There is a spring blizzard of theater this weekend, with more than 10 productions opening Friday and Saturday — a smorgasbord of dramas, musicals and surreal plays that should whet most appetites.
"Handle With Care" Playwright Jason Odell Williams' new romantic comedy involves high-decibel miscommunication in English and Hebrew and rancor around a shipped coffin that has been lost in transit. Linda Kelsey ("Lou Grant") plays a woman who takes her heartsick Israeli granddaughter Ayelet (Miriam Schwartz) on a tour of America that does not end as intended. Directed by Hayley Finn.
8 p.m. Sat, 1 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Thu. Minnesota Jewish Theatre, 1978 Ford Pkwy., St. Paul, $18-$26, 651-647-4315 or mnjewishtheatre.org.
"Dreamless Land" New York playwright Julia Jarcho is a member of minimalist theater auteur Richard Maxwell's New York City Players. Her unconventional 2011 play is, on the surface, about a teen's visit to his estranged father in Vegas. But the characters' identities shift during the course of the play. Steve Busa directs a Red Eye cast that includes Bruce Abas, Susanna Stahlmann and Miriam Must.
8 p.m. Fri.-Sun., Red Eye, 15 W. 14th St., Mpls., $10-$25, 612-870-0309 or redeyetheater.org.
"Lorca in a Green Dress" Playwright Nilo Cruz's follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Anna in the Tropics" is a surreal work centered on Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who was murdered in 1936 during that country's civil war. The play explores, through different characters, aspects of Lorca, including his childhood and his sensual side. The show is co-produced by Pangea World Theater and Teatro del Pueblo. Alberto Justiano directs a cast that includes Evelyn Digirolamo, Matt Rein, Andrea San Miguel and talented singer/actor Ricardo Vázquez.
7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 4 p.m. Sun., Ritz Theater, 345 13th Av NE., Mpls, $18, 612-436-1129 or ritz-theater.org.
"Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" Craig Johnson plays Wilde in Moisés Kaufman's late '90s drama derived from transcripts of Wilde's court appearances over his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas. The play was staged in the Twin Cities at the Guthrie Lab a decade ago. Now it resonates differently at a time when the Supreme Court is weighing marriage equality. Amy Rummenie directs nine men who play more than 50 characters in this Walking Shadow theater production.
7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Tue & Thu., Minneapolis Theatre Garage, 711 W. Franklin Av., Mpls., $22, www.brownpapertickets.com.
"girl group" Theatre Unbound premieres playwright Carol Critchley's fictional piece about a revolutionary group called the Furies. The rock-infused play is set in 1965, when music was an instrument of rebellion and social change. Rebecca Rizzio directs an all-female cast that includes Becka Linder, Katia Cardenas, Amanda Thomm, Laura Mahler and Channing Jones.
The Lowry Lab Theater, 350 St. Peter St., St. Paul. $15-$25, 612-721-1186 or theatreunbound.com.
"Something About a Bear: A Modern Fairy Tale" Playwright Constance Congdon's deft adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's "The Servant of Two Masters" played earlier this year at the Guthrie. Her new play, a premiere, is set in a fantastical world populated by a wizard, a cross-dressing princess and a bear that has been turned into a man. It is set in the backwoods of northern Minnesota and is directed by Lisa Channer and Vladimir Rovinsky of Theatre Novi Most. Co-produced by the University of Minnesota's department of theater and dance, it stars Luverne Seifert.
7:30 p.m. Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat, 2 p.m. Sun. Rarig Center's Stoll Thrust Theater, 330 21st Av. S., Mpls., $5-$10, 612-624-2345 or theatrenovimost.org.
"When the Moon Hits Your Eye" Theater Latté Da kicks off a new musical development program with Jon Marans' "When the Moon Hits Your Eye," a play with music set in a New York tenement. There, a widowed Italian barber seeks to marry his Spanish mistress. Latté Da had success with its production of Marans' "Old Wicked Songs" a few years ago.
7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., The Lab Theater, 700 N. 1st St., Mpls. $14. 612-339-3003 or LatteDa.org.
Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390
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