Telling Your Story

By Lianna Matt

The characters of the Noël Coward’s 1941 play “Blithe Spirit” would like to invite you to Kent, England, for a dry martini and a seance. Or rather, you’re going to watch them drink it as they conjure the dead. And talk about love. And try to untangle themselves from a farce. With absurdity, comebacks and affluent society, “Blithe Spirit” could be campy, but it’s not. It’s hilarious, and it’s at the Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis from Nov. 25-Jan. 14.

Here’s the setup: Author Charles Condomine hosts a seance with his second wife, Ruth, to learn the “tricks of the trade” and compose a believable medium for his upcoming book. The problem? Madame Arcati, for all her eccentricities, is the real deal. She brought back Charles’ first wife, Elvira, who isn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.

The audience may expect a more laugh-out-loud comedy after seeing the maid, Edith (Suzanne M. Warmanen) waltzing around as she tidies up the set at the beginning, but it’s the micromanaged interactions, sniping comments and incredulous looks at the audience that must sustain the show across all three acts. The most delightful moments are where attempted airs clash with childish reactions. 

Case in point? Take the argument that the unamused and put-together Ruth, played by Heidi Armbruster, has with Charles (Quinn Mattfeld) the day after the seance. If you can’t hear him over the clinking of your spoon in your teacup, can he really bother you? Or look at Elvira, played with sprite-like flirtatiousness by Elia Monte-Brown, as she moves about the room so that Armbruster, who can’t see her, is raging at thin air.

Mattfeld’s performance as a somewhat pompous and exasperated Charles is right on target, but the person who “wore the pants” in the play, so to speak, was Sally Wingert, who played spunky and spry Madame Arcati. Costume designer Meg Neville’s wardrobe for her is reminiscent of a tropical bird when she’s on the clock as a medium and somewhat safari-leading when she’s not. However, Wingert never lets the clothes wear her. Indeed, her go-get’em and gleeful attitude, verbal winks and lack of self-consciousness make you more apt to look out for a flailing punch as she charges forth into the supernatural.

Despite Director David Ivers’ efforts and successes at keeping the dialogue sparkling and snappy, the second act gets a bit long. The play doesn’t go out with a whimper, though. The last scene injects one final, grandiose burst of concentrated energy onto the stage, courtesy of scenic designer Jo Winiarski. “Blithe Spirit” may slow down along the way, but its cocktail of clever pettiness and simple humor is the best balm for any stressed out person going into the holiday and winter seasons.

By Tammy Galvin

I’ve lived in Minnesota for more decades than I care to admit, and there has been one item on my holiday season bucket list that for some reason or another, I’ve never been able to cross off—seeing “A Christmas Carol” at the Guthrie Theater. This year, in the Guthrie’s 43rd production of the show, I finally made it. And let me tell you: There’s a reason it’s a holiday tradition for the Twin Cities.

Shortly after my family and I took our seats surrounding the impeccably designed Wurtele Thrust Stage, I overheard the patron next to me say to his companion, “We will probably be able to see up her dress from these seats.” Our eyes caught just as he completed this rather odd sentence, and he must have read my confused—and somewhat aghast—expression because his next words of explanation fell out of his mouth at a rather rapid pace. Through his clear embarrassment I gleaned that one of the ghosts of Christmas past, present or future would make its debut from the catwalks directly above our seats.

Turns out this couple had seen many of the previous productions of “A Christmas Carol,” and this rather amusing stranger filled me in on his favorites. It was a most pleasant way to wait for the dimming of lights.

Now I have to be honest. I love Scrooge. I loved him as Bill Murray, as Mr. Magoo, McDuck, Michael Caine (think: Muppets) and even “Ebony” (Vanessa Williams) Scrooge, so one might accuse me of being slightly biased as I write this review. But after a decades-long build-up of anticipation, I would argue that my expectations were exponentially high, if not too high.

Director Laura Keating’s interpretation of the Dickens’ classic bounded over those expectations with ease. I’ve never encountered such an expertly performed, delicate balance between levity and sorrow, hope and despair. In the event there is a reader or two who is unfamiliar with the story let me briefly explain.

