Jungle's "Glass Menagerie," Pillsbury House's "Vigil" kick off autumn in Twin Cities theater

By Quinton Skinner Fri., Sep. 10 2010 at 8:00 AM

Categories: Theater

Bathroom humor: "Sh!tlisted" at the BLB

Yes, some healthy mourning for the end of summer might well be in order, but the bitter pill is at least sweetened by a distinct sense that the theater season is picking up again. This weekend I'll be at Pillsbury House for Vigil and the Jungle for The Glass Menagerie, and there are other openings and general goings-on that portend a return to a full-steam-ahead Twin Cities theater smorgasbord. And if we're not going to be sitting in a blazing sun next to a cool body of water, we might as well be seated in a theater for a shot at something transformative.

There are also a couple of offerings tonight at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater: Deadwood: the Last Bleeping Episode, and Yeah No Sketch Show Episode 2: Sh!tlisted: The Very Worst of Craig's List. Joseph Scrimshaw's HBO western parody, or a comedy based on internet ads: pick yer poison.

Theatre in the Round is opening up Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. We're talking Tom Stoppard depicting Hamlet from the point of view of minor characters. If you don't know this play, you might well find it an enticing hall of mirrors.

Park Square is opening The Last Seder, a nutty family dramedy with a terrific cast including Karen Landry, (new CP food blogger) Mo Perry, and Maggie Chestovich.

One of these days someone should figure out whether our yearly six-month cold spell has inspired this rich variety of indoor dramatic activity (I'm among those who argue for the magnetic pull of geographic isolation, but it's a thesis in progress). Maybe you develop a taste for drama when the climate is trying to kill you, or else we've all gathered here to make and enjoy art because of some cosmic serendipity. Same diff, one supposes.

*NOTE: I spent this afternoon watching a rehearsal of Frank Theatre's upcoming Eclipsed, then jawed for a while with the incomparable Wendy Knox for an article in the upcoming CP Fall Arts issue. Keep an eye out for both. Frank's Eclipsed, a story of women in war-torn Liberia, looks like it might be something special. And Knox, a local treasure (I sense her slapping the back of my neck as I describe her in those terms), has plenty to say (see the 9.22 CP for the story).