BWW Review: Wayward Theatre Company and Mission Theatre Company Bring a Fun and Thrilling GHOST TRAIN to the Minnesota Transportation Museum
Wayward Theatre Company, the company that recently brought us an 'innovatively imagined and well executed' TARTUFFE at the James J. Hill House, is now partnering with Mission Theatre Company to bring us the deliciously fun and spooky GHOST TRAIN in another one of 19th century railroad millionaire James J. Hill's buildings. The Jackson Street Roundhouse was once a maintenance facility for the Great Northern Railway, and now houses the Minnesota Transportation Museum. Filled with old trains and displays about the long ago era of train travel, it's perhaps the coolest space in which I've ever experienced theater. Or maybe that's just my inner Sheldon Cooper talking. But there's no doubt that surrounded by all of this historic equipment and memorabilia, it's quite easy to be transported back to the 1920s by this comedy/melodrama/thriller play and its terrific cast and detailed design.
Theatre Coup d'Etat to Present THE CRUCIBLE
Winner of the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play, The Crucible tells the story of a community consumed by fear, hatred, and a lust for power. John Proctor, a well-respected farmer, ends an ill-fated affair with his servant, Abigail. Spurned by the rejection of her first love, Abigail rebels by meeting with other young women to dance and explore the occult in the woods. They are caught, and through their effort to avoid juvenile punishment, the young women are used as a pawns by the fear-mongering patriarchs of the village to steal property from other surrounding landowners like Proctor. Weaponizing biblical teachings, utilizing fear-based rhetoric, and abusing their own political power, the religious leaders drive the community into a panicked frenzy that ultimately condemns 19 innocent men and women to their death.
