The Moon Falls Into Ruin

In its dedication to adapting literature for the stage, Hardcover Theater is usually narrative-driven. This production, however, is a hallucinogenic journey as told by Georg Trakl, a German soldier-poet who fought in and ultimately took his own life during World War I. Trakl’s dreamy, drug-induced imagery is reminiscent of Arthur Rimbaud, whom he admired, yet his writing moves at a slower, heavier pace. Hardcover dug into Trakl’s past to uncover real people from his life–his mentally ill mother, the sister with whom he had an incestuous affair, his fellow soldiers at the battle of Grodek–who, as characters, bring to life Trakl’s dark and moody prose. The Playwrights’ Center, 2301 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis; 612-332-7481; www.hardcovertheater.org