Constance in the Darkness is great art from Open Eye Figure Theatre

Photo by Evan Frost

There are a number of truths about the Twin Cities theater community, and one of those is that no matter what Open Eye Figure Theatre puts together, it will be -- at the very least -- intriguing.

The company's mixture of high-class puppetry, top-notch performances, and deep-probes of the human psyche come together in the enthralling and brilliant Constance in the Darkness.

Constance (Emily Zimmer) is off exploring when she gets a series of frantic calls from her mother. Mom is lost and needs her daughter to help her get home. This leads Constance into an ever spiraling series of adventures that take her deep into her childhood. There, she finds an ally in Bobo, her beloved-but-certainly-broken-down beloved bear, and fights against the terrors of some of her less savory toys: Queen Harmonica and Lamby Lamb.

There's also a fairy godmother and a narrator tying all of this together. Most of the roles apart from Constance are played by Maren Ward, who once again does terrific work on the Open Eye stage. Ward moves from role to role like a whirlwind, driving the story always forward. (And don't expect any handholding here; you are going to have remained fully engaged with the twists and turns of the story to get the most out of Constance and her adventures.)

Created by Open Eye's Michael Sommers and Joseph Evans, <i>Constance in the Darkness</i> is an inventive ride that just makes you giddy to be alive and experiencing such great art.

For information, visit here.

Blows against the Empre: The Royale

Photo by Justin Cox

Though set in the early years of the 20^th century, Marco Ramirez’s The Royale is remarkably prescient about race and sports in America.

A lot of that has to do with our country’s stubborn, almost pathological, inability to deal with its troubled past. It’s much easier to paste over the issues with platitudes and Ram truck commercials than to actually come face to face with the collected racism of white America.

In The Royale, making its regional premiere at the Yellow Tree Theatre, Jay Jackson is a barnstorming boxing champion defeating all challengers – as long as they are black. He dreams of coming face to face with the white champion.

When that opportunity comes, it becomes more than just two men trading punches in the ring. Against a backdrop Jim Crow America, Jackson sets off a firestorm of tension. Will reaching his dream cause others to suffer?

There’s more to unpack in this topic than a year of plays, documentaries, and discussions can uncover. Ramirez instead paints with an impressionist’s brush. Clocking in at around 75 minutes, we get touches of the tension beneath the surface from the way Jackson interacts with others, from his sparring partner to his long-time coach to his manager.

Director Austene Van makes the most of these tools. The boxing becomes a ritual dance of bobbing, weaving, and punches. By the end, each virtual punch (there is no actual pugilism on stage, apart from some light sparring) packs a wallop far beyond the ring.

Several terrific performances help to bring this to life. David Murray has the look and swagger of a champion as Jackson. There is a singular determination to Jackson’s quest, and Murray plays it perfectly. As the tension increases, so does the worry in Murray’s face, but Jackson’s underlying confidence never wavers.

James Craven and Charles Fraser play a pair of mentors. Craven is electric as always as Wynton, who has guided Jackson through the rough roads of boxing. Fraser gets a thornier character, as promoter Max has Jackson’s best interest in mind. Is it genuine, or is just because Max needs Jackson to keep making money? That tension is written throughout Fraser’s performance.

By the end, The Royale leaves you exhausted and exhilarated. After all, the weight of American racism – and how it relates to sports – is felt heavily today. (Hello, President Trump!) Yet the power of Ramirez’s writing, Van’s direction, and the company’s acting make it a rewarding trip to the theater.

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The road isn't all that easy in The Wiz

Photo by Dan Norman

The Wiz is not a great piece of musical theater. Apart from the music, its soulful twist on The Wizard of Oz hasn’t aged all that well. The book is blah and the story misses plenty of important beats from the original that make it feel more like discreet episodes instead of a fully unified story.

The combined talents of Penumbra Theatre and the Children’s Theatre Company do their darndest to make it work. While the final product is far from perfect, it is much more entertaining than the various parts would indicate.

Dorothy is still from Kansas and is still under the care of her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. The difference? The family is African American, and when the twister comes and takes her to Oz that fantastical land is modeled after New York City.

After landing on Coney Island, Dorothy makes her way south, picking up her familiar friends (though Toto is seen at the beginning and end, he is missing in action for most of the show) on their journey to see the Wizard. In this case, the Emerald City is the Apollo.

And yeah, you know the story from here. Wizard scares the quartet into taking care of the evil witch, Evillene. They dispatch her without much trouble, come back, get their rewards, and learn valuable lessons about themselves.

Mind you, this 1970s-era musical wasn’t trying to create a new interpretation, like Wicked. The Wiz really just wants to tell a familiar story with some punched up, soulful tunes. Songwriter Charlie Smalls gives the company plenty of great moments to dig into, from the funky choruses of “Ease on Down the Road” to a string of solos that threatened to bring the house down.

We’ve got Greta Oglesby, cast as Aunt Em and Evillene, reaching for the rafters on two numbers, the opening “The Feeling We Once Had” and “Don’t Nobody Bring Me Bad News.” Paris Bennett sings well throughout as Dorothy, and it is hard to go wrong with the likes of Dennis W. Spears, Aimee Bryant and T. Mychael Rambo filling out the cast.

When they are singing, The Wiz is great fun. It’s harder for the company to overcome William F. Brown’s sludgy script. All of the hard work done by the company, the creative team, and director Lou Bellamy can’t save us from the fact that we’re watching a facsimile of the original story, and like so many copies, it doesn’t capture all of the details of the original.

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