Kris L. Nelson (Bob Cratchit) and Nathaniel Fuller (Ebenezer Scrooge) in the Guthrie’s 43rd production of “A Christmas Carol.” Photo by Dan Norman.

Ebenezer Scrooge (Nathaniel Fuller), is the central character, a miserly man who despises Christmas. His favorite phrase, “Bah humbug,” spews forth from his decrepit lips anytime he is even remotely in the vicinity of joy. On Christmas Eve, he is visited by four ghosts. Jacob Marley (John Catron), his deceased business partner, appears in shackles to warn Scrooge of the three ghosts that will each come when the clock strikes one. Scrooge relives his past with the Ghost of Christmas Past (Kendall Anne Thompson, who did indeed descend from directly above us), witnesses his present with a look at how his “friends” and one family member celebrate Christmas day with the Ghost of Christmas Present (Ansa Akyea), and visits his bleak future with the Ghost of Christmas Future (Eric Sharp). Spoiler alert: He awakens on Christmas morn a changed man and sets about righting all of his wrongs.

Throughout the performance, it struck me how Keating’s choices combined with spot-on deliveries from the cast turned what can traditionally be a rather sorrowful production into one full of hope, of possibility, of transformation. For example, when Scrooge watches the Christmas of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s poor employee, Keating shows a tight-knit, joyous family full of love for one another, not the traditional somber, our-tiniest-son-is-about-to-die rendition. Admittedly, it took me a few moments in to realize what was happening: The lightheartedness was overshadowing the sorrow, but it was not completely masking it. It was merely putting it in its proper place.

Other surprises were as clever as they were comical. Take Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig (Jay Albright and Aimee Bryant). They were a brilliant cross between the outlandish Thenardiers from Les Misérables and the sweet, albeit naïve Whoville adults from Dr. Seuss fame.

All of the amazing acting aside, the set design by Walt Spangler was a site to behold. Stunningly authentic cobble-stoned London streets had an almost warm glow from the fake aura emanating from the street lamps, while Scrooge’s house gave off a bone-deep chill.

The best advice I can give after finally seeing “A Christmas Carol” is don’t wait as long as I did. Get the tickets and go this year. Start a new tradition that you can spend the next several decades enjoying with your family. There’s simply no better way to jump start the holiday season.

As for the man sitting next to me, I couldn’t help but ask his opinion as we exited. His reply? “The best one yet.”

For more holiday theater shows, check out our regional theater roundup and our roundup focused exclusively on the Twin Cities’ largest stages.

By Lianna Matt

Nothing says a holiday play like family, love, transformation and, for American audiences, a Christmas tree. At least according to playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, who created the play, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” in 2016. You can decide for yourself at Jungle Theater in Uptown, Nov. 18-Dec. 30.

“Miss Bennet” takes place two years after Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and this time it’s about the middle sister, Mary. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are hosting the family at Pemberley including Mary, who fills her days at Longbourne with her books and pianoforte. Mary looks on the impending family reunion with dread, but it goes better than expected when she meets Arthur de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy’s cousin who shares her joy in reading about microbiology, geography and LeMarc’s giraffes. However, she’s not the only one interested in Mr. de Bourgh. He is the newfound heir of the huge Rosings estate, and it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in a possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife. Or rather, there are many women are in want of the single man.

Mary Bennet, whom Christian Bardin plays as overly literal and charmingly inexperienced, often feels overlooked by her sisters but is never overlooked by the audience. She has the witty comments that “Pride and Prejudice” lovers might have thought Elizabeth would have spoken, and she has the innocent plight of first love. Bardin toughs out conversations that delve too deep too fast with a steady performance, and her piano playing serves as both a testament to Mary’s skill and at times, to her humor. Yes, this play is a love story between her and the straightforward, likable and nerdy Arthur (JuCoby Johnson), but it is more so a reintroduction of who Mary Bennet really is.

