"Proof" at Gremlin Theatre

The 2001 Tony winner for Best Play, Proof ran for two and a half years on Broadway, had a national tour (rare for a non-musical), and was adapted into a 2005 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jake Gyllenhaal. There have been several local productions, but not in 5+ years, so it was time to revisit this brilliant play, and thankfully Gremlin Theatre is doing just that. I fell in love with the play when I saw it on tour 20+ years ago; in contrast to my current nearly 15 years as a theater blogger, I was a math major, so I love all of the math references and discussions of proofs and higher mathematics. But it wasn't just math nerds who made this play so popular. Despite the fact that I like to call Proof my second* favorite math play, it's about so much more than math. It's about family dynamics, caring for aging parents, relationships between very different siblings, mental illness, and what we inherit from our parents vs. making our own life separate from them. As per usual, Gremlin's production is practically perfect in every way - an excellent cast, clear direction, and spot-on design. See it in their Vandalia Towers theater (in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood) between now and March 30, and for one of the best and most convenient dinner-and-a-show pairings in town, visit Lake Monster Brewing in the same building, where you can now order delicious OG Zaza pizza from across the patio (bonus: as spring weather arrives, you can enjoy your beer and pizza al fresco).

"Hundred Days" by Theatre Elision

What would you do if you only had a hundred days to live? What if you had just met your person, only to be told that they only had a hundred days to live? Such are the questions posed by NYC-based husband/wife singer/songwriter duo Abigail and Shaun Bengson (who, spoiler alert, lived more than a hundred days after meeting and are in fact still living). They wrote (with book writer Sarah Bancher) and performed in the autobiographical concert-style musical Hundred Days, and now Theatre Elision is bringing us the #TCTheater premiere. It's a lovely and haunting 80-minute musical with a fantastic folk-rock score, performed by a talented cast/band. As always, if you're looking for a rarely done musical that's new and interesting and different, instead of the same old fare, head to Elision Playhouse in Crystal (continuing through March 22).

Broadway tour of "Come From Away" at the Ordway Center

Every time I see the 2017 Tony-nominated* musical Come From Away, I love it even more. I saw it for the 5th time last night, and its themes affected me even more deeply now in this time we're living in. A time when the ideals that many of us hold dear - compassion, empathy, kindness, equality, justice - are being attacked, ideals that are so beautifully expressed in this one-of-a-kind musical. As I wrote when the tour came through the Ordway last summer, Come From Away is "the perfect marriage of music, text, and performance, brilliantly constructed into 100 solid minutes of constant storytelling, flowing from music to dialogue and back again, with only two applause breaks to break the spell. And the story it tells is remarkable: the heart-warming true story of how the people of Gander, Newfoundland welcomed 7000 strangers when their planes were diverted there on 9/11. Canadian married couple Irene Sankoff and David Hein (and producer Michael Rubinoff) have woven the true stories from dozens of people who were there, gathered at the 10th anniversary in Gander. Now, past the 20th anniversary of the unfathomably horrific events of that day, and the extraordinary actions of ordinary humans in its wake, this musical continues to be necessary. It reminds us that despite what we see on the news every day, the human capacity for good knows no bounds, if only we could remember that we all have the same wants and needs, and helping each other is the only way through." These words that I wrote nine eventful months ago strike an even deeper chord now. If you need to be reminded of the good in humanity, do not miss Come From Away, which is only here through Saturday! Keep reading for my review of last year's tour, with a few updates.

"Groucho Marx Meets T.S. Eliot" by Illusion Theater at Center for Performing Arts

Comedian Groucho Marx. Poet T.S. Eliot. Two influential artists of the 20th Century that probably no one would put in the same sentence together, much less the same play. But they had a brief pen-pal relationship (after Eliot wrote Groucho a fan letter asking for a photo) and met once for dinner at Eliot's home in London. Not much is known about the dinner, which gives playwright Jeffrey Hatcher free reign to imagine it in a clever, funny, acerbic, fourth-wall breaking way. Groucho Marx Meets T.S. Eliot is a highly entertaining 75 minutes of theater that digs a little bit deeper into these two enigmatic figures and their possible relationship (continuing through March 15).

"The Effect" at Jungle Theater

In my day job, I work in clinical trials. I'm not a researcher in the clinics working with patients, I sit at home in my living room analyzing the data they collect. But still, the themes and situations in the brilliant play The Effect are familiar and fascinating to me. Written by Lucy Prebble, a writer and executive producer on the brilliant and brutal HBO show Succession, the play asks thorny and relevant questions about the ethics of clinical research, for-profit pharmaceutical companies, and the health care industry in general. It also explores the very stuff that makes us human, our feelings and emotions, and if that resides in our brain, or in our heart, or in situations or the substances we're taking. (If you're getting Severance vibes, you're not alone.) In short, The Effect is my favorite kind of play - smart and thought-provoking, asking difficult questions and not answering them, populated with complex, interesting, and engaging characters. And as expected, Jungle Theater's production really couldn't be better, with a fantastic four-person cast and spot-on design. If you like smart, thoughtful, relevant plays, The Effect is not to be missed (continuing through the end of March).

"Fifty Boxes of Earth" by Theater Mu at Park Square Theatre

The world premiere new play Fifty Boxes of Earth tells the story of a nonbinary immigrant who moves into a community and begins to plant a magical garden to establish literal and figurative roots. Theater Mu could not have known just how timely and important this story would be when they planned it as part of their season, with Trans Rights being threatened and immigrants being deported seemingly with no cause. This story puts a very human face on the immigrant or outsider experience, using magical realism, dance, puppetry, and some theater magic to evoke emotion. See it at Park Square Theatre in downtown St. Paul through March 16 only.

"The Rainmaker" at Lyric Arts

The classic play The Rainmaker is like a mix of The Glass Menagerie and The Music Man, set in a rural area beset by drought during the Depression. There's the family daughter who's a bit different that everyone is trying to "marry off," and the charming con man who sweeps into town and brings new life and hope to the community. It's a beautiful and bittersweet story about a woman finding her confidence and self-worth through the eyes of a stranger. Experience the wonder of the long-awaited rain in Lyric Arts' new production, featuring a talented cast and lovely design, continuing through March 23.