Subscribe
Michael Opperman
Michael J. Opperman is a writer based in the Twin Cities. His poetry, fiction and reviews have appeared in the New Hampshire Review, Coe Review, MARGIE Review, and Rain Taxi. During the day, he works in the interactive space at Clockwork Active Media Systems.
Scandals, greed, and hypocrisy
Mixed Blood Theatre’s final play of the 2007-8 season is Uruguayan playwright Jacobo Langsner’s Esperando la Carroza. The satirical play, performed in Spanish with English supertitles, is Mixed Blood’s 10th annual bilingual production. These annual productions bring in approximately 5,000 Spanish-learning students from around Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa each year. MORE »
Theater note: Startling "Love Person"
Mixed Blood’s Love Person is startling and evocative—but when the play began, I was skeptical. Several flat panel television screens hung above the stage. A man was reading a poem in Sanskrit, while what I presumed to be the original written Sanskrit trailed across the screens in lovely, impenetrable, script. Three women listened with varying attentiveness (two conversing in ASL) as techno music vibrated softly in the background. At first blush, the play seemed an ambitious and well-meaning mess. MORE »
The Pillowman: Review
Martin’s McDonagh’s The Pillowman is a blend of anti-totalitarian agitprop, surreal Kafkaesque narrative, and ripped-from-the-headlines crime story. Thematically and structurally, the play is a challenge to stage. Wendy Knox and Frank Theater’s production at the Guthrie is both compelling and uneven. MORE »
Private Lives: Review
Noel Coward’s comedy of conflict skewers the decadence of the upper class. MORE »
Review: Merchant of Venice at the Guthrie
The Merchant of Venice is, at its root, a play about rules and culture. Each scene is an exploration of contract and expectation. Antonio (Richard S. Iglewski) is bound by the particulars of his deal with Shylock (Robert Dorfman) and Portia (Michelle O’Neill) is restricted by the marriage details left behind by her father. Bassanio (Ron Menzel) is obligated by his friendship to Antonio and Jessica (Christine Weber) is compelled by the religion and customs of her new marriage. MORE »