From left to right: Fitzwilliam Darcy (James Rodríguez), Charles Bingley (Sam Bardwell), Jane Bingley (Adia Morris), Mary Bennet (Christian Bardin), Arthur de Bourgh (JuCoby Johnson), Lydia Wickham (Kelsey Didion), Elizabeth Darcy (Sun Mee Chomet), Anne de Bourgh (Anna Hickey. Photo by Dan Norman.

The script of “Miss Bennet” is certainly set up to make the middle sister shine, yet Jungle Theater’s well-matched supporting cast keeps the bar high across the board. For instance, the youngest Bennet sister, Lydia, was as flamboyant and indiscreet as you could ever want thanks to Kelsey Didion, and Jane Bennet was perfectly cast in voice and presence through the sweet-tempered Adia Morris. All benefit from the wardrobe colors that set and costume designer Sarah Bahr chose for them, too.

One of the few confusing parts of the story was the timeline. With short scenes based on conversations and multiple singing interludes mostly by Darcy’s servants Becca Hart and Guillermo Rodriguez Zermeño, it suggested the Bennet visit to Pemberley was a couple of weeks, not the two or so days that seemed to be referenced in dialogue. I prefer to pretend it’s a matter of weeks; certainly Elizabeth and Jane know that true love can take a long and winding road.

Although the exposition was a little heavy-handed at the beginning, it made it easy for those who didn’t know “Pride and Prejudice” at all to enjoy this world of sisterhood, romance and comedy. The plot was focused in dialogue, a natural extension of Austen’s world, but the talk of women’s agency was more frank. Mary has a self-professed temper in this play, but it comes across more as a frustration: She does not feel like her life has opportunity, and she cannot stand to watch those who do squander it. The contrast of her iron conviction and her sometimes victimized language makes the audience see how women of lesser means had to compromise their identities to fit within society.

Criticisms of women’s place in society slip in and out of the plot of “Miss Bennet,” but like its predecessor, they easily blend into the everyday family trifles, blossoming romance and happy endings. While not steeped in too many holiday cliches, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” is a delight with a literally picture-perfect ending.

For more holiday theater shows, check out our regional theater roundup and our roundup focused exclusively on the Twin Cities’ largest stages.

By Lianna Matt

While many holiday traditions revolve around food and get-togethers, they also involve listening to stories with family. Some have magic in them, like “The Nutcracker,” some are laugh-out-loud relatable like “The Christmas Story,” and others just seem to catch the whimsy and joy of the season, like “The Sound of Music.” The holiday shows our regional theaters have chosen to put on have a little bit of everything, so make sure to mark your calendars and treat yourself to some new holiday stories this year. (For some of the shows on the Twin Cities’ biggest stages, check out our earlier holiday theater roundup.)

From left to right: Robbie Mancina, Greta Grosch, Dorian Chalmers. Photo by Tammy Brice.

The Looney Lutherans in Hold the Lutefisk! (Nov. 1-Dec. 23). Getting your house ready for hosting may seem like a daunting task, but the three Looney Lutherans are here to help at Plymouth Playhouse’s Hold the Lutefisk! These three gals are the larger-than-life home improvement and hospitality personalities that will get you through the season with tips like the 12 Days of Housework—which doubles as a fantastic exercise regime—the best ways to bribe Santa and more.

Sister Act (Nov. 3-Feb. 24). You may have seen the Whoopi Goldberg movie “Sister Act,” but you’ve never seen the story like this. Up-and-coming singer (at least in her opinion) Deloris Van Cartier is forced into the witness protection program at a convent of all places, and while her irreverence and mischief don’t jive well with the nuns’ strict rules, her music abilities do. Chanhassen Dinner Theatres has brought back “Sister Act” again due to popular demand, so sit back, enjoy your meal and tap your toes to songs composed by Alan Menken, whose credits include a dozen Disney movies such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “Hercules,” as well as musicals like “Little Shop of Horrors.”

