Recommended by Claudia Haas

  • Love, Sometimes
    20 Feb. 2020
    Can we see this couple yearly? Maybe they’re together. Maybe not. A little sizzler for the romantic comedy genre that endears you to both characters. Maybe they should be together. Maybe not. But you certainly want to see another meeting. Maybe at a steak joint? Delightful roles where two actors can use their comedic skills to the hilt.
  • Oral Herstory
    19 Feb. 2020
    This play has everything (well maybe it’s lacking essential oils) to give you the most perfect, well-rounded, all-you-can-wish-for family life. A bedtime story turns into a “why you were born” story turns into a search-for-enlightenment story turns into a fertility story.... you get the picture. Wonderful satire on the things we grab to get what we want. A little mad cap, a lot funny with some searing truths if you want to think. Rich and wonderfully nutty roles for the actors with endless staging possibilities.
  • A Girl Named Destiny
    18 Feb. 2020
    It’s a romantic comedy ... wait - it’s a farce - no wait! It’s a superhero story. Or it may be the best fish tale ever told. I’ll go with all of them. The theatricality buzzes, the misguided poetry soars, and Higbee has concocted a tale of constant surprise. Not since Romeo and Juliet has “love at first sight” caused so much intrigue. Higbee balances laughs galore with an underlying charm that lures you in. Read it and give your spirit a good belly laugh. Produce it and your audiences will thank you.
  • SHIPWRECK
    17 Feb. 2020
    It’s the history nobody wants to teach. It’s the history that continues today because nobody will acknowledge the past. It’s the history that should be put on a stage now so that we can create a better history. Meticulously researched, what we do to each other needs to be addressed so we can do better. I’d love to see this in high schools and colleges so the young can experience our past, present, and future.
  • Top Shelf Tolstoy
    17 Feb. 2020
    Our local library was remodeled not long ago and now it is hard to find a book. Gill’s satire is right on the mark. And I wonder because I can now check out videos, cd’s, art work and sports equipment - can alcohol be far behind? The juxtaposition of Erica starting a new life with a library card and the library starting a new life with alcohol makes me crave a library book accompanied by a drink. Clever, timely, and too close for comfort.
  • Just A Rumor
    16 Feb. 2020
    Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner meets screwball comedy meets MGM’s star-studded past meets the National Enquirer and more. I never thought I’d laugh so much over the machinations of moving a dead body. DeVita’s and Lyons’ homage to two screen-greats sparkle and crackle and deliver page after page. Through it all, there is a thread of poignancy and love for these people. DeVita and Lyons take “just a rumor” of those times and endear yourself to each character. Theatres: take a break from Royal Family and do this play instead. Audiences will follow and love.
  • American Divide
    15 Feb. 2020
    Truths, half-truths,stories, reality - all is blurred in Gill’s American Divided. The play moves quickly through reveals, bluffs, and hope when there is no hope. Our internet gives us a lot of black and white. Gill eschews heroes and villains and offers us instead people with challenging lives trying to keep their humanity. It’s a rare play where you root for everyone but Gill makes it happen. It’s a meaningful play for our times.
  • Bottom of the 9th
    14 Feb. 2020
    Maybe because I am a Twins fan (an impossible situation), maybe because the boys of summer were always the perfect date. Or maybe this is just one of the funniest, impossible rom-coms to come my way in a long time but yeah, LOVE this play. And I’ll declare it on the scoreboard. Higbee has found the perfect proposal. Who wouldn’t choose a bobble-head over the diamond ring? And wait! What’s more important than scoring in the bottom of the ninth? Baseball and love: heaven. (Disclaimer: saw this at Lakeshore Players where the actors were manic Twins fans.)
  • The Dobler Effect
    14 Feb. 2020
    Often what you want is in front of you but you don’t see it. And so it is with Lionel who is enamored with the “new girl” but has yet to see Didi. Sweet and engaging, this romantic comedy for seniors does not fall into any stereotypical traps of “love in the elder years.” Rather it focuses on what we see, what we hear and when preconceived notions get in the way of our senses. Plus - oh my, I had fun picturing the boom box and cassette tapes as Lionel sees himself as the epitome of cool.
  • Uncomplicated Bereavement
    14 Feb. 2020
    What happens at a funeral stays at the funeral. You have to love how uncomplicated this bereavement turns out to be. Self-sacrifice is complicated and there are times - when release is welcome. Sickles deliciously combines loss and sex with truths and action. There is definitely a celebration of life at this funeral.

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