On the Townsend
Quartermaine’s Terms
Through June 20
Theatre in the Round
245 Cedar Ave., Mpls.
(612) 333-3010
www.theatreintheround.org
Matt Sciple directs Simon Gray’s London hit about faculty dynamics and loneliness.
Sciple says, “Eddie [Richard Brandt] and his lifetime companion, Thomas, run the school together. We never meet Thomas, but we hear about their relationship, which is presented matter-of-factly and unapologetically. We’ve decided that Quartermaine [Dann Peterson], while pretty asexual in the play, is probably gay, too.”
Indeed, Peterson poignantly understates Quartermaine’s gay alienation. Maggie Bearmon Pistner crackles as a tormented hetero spinster.
Sleepers
Through June 20
Red Eye Theater
15 W. 14th St., Mpls.
(612) 870-0309
www.redeyetheater.org
Gay poet Walt Whitman’s “The Sleepers” inspired the BodyTalk dance duo of Rebecca Abas and Gerry Girouard.
As Girouard notes, the duo blends tango and modern dance “with leg entwinings and rhythmic understandings. We take this sophisticated lead/follow or propose/reply beyond the usual sensual interactions, and look at other emotive and relational interactions in life.”
Girouard looms as perhaps the most athletic and sensual of established Twin Cities choreographers.
Hair
Through June 24
Lowry Lab
350 St. Peter St., St. Paul
(612) 481-2234
www.blankslatetheatre.com
Director Adam Arnold calls the tribal rock musical “a period piece. We’re seeking to express the views, values, and practices of the hippies from the ’60s, including celebrating the gift of sexuality in all its forms, as well as the fluidity of gender. Some men in our Tribe occasionally dress as women; some women in our Tribe occasionally dress as men; and sometimes, you just will not be able to tell the difference.”
FAUX
June 25
Lagoon Cinema
1320 Lagoon Ave., Minneapolis
(612) 825-6006
www.landmarktheatre.com
Gay rights and fateful love between two men, played by Andrew Sass and Jemar Rovie-Frenchwood, fuel this local indie film.
Director Christopher Beer explains, “I view sexuality, and the context of that word, as something of a cultural construction. It’s a means of definition, of labeling—a way of understanding and identifying. There is what we do sexually as a creature of the planet, and there is the way we present ourselves in regards to social norms. FAUX not only discusses this point directly in the dialogue, but within the scope of the frame as well. The characters and situations, though prominently featuring GLBT and ‘other’ themes and inflections, are not crafted around orientations. They exist simply as human beings in human scenarios without regard to label, as I feel they should be in real life.”
Madame Majesta’s Miracle Medicine Show
Thorugh June 26
Lab Theater
700 N. 1st St., Mpls.
(612) 333-7977
www.labtheater.org
Gay composer/lyricist duo Aaron Gabriel and Tod Petersen offer an “Americana” folk vaudeville for Interact, the region’s preeminent theater for persons with disabilities.
Gabriel shares, “It’s great when you can fire off with someone like Tod, who understands the musical theater canon—like Gypsy and The Music Man.”
Petersen adds, “The show’s big theme is that we may be dying, but not today. It’s about a traveling community of misfits, and that joy of community, creativity, and adventure.”
Alternate Visions Festival
June 24-27
Pangea Studio
711 W. Lake St., Ste. 101, Mpls.
(612) 203-1088
www.pangeaworldtheater.org
Feminism soars! In Solo Flight, Meena Natarajan directs actress/writer Katie Herron’s take on women aviators of the ’30s and their addiction to danger.
Of actress/writer Katie Ka Vang’s Hmong Bollywood, director Natarajan observes that it reveals “why Hmong women living in the United States adapt Bollywood culture into their own, and we explore masculinity in both cultures.”
Pa’s Hat: A Liberian Legacy
Through June 27
Pillsbury House
3501 Chicago Ave. S., Mpls.
(612) 825-0459
www.pillsburyhousetheatre.org
Namir Smallwood devastates as 14-year-old soldier Femur, who wears the wig of a woman he killed in service of brutal warlord Charles Taylor. Liberia was founded and colonized two centuries ago by freed American slaves, but Cori Thomas’s compelling play shows how tensions stemming from back then still ricochet. Marion McClinton sharply directs a forceful cast.
Le Squat
Through June 27
Our Garage
3540 34th Ave. S., Mpls.
(612) 724-7372
www.offleasharea.org
The star/creator of last year’s phenomenal Ivan the Drunk, Paul Herwig, recalls squatting in the ’80s with a homeless artists colony in an abandoned Paris building protected by winos, no less. We meet Dracula’s granddaughter and an Aussie called “Horse.”
According to Herwig, it’s “about freedom, throwing yourself to the wind, and not worrying about the consequences.”