The Polarizing Express (Nov. 10-Jan. 27). The holidays are full of a comedy of errors and laughable (and not so laughable) conversations with family members who just don’t see things your way: in essence, perfect fodder for Brave New Workshop’s show, “The Polarizing Express.” Brave New Workshop is the oldest continuously running sketch theater in America, so you know they’ll hit the nail on the head when it comes to holiday hilarity.

Coney Island Christmas (Nov. 17-Dec. 17). Some childhood stories you have to pass on, and at Lyric Arts Main Street Stage, Shirley is telling hers to her great-granddaughter in “Coney Island Christmas.” Putlizer Prize-winner Donald Marguiles’s story about how young Shirley was cast as Jesus in her school’s Christmas pageant—despite being Jewish—is heartfelt and nostalgic, perfect for the holiday season.

Miss Bennet (Nov. 18-Dec. 30). If you loved the wit and charm of “Pride and Prejudice,” fall in love with “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” at Jungle Theater. This time it’s Mary’s turn to be in the spotlight. When we first met her in “Pride and Prejudice,” she was quiet and intelligent with a love of books and a dislike for dances. Now, a few years later, she’s met a man she could love. Just one problem: He’s a de Bourgh (as in Lady Catherine de Bourgh) and quite out of her league, as they say these days. Check out our review on it here.

A Very Asian Xmas … Carol (Nov. 25). It’s “A Christmas Carol” as told by musical theater company Mu Performing Arts and led by the infamous Jasmine, artistic director Randy Reyes’ drag alter-ego. For this special performance of “A Very Asian Xmas … Carol,” things are getting a little festive, so don your favorite holiday clothes and enjoy the appetizers and dessert included with the ticket. As the website says, “You won’t find your Grandpa’s Dickens here.”

Coco’s Diary: A Christmas Gift to Remember (Nov. 25-Dec. 23). It’s 1927, and Clotilde “Coco” Irvine has a diary to write in. It was originally a Christmas present, but now it’s the account of her crazy year full of boys, troubles at school and adventures at home. Based on the true diary of Irvine, who lived on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, “Coco’s Diary” brings back some of the musical hits of the 1920s as it retakes the Minnesota History Theatre stage.

Tod Peterson. Photo by Emilee Elofson.

A Christmas Carole Petersen (Nov. 29-Dec. 30). There’s something about the holidays that drive people nuts. Let’s be honest: It’s usually family. With Theatre Latté Da, Tod Petersen is telling the story of Christmases in Mankato, Minnesota, and how his mother Carole did (or didn’t) keep everything from becoming a helter skelter mess. While “A Christmas Carole Peterson” is filled with more than a dozen holiday classics, Theatre Latté Da warns its audiences the show might not be for everyone: “Our disclaimer is that if your children believe in Santa Claus when they arrive at the show, they may not when they leave.”

Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings (Nov. 30-Dec. 17). The singing quartet Forever Plaid was on their way to the big time in the 1950s, but a school bus may have derailed them a little bit—to the afterlife. Now they’re getting a second chance for one more concert, and you can bet it’s going to be a big one. Lyric Arts isn’t going old school with “Plaid Tidings”; it’s going classic with four-part harmonies, a cornucopia of holiday songs, and a feel-good story about coming together and following your dreams.

Black Nativity (Nov. 30-Dec. 24). At this point, Penumbra Theatre’s acclaimed “Black Nativity” is multi-generational. Like many holiday spectaculars, this is a vibrant mix of theater, dance and music with choreographer Uri Sands of TU Dance, the Kingdom Life Church Choir and more lending their talents to proclaim the reason for the season.

Dot (Dec. 8-Jan. 7). Growing old can be difficult; watching your parents grow old is a whole different beast. It’s time for the Shealys to get back together at their childhood home for the holidays, but this year, their mother Dot can’t remember things like she used to. “Dot” may not be for the youngest members of the family, but as you sit in Park Square Theatre, you’ll find yourself, laughing, tearing up and being reminded of just how strong family can be.

