Braden Joseph

The Classical Actors Ensemble is a company that focuses on classic work and they are currently doing two shows in repertory: a?oeArden of Favershama?? and a?oeMuch Ado About Nothinga??. According to the program, the company wanted to explore a?oeboth sides of the coina?? and do two shows that are opposite from each other in style. Certainly, an interesting concept. I was able to see the shows for myself... 

Minnesota Nice is often something we hear about when we talk about neighbors and coworkers, but these productions really showed me how this nice attitude can carry on in the theatre. It lifted my spirits that these two companies helped and supported each other and how, in the end, we got more theatre being produced. 

Currently playing at Open Eye Theatre is a delightful and laidback show that audiences seem to love. a?oeWhen The Shark Bitesa?? by Chronofon is a play...or a concert...it's actually a bit difficult to pin down what category this piece is in. But, nevertheless, it continues to entertain the audience and isn't that what matters? This performance follows the lives of Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann, Lotte Lenya, and Kurt Weill. The show mainly focuses on the time surrounding World War I and a bit of World War II, but that doesn't seem to be the focus of the piece. 

To Let Go and Fall is a breathtakingly beautiful, moving play that gives its subject matter its dues. 

How It's Gon' Be, currently playing its last weekend at Mixed Blood, is a wonderful snapshot into a young black teen's life as he grows up. There's a quote from the play that summarizes this show well: I believe it goes "You're out here looking for manhood, but manhood is gon' find you."

Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, currently playing at The Pillsbury House Theatre is a show that was first performed in 1961 and is still just as poignant today. A 'blood knot' is explained in the show as a bond by blood that will never be undone. In this case, the knot ties two brothers together in South Africa in 1960, then heavily racially segregated. One brother, Zachariah, is black and the other, Morris, is white.  

There's something very unique happening at The Jungle Theater. In the play Small Mouth Sounds  by Bess Wohl, barely a word is said onstage during the show. Though much is said from the characters. Sitting in (mostly) silence in the audience while watching mostly silence on stage was a really interesting experience, because it made the play feel more intimate. The characters, whose lives I was watching onstage, and I were in the same state. For that alone, I urge you to see this show.

Baseball's Sad Lexicon rings with the names of some of the Chicago Cubs' greatest players, and Tinker to Evers to Chance rings with great performances all around. There's a line in the poem that goes 'Making a Giant hit into a double'. Well, Artisity has taken a giant hit of a play and turned it out double.

As a first time audience member at Bryant Lake Bowl and Theater, I didn't know what to expect as I walked into the building and didn't see a theater. As I finally found and walked into the theater, I was greeted by a pianist telling jokes and playing a merry tune, I didn't know what to expect. As I was presented with a play about the famous Evelyn Nesbit, where she's played by five actors, I didn't know what to expect. I was happily surprised by all unknown expectations.

I walk into the Guthrie Theater and I immediately see a pool of water built on the Wurtele Thrust Stage...and I immediately know I'm in for a theatrical treat. Metamorphoses, written and directed by the incomparable Mary Zimmerman, has taken Minneapolis by storm after its run in California (it's a co-production with Berkeley Rep). Our very own BWW Reviewer Karen Bovard called it '...a visual feast,'. As a captivated audience member and a performer, I was so hungry to know some of the thoughts of the show's ten ensemble members. Luckily, I was able to do so a few days later over a delightful phone call.