“Other desert cities” at the Guthrie Theatre<\/a>. With one exception, the play was quite splendid. The opening section of incredibly funny in a quite dark sort of way, as a family reunited for Christmas dance and spar with each other as a prickly kind of getting reacquainted. It then gets increasingly serious, tense, and emotionally wrenching as both the past and the future of the family are explored in ways that are in turns explosive and tender.<\/p>\nThe director and five person cast does a great job with an intelligent and perceptive script, conveying rich complex characters that could easily become stereotypical and 1-dimensional. The set did a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of a well-heeled, old-guard GOP operative home in Palm Springs, and gave the proscenium space a real depth and scale.<\/p>\n
My one nit to pick is the very end scene. Without saying much because I don’t want to spoil, I found the last scene to be weak and lacking the emotional punch of the rest of the play. I’m not even sure it was all that necessary, and could perhaps have been left off altogether. While it’s unfortunate to end on a weaker note, the vast majority of the play is quite excellent and totally makes up for that thin spot. <\/p>\n
The play ends this weekend (24 March), so get tickets while you can!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Other desert cities” at the Guthrie is quite good \u2013 see it while you can!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[514,11,25],"tags":[780,778,779,781,782,625,60,407,401],"class_list":["post-1676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dramaperformance","category-events","category-family","tag-other-desert-cities","tag-guthrie-theatre","tag-palm-springs","tag-play","tag-stage","tag-theater","tag-theatre","tag-twin-cities","tag-weathergrrrl"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90sy-r2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1343,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2010\/07\/30\/looking-for-a-couch-or-2-to-crash-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":1676,"position":0},"title":"Looking for a couch (or 2) to crash on","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"30 Jul 10","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking for a place or places in the Twin Cities to crash on the 9th and 10th of August, 2010.","rel":"","context":"In "Drama\/Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Drama\/Performance","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/dramaperformance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red Couch Project Set 8 (17 of 19)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3099\/2653377265_fbf62bce98_m_d.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1889,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2014\/02\/09\/sneak-peek-at-joint-prca-show-with-weathergrrrl\/","url_meta":{"origin":1676,"position":1},"title":"Sneak peek at joint PRCA show with WeatherGrrrl","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"9 Feb 14","format":false,"excerpt":"Panorama photographs of the joint PRCA show with WeatherGrrrl after we finished hanging the show yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Promo card for the joint show at the PRCA with WeatherGrrrl","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?fit=732%2C852&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?fit=732%2C852&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?fit=732%2C852&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?fit=732%2C852&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1672,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2013\/03\/22\/kidlets-acting-now-available-in-video-form-on-youtube\/","url_meta":{"origin":1676,"position":2},"title":"Kidlet’s acting \u2013 Now available in video form on YouTube!","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"22 Mar 13","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Kidlet is way cool!!!!! Great monkey body posture. Very effective location. Definitely earned the requisite number of laughs to be considered successful.\"","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/MCFKoCv7mWc\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1372,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2010\/08\/18\/a-golden-view-a-little-history-of-minneapolis\/","url_meta":{"origin":1676,"position":3},"title":"A golden view (& a little history of Minneapolis)","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"18 Aug 10","format":false,"excerpt":"So I've been a pretty good boy while here in Minneapolis, and have left my camera back at the B&B every day, focusing instead on important things like course prep. Yesterday, though, I gave myself one day of photography, focusing on St. Anthony Falls, the Mill District, the Mill City\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A golden view","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4095\/4904963615_a77e971f06.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1461,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2011\/02\/22\/more-cool-art-from-weathergrrrl\/","url_meta":{"origin":1676,"position":4},"title":"More cool art from WeatherGrrrl","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"22 Feb 11","format":false,"excerpt":"A collection of photos of the pieces that WeatherGrrrl is submitting to this year's UMM Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition.","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"3 photos of Sue's handmade book, \"30 days of November\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5012\/5470083938_6eaf328b2f.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1861,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2014\/02\/02\/joint-art-show-with-weathergrrrl-opens-12-feb\/","url_meta":{"origin":1676,"position":5},"title":"Joint art show with WeatherGrrrl opens 12 Feb!","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"2 Feb 14","format":false,"excerpt":"Sue and I will soon be hanging our first collaborative art show next week at the Prairie Renaissance Cultural Alliance (PRCA) Gallery. The show opens 12 Feb, and there is a reception Sunday, 16 Feb, from 7-8:30pm.","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Promo card for the joint show at the PRCA with WeatherGrrrl","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/PRCA_show_promo_card_v2.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1676"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1681,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions\/1681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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