Hershel & the Hanukkah Goblins (Dec. 9-17). With Chris Griffith’s award-winning puppet design for the more whimsical cast members, “Hershel & the Hanukkah Goblins” returns to the Minnesota Jewish Theatre. When Hershel arrives at the Helmsbergville village, he doesn’t understand why there is no Hanukkah. No one is cooking latkes; no menorahs light up the window. When he finds out it’s all because of some nefarious goblins, Hershel decides enough is enough and spends eight nights in the old synagogue to face the goblins and bring Hanukkah back.

By Lianna Matt

In a little under two hours, Transatlantic Love Affair (TLA) actress China Brickey was the ocean, a wife, an accountant-turned-first-mate, a doorway, a bar, a window, a desk and more in the world premiere of “The Privateer.” In a performance style sometimes coined as physical theater, the Ivey award-winning TLA brings an ocean of adventure, comedy and tragedy to Illusion Theater Nov. 3-18.

From left to right: Eric Marinus, John Stephens, Antonio Duke, Heather Bunch, Nora Montañez and China Brickley. Photo by Lauren B Photography.

After a chaotic first scene, Brickey’s conversation as the clueless but doting, high strung wife with her husband Major Bevington (Heather Bunch) provides the light-hearted scene the audience can latch onto. The year is 1717, and Major Bevington—excuse us, captain now—has procured a sloop to sail the seas and become a privateer. The plan is simple: Bevington, in theory, gets the approval from the government of New York to become a privateer, a legal pirate; he and his hired crew defeats other pirates in marina battle glory; and they return with more riches and fame than they could imagine. The thing is, he knows nothing about sailing, the sea or fighting. Luckily, a seasoned sailor named Thomas makes sure that the captain doesn’t get himself killed, whether it is because Bevington is challenging the wrong pirate or because his own crew is frustrated by his antics and commits mutiny.

Without props on the stage, the seven-person cast rotated as multiple characters and furniture, yet their fluidity made the role transitions one of the show’s highlights, if only from a logistical standpoint. The performers’ dedication made the New York dining room, a bar in the Bahamas and ships on the sea if not believable, then thoroughly enjoyable. The show’s script had humor to spare, but it was injected into the physical performances, too, with some meta-acting (“You know how to do a cyclone, right?”), some squeaky doors and more.

Bunch was the solid, constant thread that pinned down the whole play with her clueless bravado, but other standouts included core ensemble member Allison Witham with her many voices, body language and excellent comedic timing. In the corner of the stage was composer Dustin Tessier, whose percussion score matched so well, it became one with the acting. Really, though, the whole cast never missed a beat, nor did they miss a harmony during the pirate shanties that rang throughout the play.

The only time the smoothly ticking entertainment machine ever faltered was during one of the play’s more serious turns that tried to examine opposing characters’ motivations. However, that stilted moment was more than remedied by a surprisingly tender moment between Brickley as the accountant-turned-first-mate and perhaps the true protagonist of the show, Thomas, played by the ever-patient and down to earth John Stephens.

As outrageous as Bevington’s story seems to be, Director Derek Lee Miller (normally a core ensemble performer) got his inspiration from the real life of Stede Bonnet. Miller armed himself with weeks and weeks of research, and he and the rest of TLA started to build a script from nothing on Day One. In the end, maybe that collaboration is why everything is so seamless on stage; each member put their mark on the play. Whatever the case may be, “The Privateer,” helmed by Miller and, as the program states, “created by the ensemble,” brought audiences to the high seas of adventures and comedic misfortune.

By Lianna Matt

For the past 42 years, the Guthrie Theater has been putting on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” and for the last 29 out of 30 of those productions, Nathaniel Fuller has been on the playbill. He’s played more than nine roles, including Jacob Marley (his first appearance), Charles Dickens, Bob Cratchit (Tiny Tim’s father) and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, and this year from Nov. 14-Dec. 30, he is playing Ebenezer Scrooge for the fifth time. At this point, he definitely knows the part, but if you want to add more to his credibility, he has also been the role’s understudy 22 times.

Somehow, Fuller doesn’t tire from the play, and neither does the audience that comes to see it year after year. Part of it is the magic of the ghost story, part of it is the overflowing generosity at the end, and part of it is the reminder that second chances do exist.

