Wilde, Fringe, gender, puppets

This is one of those rare weekends to really sample the diversity of Twin Cities theater. Six shows open, ranging from raw monologues about gender identity to puppet masterpieces to topical comedy. The four shows we'll discuss here are staged in smaller venues, places that allow for a closeness you can't experience in big houses -- places that undergird the Twin Cities' reputation as a theater-rich region.

'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'

Open Eye Figure Theatre is adapting a piece that will forever be associated with Mickey Mouse, a broom and sloshing pails of water. Michael Sommers, Open Eye's artistic director, found inspiration in Goethe's poem and the visual work of artist Roger Hayward for his first full-length puppet show since he christened the new space five years ago with "A Prelude to Faust."

"This is a straight-ahead piece of marionette theater, with the lights, sounds and music to make it a fuller artistic thing," Sommers said.

That European aesthetic perfectly fits Open Eye's sensibility. Sommers brought in composer Eric Jensen to write music and lead an orchestra made up of xylophone, trombone, viola, clarinet and bass clarinet. Marionette master Kurt Hunter has also come aboard, along with lighting designer Michael Murnane and sound specialist Sean Healey.

"I'm an apprentice again, in a way, with all these craft masters in here," Sommers said.

'Ballad of the Pale Fisherman'

"There were things we had to give short shrift to," Nelson said. "In the first development, the selkie went directly from being caught to the marriage, and it all happened in the span of five minutes. So we've taken the opportunity to let that relationship play out."

Anna Reichert plays the woman inside a seal and Diogo Lopes is the fisherman, in a production that Nelson said was created by the ensemble through physical storytelling.

"It's a story I identified with, growing up," she said. "I wasn't officially a swimmer but I loved being in the water."

'An Ideal Husband'

Walking Shadow Theatre takes its first crack at Oscar Wilde, and the timing is perfect. A British politician with an impeccable reputation is being blackmailed for something he did long ago. He must decide whether to confess and risk his marriage and standing, or play along with the extortionist's desire to manipulate the government.

Wilde, who could write such fluff as "The Importance of Being Earnest," really digs into the idea that as a public, we delight in tearing down someone who appears morally perfect, Rummenie said. "With election year coming up, this could be a fun one," she said.

Adam Whisner, Heidi Berg, Sarah Ochs and David Beukema lead the cast.

'The Naked I: Wide Open'

Buyer, beware: This show is essentially sold out. Claire Avitabile, artistic director of 20 Percent Theatre Company, said more than 60 people have worked on the project, and the subject matter proved wildly popular in a similar show three years ago. Mostly monologues, with some multiple-character scenes, the work explores gender identity of queer and transgender artists, through true stories.

"We created it from a number of responses that we received when we put out the writing prompt: 'I feel the most naked when ... '" Avitabile said.