May 18.

Visit the Penumbra for schedules and tickets: Penumbra Theatre

Thursday, March 20, 2008

John Hassler, Minnesota Novelist, Playwright Dies

Jon Hassler

Minnesota novelist and the namesake of Plainview’s professional theater Jon Hassler died earlier today. Hassler retired from his post as writer in residence at St. John’s University of Minnesota in 1997 and was instrumental in starting the The Jon Hassler Theater and Rural America Writer’s Center in Plainview, Minnesota where Hassler lived during his middle school and high school years. Hassler adapted several of his books for the Plainview stage, including Grand Opening, which is set in Plum Minnesota, a pseudonym for Plainview.

Hasler was the author of numerous novels, most set in Minnesota including, Staggerford, Simon’s Night, Grand Opening, North of Hope, and The Love Hunter. In addition to St. John’s University, he taught at Bemidji State University and Brainerd Community College. Hassler was 74. His death is reported in the St. Paul Pioneer Press online service.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Gunsmoke Monologues

I hadn’t thought about the recent surge in community theater productions at bars and taverns across the state as a concern for Minnesota Theater until a recent comment (from the limey) questioned the need for the theater exemption to the smoking ban. His (or her) solution to the problem of the loophole that the bars are exploiting is to eliminate the loophole for theaters as well. He asks why theaters need to use live cigarettes. Certainly cigarette props could be used in scenes that call for cigarettes.

While the limey raises some interesting questions, my thinking is moving in a different direction. First of all, I kind of admire the creativity and the gumption of bar owners finding and using the loophole, even though I am in favor of the law banning smoking in restaurants and bars. I guess at a very basic level I’m suspicious of laws that impinge on an individual’s activities. But I especially resist any government restrictions on the arts. It seems to me that a healthy Theater requires the freedom to express itself in whatever way is necessary. That includes using nudity, foul language, gunshots, violence, and cigarettes. Like any other prop, technique, or subject matter, cigarettes should be part of the tool bag for directors and producers.

I recently attended the St. Mary’s University production of When You Coming Back Red Ryder? The play is set in an early 70s roadside dinner. I believe the decision to use cigarettes in the play certainly helped create the overall scene. Yes, they could have eliminated the cigarettes, left them unlit, or used fake cigarette smoke, but I don’t think any of those would have been near as effective as the real cigarettes. Smoking, talking, and eating are the main activities of the patrons of a 70s roadside dinner. The play was enhanced by the use of real cigarettes, just as it was enhanced by real sausages frying on a greasy grill and a very realistic gunshot (though admittedly, not a real bullet).

I’m sure the state of Minnesota will do something to address the Gunsmoke Monologue issue. But in the meantime, this may be an opportunity to expand the interest in theater. When people willingly step on a stage, no matter how small, and call themselves actors, no matter how tongue-in-cheek, there’s a good chance that some of them may be living out some desire for a life on the stage. The Monologues aren’t theater, but they might be workshops.

As for the limey’s request that Minnesota Theater take a stand on the issue, here is the official stand:

Minnestota Theater does not review community theater productions, works in progress, or theater workshops. Minnesota Theatre will consider listing upcoming community theater productions, including Gunsmoke Monologues, if the pertinent information is submitted in a timely manner.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Commonweal Season Begins in April

Each year as I attend the Commonweal’s annual holiday production my enjoyment of the play is followed by the sad realization that I’ll have to wait until February for the next season’s opening. A couple of things changed that experience this winter/spring. First of all, I waited until the last weekend to see the Commonweal production of Inspecting Carol, and a winter storm prevented me from attending. So rather than feeling melancholy about having to wait two long months for the return of professional theater, I was mad at myself for waiting until the last minute and missing December’s offering. The other change is that the wait for the Commonweal’s Ibsen production is longer this year: Peer Gynt doesn’t open until April 26 (with previews starting April 18). The Ibsen festival will take place May 2 - 4.

In a meeting with local business owners last summer (as reported in the Preston Republican-Leader), Executive Director Hal Cropp and Managing Director Erick Bunge explained the condensed season (April - December rather than February - December) from several angles. First of all, with the new, larger theater, the Commonweal has the ability to fill more seats with fewer performances. By shortening the season, the company is trying to keep from overextending itself by having too many performances for its audience base. Presumably, fewer performances will save costs as the company cautiously incorporates the new expenses of owning and paying for a new building.