Nathaniel Fuller, right, during one of his previous performances as Ebenezer Scrooge in 1995. Photo courtesy of the Guthrie Theater.

“It’s a very stark way of illustrating what it means to be alive as a human being,” says Fuller. In order to try and protect himself, he [Scrooge] … is going to play one game, and that game is gain. And when you don’t do that, you’re not alive. You make yourself invulnerable, and you don’t live life. I think Dickens’ message is that life is all about sharing and human contact and celebrating with each other.”

Every year the show goes through a few changes, though, and this reincarnation will see a few more than normal. “A Christmas Carol” is helmed by a new director, Lauren Keating, who has brought in a new choreographer and has shifted the tone of the story from the joking moments to a greater focus on the storytelling in a move that Fuller says “gets a lot of the essence of Dickens.” Other touchups to the show have come about, too, and Keating has made it a very collaborative environment.

However, some things never change, even as cast and crew may rotate. During the show’s run, the whole theater comes together and donates money to a family that could use something a little extra for the holiday season. There’s also Secret Santa and an annual Jammy Breakfast, where everyone in “A Christmas Carol” wears their favorite pair of pajamas and shares the most important meal of the day before one of their 10:30 a.m. shows.

Between the cast and crew of “A Christmas Carol” and the audience that makes the pilgrimage year after year, the play is as much of a modern Twin Cities holiday tradition as you can get. Longtime performers like Fuller may have to block off large parts of their social calendars for the play, but to them, it’s worth it to spread just a little more holiday spirit.

The holidays are a time when people usually return to the classic stories they grew up with or ones with sweeping grandeur that indulge in the decadence of the season, and this year’s productions certainly don’t contradict that. Discover which treasured story (or stories) tickles your feathers this season at some of the biggest names in theater in the Twin Cities, and check out our regional holiday theater roundup here.

Annie

(Dec. 7-31)
Sometimes the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in downtown St. Paul brings in touring productions, but with “Annie,” it’s an Ordway original with a cast filled with locals and Broadway talent. With well-known songs like “It’s a Hard-Knock Life” and “Tomorrow,” the musical “Annie” wraps up the year with spunk, heart, and plenty of “awww” moments revolving around Marti, the Golden Retriever-Chow mix who plays Annie’s dog, Sandy.

A Christmas Carol

(Nov. 14-Dec. 30)
After 42 years, we still can’t get enough of the Guthrie’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” See it star the man who has been a part of the show for 29 of the last 30 years, Nathaniel Fuller, as Ebenezer Scrooge. Talk about a holiday tradition. Our editor, a longtime Twin Cities resident, finally got to check it off her bucket list: Check out her review on it here.

Blithe Spirit

(Nov. 25-Jan. 14)
The undead usually aren’t fodder for light-hearted comedy, but “Blithe Spirit” sure makes it seem natural. To research the supernatural novel he’s writing, Charles Condomine and his wife host a séance and invite the medium Madam Arcati and his friends. However, things go a little awry when Madame Arcati brings back Condomine’s first wife—who’s not too pleased to see he remarried.

Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas

(Nov. 7-Jan. 7)
Created by the Children Theatre company’s play development lab, Threshold, in collaboration with the Dr. Seuss Estate, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” has been a local favorite for years and has plenty of new surprises for those only familiar with the book or the movie adaptations.

The Phantom of the Opera

(Dec. 13-31)
“The Phantom of the Opera” is nothing if not spectacular with a 52-member cast and orchestra team. Listen to the notes soar above the stage, and follow the dark twists and turns of the Phantom’s devotion to the singer Christine even as she herself is falling for her childhood sweetheart. Don’t forget to look ahead to 2018, too: “Love Never Dies,” Andrew Lloyd Weber’s sequel to “Phantom” is the finale of the Orpheum’s Broadway season.

