Born in the fire of the Fringe

It seemed a safe bet that there would be an open seat for a Tuesday evening performance of "Squawk" during last summer's Fringe Festival. But no. Director Amy Rummenie of Walking Shadow Theatre Company had to give up her perch in the back row for this latecomer to score a look.

An hour later it was clear why this play, written by John Heimbuch, would sell out. "Squawk" hit serious subjects -- jealousy and prejudice -- with such a light and disarming touch that no one walked away with the feeling they had been preached at. The concept (a penguin in boot camp) was absurd, but the playing was dead straight. It was a delight.

Not all of Walking Shadow's productions have achieved the easy success of "Squawk." But as the company moves into its fifth year, it has established itself as one of the young groups to watch in the ever-refreshing well of Twin Cities small theater. There is a seriousness of purpose, commendable even in the bad stuff. Rummenie, Heimbuch and David Pisa (who does "everything that Amy and John aren't doing") have methodically built a little company that deserves attention.

Walking Shadow opens the regional premiere of Neil LaBute's "Some Girl(s)" Friday at Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis. Brian Balcom is directing with a cast that includes Mo Perry, Clarence Wethern and Jennifer J. Phillips. In the play, a man visits four former girlfriends shortly before his impending marriage. Given LaBute's keen and unsparing awareness of gender distinctions, the outcome produces something to carry away from the theater.

Coincidentally, it was a LaBute play that raised Walking Shadow's local profile.

High school chums

Rummenie and Heimbuch, married since 2005, have known each other since high school, 14 years ago in Richfield. Rummenie met Pisa at Children's Theatre Company, where they spent "a lot of time together in the spotlight booth," she said. That's not code language for romantic rendezvous. They actually were working on the tech crew.

"We were the only two who wanted to go out and see shows when we weren't working," said Pisa.

So when Rummenie and Heim- buch realized they would need an artistic partner, they asked Pisa, who brought a solid tech background to the party.

Dean Seal, former executive director of the Minnesota Fringe, first urged Rummenie and Heimbuch to write something for the festival in 2003. They did, they enjoyed it, and they made a little money. In 2004 and 2005, what was now known as Walking Shadow Theatre Company was a Fringe favorite. "1926 Pleasant" in 2006 unveiled an experimental side and an interest in immersive theater. By 2007, the company became more than a curiosity, with a bristling production of LaBute's "Fat Pig." Rummenie's direction was crisp, focused and fearless in dealing with LaBute's brutal honesty about a man who dumps a woman because she's obese.

Rummenie hated "Fat Pig" when the company gave it a first reading.

"I threw it [the script] across the room," she said. "I read it and thought this would hurt my friends."

It was because of that hurt, still stinging a week later, that Rummenie decided "we had to do it."

Pisa said that he spent four months trying to get the rights to "Fat Pig." This time, all it took was a five-minute phone call in which he told LaBute's agent, "We're the company that gave 'Fat Pig' its regional premiere."

Sticking with it

Walking Shadow takes inspiration from several models. Steppenwolf in Chicago is admired for building itself on original work and an uncompromising aesthetic. Locally, Pisa worked with Hidden Theater and got to understand their niche in the market. All three mention Casey Stangl's Eye of the Storm for producing relatively new plays. Walking Shadow's production of "Mr. Marmalade" in 2007 is a perfect example. Noah Haidle's dark and humorous play had split critics in New York -- but it had them talking about a precocious young girl and her imaginary friends. Naomi Iizuka's "36 Views," which Heimbuch directed, had a complicated and appealing dramatic structure.

It's not always magic. "Caligula," which the company hoisted last winter, and "Amazons and Their Men" by playwright Jordan Harrison, both failed to ignite. In both cases, however, the fault seemed to be in choosing the scripts in the first place rather than the productions.

Regardless, people have started to notice the work. Season attendance has more than doubled since the 2006-07 season -- to 3,454 from 1,677. The budget, still microscopic at $60,000, has nonetheless grown and the company has a functioning board of directors (not always a guarantee in the small nonprofit world).

"We haven't had to use our own money," Heimbuch said. "I still enjoy every bit of what we do and there is always an element of artistic growth."

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299