Cropp also pointed out that the Ibsen production is not always well attended beyond the opening week. And because much of the Commonweal’s audience must travel to get to Lanesboro, bad weather can further impact attendance as the picturesque roads that wind their way to Lanesboro can quickly turn treacherous. Ultimately, the theater’s board hopes that, for now, starting the season in late April will better financially serve the theater with larger, more predictable audiences.

It always seemed appropriate to consider Ibsen in February when the snow and darkness reflect Ibsen’s Norway. But Ibsen didn’t necessarily see his dramas as emanating from near the Arctic Circle. In the Introduction to his translation of Peer Gynt, Rolf Fjelde identifies a change in Ibsen’s work which dates to his first crossing of the Alps three years before writing Peer Gynt. Fjelde sees Ibsen metaphorically leaving the “Gothic North” with its “grinding poverty in cheerless, wintry towns,” to enter the “Mediterranean South.” Ibsen describes this Alps crossing as a turning point: “a wonderful soft brightness, shining like white marble, was suddenly revealed to me and was destined to set its stamp on all my later production, even if that production was not all beauty.”

Just as the revelation of a warmer south set Ibsen on the path of writing Peer Gynt and most of the Ibsen canon, perhaps the Ibsen Fest’s move to spring will allow us to look at Ibsen in a different light. But just to be sure, I’m not going to wait until the last weekend to see Peer Gynt; I don’t want to get snowed out again.

Peer Gynt

By Henrick Ibsen, Directed by Hal Cropp
Previews: April 18
Runs April 26 - May 18

2008 Commonweal Season

Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Harvey by Mary Chase
Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman
(A new American work, to be announced)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
New times:
Plays now run Thursday - Monday
Evening curtain: 7:30
Matinee curtain: 1:30

Visit the Commonweal for schedules and tickets: Commonweal Theatre

Upcoming Performances: Taxes and Greeks

The Fountain City River Players turn their attention toward tax day while both Winona Universities turn towards the Greek. Vivian Fusillo directs Medea at Winona State in early April while Steven Bouler directs Euripedes’ Iphingenia at Aulis later in the month.

April 2 - 6 Love, Sex, and the I.R.S.: A Comedy in Three Acts

By Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore, Directed by Judee Brone
Fountain City River Players
7:30pm April 2 - 5; 2:00pm April 6
Fountain City Auditorium
42 N. Main St.
Fountain City, Wisconsin
(608) 687-7174.

April 3 - 5 Medea

Directed by Vivian Fusillo
Winona State Department of Theater and Dance
Winona, Minnesota

From WSU Online Calandar:

Medea is a story of betrayal, revenge and murder from Greek mythology.

Medea is a woman who has given up her home and family in Corinth to help Jason and the Argonauts capture the Golden Fleece. Upon their return to Corinth, Medea and Jason wed and have two sons. However, Jason is unable to resist when Creon, the king of Corinth, offers his daughter to Jason if he will divorce and banish Medea, who is suspected of being a barbarian sorceress. Jason agrees in hopes of one-day becoming king. Medea is given one day to leave Corinth, and one day is all she needs to exact her revenge.

Medea is intended for mature audiences.

Visit the Winona State Theater and Dance Department website for schedule and ticket information.

Iphigenia

April 18 - 21 Iphigenia at Aulis

By Euripides, Directed by Dr. Steven Bouler
St. Mary's University Department of Theater Arts
Winona, Minnesota

Description from St. Mary's Page Theater website:

The Greek fleet waits in the bay of Aulis in readiness to launch an attack on Troy, but the wind suddenly drops and the ships stand idle. The army blames its leader, Agamemnon, who, in danger of losing his command, is told by the oracle the only solution: sacrifice his teenage daughter, Iphigenia, to the gods, in return for a favorable wind and ultimate victory. As relevant today as it was over 2,000 years ago, this contemporary translation of Euripides’ Iphigenia (set prior to the Iraqi War) explores patriotism, war fever, and how far a leader will go to secure a military victory in the East.

Visit the Page Theatre website for schedule and ticket information.