By Lianna Matt

“Watch on the Rhine” takes place in one room, and it’s a beautiful one at that, thanks to set and lighting designers Neil Patel and Alexander V. Nichols, respectively. The coffered ceilings lead back to the living room’s frosted-paned terrace doors; a chandelier illuminates the wood and muted golds and blacks; the furniture whispers old money as a housekeeper moves about it with unhurried familiarity. For Sara Muller, her childhood manor in Washington D.C. is the one safe place she and her family can go to as they flee Nazi Germany, even if it means seeing her mother and brother for the first time in 20 years. Despite the play’s billing as a political thriller, “Watch on the Rhine” is really a portrait of a family learning how to live together again after being worlds apart.

Originally written to challenge the United States’ complacency during the beginnings of World War II, Lillian Hellman’s 1941 “Watch on the Rhine” script is not a shallow propaganda pitch. Hellman creates characters made rich through memories, details and desires that are strong yet nuanced, and each cast member, under director Lisa Peterson’s careful eye, delivers their best on the Guthrie Theater stage from Sept. 30-Nov. 5.

Sara, her husband Kurt and three children settle into her old home with a few awkward moments, family squabbles and some prying moments from the Romanian count Teck de Brancovis who is also staying as a house guest with his wife. If Sara perhaps gets a bit too cagey about her husband Kurt’s work as an anti-fascist and if perhaps the Muller children arrive a bit too hungry, it is all forgotten in the name of getting along. Caitlin O’Connell plays Sara’s mother Fanny as a histrionic and disapproving mama bear, but Sara (Sarah Agnew) is forgiving despite her feistiness. It helps that Fanny’s son, David (Hugh Kennedy), injects just the right amount of loose confidence and good humor to smooth things over, too.

For some time, the living room—and the Mullers’ world—is filled with contentment, but then Teck becomes desperate for a life he believes the Nazis can give him, and exposing Kurt is leverage he refuses to let slip away. Fanny and David are forced to choose how to respond to the unjust world the Mullers knew all along, and those choices leave deep, self-inflicted wounds: the price of knowing and acting on that knowledge.

After an ending is torn from a dangerous calm, the room, which was so beautiful when the audience first laid eyes on it, is empty, and the air in it hangs heavy. Still, the day, so violently different than its predecessors, ends like any other day.

By Lianna Matt

“Mala” is not 80 minutes of monologue. It is commiserating with your best friend over hot chocolate, going through your childhood room and watching a velvet-soft rose wither and die. As the play runs in Minneapolis Sept. 22-Oct. 8, Melinda Lopez, writer and performer of the one-woman show, makes you feel at home in the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio. Through stories of her daughter, her late father and her ailing mother, Lopez conveys to the audience just how close bewilderment and sadness can be and how powerful the connection of family is, even if there are no lessons to be found in yet another talk to the PCA or another perfectly set up pill box.

Melinda Lopez. Photo courtesy of the Guthrie.

In the beginning of the play, Lopez’s empathy-inducing tales earn plenty of laughs. This is the caretaker after she has taken a shower and had a cup of coffee. She may not be completely fine, but she is put together enough where she can laugh at the things that made her want to tear her hair out the night before. You can hear it as her voice backtracks, justifies and reminisces, and you can see it in her smile and her body posture as weary as it is warm and inviting. As her anecdotes continue on, Lopez weaves a world where everyone lives in a glass sphere that is balancing on a thin line straddling her elderly mother’s frailty and fortitude, teetering but never crashing.

The set by Kris Holmes helps create that safe space, with white backdrop panels on a white set that is not cold and sterile but clean, minimal and peaceful, a contrast to the messiness of Lopez’s story. Words intrude upon that space, both visceral and practical, like chapter titles to her saga. Red and blue lights flash on the background as she speaks of ambulances, and when Lopez begins to bring up questions of dying and the afterlife, the set reflects those thoughts, too, with shimmers of the aurora borealis.

Eventually, though, as anyone in the audience would guess, Lopez’s frenzied yet stabled world does fall off its precipice. It is here where Lopez’s acting fully spreads its wings, and where we learn whether she is mala—bad to her core, in Spanish—if she does not devote her whole self to helping her mother.