OnStage spotlight: 'Amazons and their Men'

Last update: October 20, 2008 - 12:28 PM

AMAZONS AND THEIR MEN

Opening: Jordan Harrison, a Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights' Center a few years ago, based this play on the life of German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Actor Zoe Benston portrays a director making an epic film about an Amazon queen and the Greek hero Achilles. However, the grim outside world and a war intrude on her work. Amy Rummenie, who staged an excellent production of "Fat Pig" two years ago for Walking Shadow Theatre Company, directs. Harrison had a couple of his shows produced during his time in the Twin Cities -- "The Museum Play" at Red Eye and "Act a Lady" at Illusion. (7:30 p.m. today-Sat. and Mon., 3 p.m. Sun., Pillsbury House Theatre, 3501 Chicago Av. S., Mpls. $14-$16 -- pay what you can Mon. 612-375-0300 or walkingshadowcompany.org

GRAYDON ROYCE

MINNESOTA DANCE THEATRE

Opening: Minnesota Dance Theatre is laying out a smorgasbord for its 2008-09 season opener, offering a little something for everyone. Along with two premieres (by contemporary choreographer Mathew Janczewski and artistic director Lise Houlton) and Lynne Taylor-Corbett's jazz-rock "Appearances," there's a pair of pas de deux that are as riveting as they are different: the rapturous second-act duet from "Swan Lake" and the tense, high-wire act that is "Agon," the Balanchine-Stravinsky Sputnik-era masterpiece, both performed by New York City Ballet guest artists Kaitlyn Gilliland (an MDT alum) and Ask la Cour. (8 p.m. today-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., the Lab, 700 N. 1st St., Mpls. $18 -$26.50. 612-338-0627.

RICK NELSON