I realize it’s not politically correct to call things “girlie,” and it’s certainly a disservice to my gender — but then my gender has done me many a disservice, so… take that!
THEATER AND PERFORMANCE “Okay, first things fuckin’ last!”
This just sounds too interesting to pass up. Imagine that Quentin Tarantino’sReservoir Dogs was written by a woman. Imagine the characters were women. Hard to imagine. I know. But what might that be like? Would it be so horridly filled with girlie clichés, you’d run screaming for cover (or Tampax)? Or would it simply be ingenioius? Award-winning Canadian playwright Laura McGhee was listening to the song Stuck in the Middle With You, when she wondered what connotation the dancing torture scene would have had if a woman had been playing the role portrayed by Michael Madsen. Then she started to speculate about what else would have been different. The result was Reservoir Bitches, a dramatic parody of the Tarantino classic. Presenting the midwest premiere is the Red Eye Theater, known for their multimedia stagings and dark exploration of the underbelly of contemporary life.
7 p.m., Red Eye Theater, 15 West 14th St., Minneapolis, 612-870-0309; pay-what-you-can.
READINGS A Union of Love and Loss
If you’re looking for less violent “girlie” stuff, you might want to go hear author Linda Olsson talk about her debut novel at the Galleria Barnes & Nobles. Olsson’s Astrid and Veronika tells the story of two women — a 30-year-old writer and a septuagenarian recluse — who befriend each other and share their emotional scars while living next door to each other in a small Swedish town. While it certainly sounds a bit hokey, Olsson’s unembellished style stops it from sliding into an overwrought melodrama. She’s a solid writer and has traveled the world from Sweden to Kenya to Singapore, so she ought to have plenty to say.
7:30 p.m., Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Galleria Shopping Center, 3225 W 69th St., Edina; 952-920-0633; free.
MUSIC Don’t Let the Girlie-Appeal Fool You
The majority of comments I’ve heard about Duncan Sheik in the past few years have been more geared toward his good looks than his great music — and maybe I’m allowing myself to be blinded by his bold break onto the music scene about a decade ago — but I still think the man has something more to offer than a condom reference with a sexy gaze. I mean, he’s even gone and composed an entire score for the new Broadway musical Spring Awakening — and the reviews aren’t half bad. Sheik has certainly mellowed over the years, so if you’re looking for a respectable version of mellow mysticism threaded with pop, he’s your man. And hey, as mystical as the music may sound, the lyrics still have a satisfying darkness: “I think that God’s got a sick sense of humor, and when I die I expect to find him laughing.”
7 p.m., Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. SE, Minneapolis; 612-604-0222; $23.
OK. If you really need to throw off all the Monday girlie schlock, join host Rayna Terror at the Bedlam Theater for an evening of head-thrashing, liquor-free rock-n-roll. (And don’t you dare call a booze-free event “girlie.” I see no correlation at all.) Tonight’s show features psychedelic punk-rockers Nudity, with Dreamland Faces, Synchrocyclotron, and Styrofoam Death (remaining members of Styrofoam Duck). It promises to be an interesting show, with plenty of energy, and plenty of… teenagers. Actually, I don’t know how many teenagers are allowed to go to a concert on a Monday night, but it’s a dry, all ages show, nonetheless. Any drinking to be done must be done at the neighboring Palmer’s Bar or one of the other Cedar Avenue watering holes.
8:30 p.m., Bedlam Theatre, 1501 S. 6th St.; 612-341-1038; $6.
Granted, it’s an ad, but this one happens to be produced by Carmichael Lynch, here in town.
And for the grand finale… and old (1947-1961) video of someone’s great grandfather and his friends performing an acrobatic act from the Minneapolis Aquatenials. Cirque du Soleil meets Charlie Chaplin.
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