Odd Characters

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
A Sexy Twist on a Classic Tale

On a dark and stormy night, after getting a flat tire, the innocent Brad and Janet are forced to take refuge in an old castle. What they find inside is perhaps in keeping with the expected mad-scientist scenario, but there’s a definite twist. Sure, you have your man-made creature. You have your loss of innocence. And you even have a touch of cannibalism. But you also have some seriously sexy goth all the way through: men in corsettes, sexual confusion, and a clear indication of a decadent morality. “Touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me. I wanna be dirty,” sings Janet during her sexual awakening. If you grew up doing the “Time Warp” in movie theater aisles after midnight, you’ll perhaps appreciate a live production of the now classic (and cult) movie. But beware, this is probably not something to which you want to take your children.

8 p.m., Ordway Center for Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul; 651-224-4222; $32, $37.

Tragic Pride

“Only at nightfall, aethereal rumours / Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus.” When T.S. Eliot references something in one of his poems — particularly his most famous, “The Wasteland” — you know it’s worthy. Coriolanus is a Shakespearian tragedy based on the life of legendary Roman leader Caius Martius Coriolanus. Not unlike many of Shakespeare’s heroes, Coriolanus’s militaristic pride makes him a less than sympathetic character. In fact, the play seems to indicate that heroic ideals no longer serve the increasingly sophisticated needs of government. For this reason, in fact, many twentieth century playwrights, including Bertolt Brecht, have adapted the play to reflect on modern politics (both left and right). This week, Flaneur Productions, probably one of the best experimental troupes in town, explores what the play might mean in America today. Director Bridget Escolme (author of Talking to the Audience: Shakespeare, Performance, Self) presents a promenade-style performance in Bedlam’s new theater. Players include Flaneur Co-Director Jim Bovino in the title role, Don Mabley-Allen, Christian Gaylord, Barbara Meyer, Jillia Pessenda, Scott Reynolds, Kym Longhi, Ben Kreilkamp, Dave Schneider, Jeff Broitman, Tracie Hodgdon, and Jim Wescott. Feel free to go early for dinner and drinks in Bedlam’s new bar and restaurant.

8 p.m. (through Saturday), Bedlam Theatre, 1501 6th St. S., West Bank, Minneapolis; 612-338-9817; $12.

FILM
Cries & Whispers

Oak Street Cinema’s Bergman Tribute comes to a close this week, with one of his most visually seductive works, Cries and Whispers — “an eerie, intense, lurid, death-obsessed dream play á la Strindberg, with a large dollop of Chekhov.” Bergman’s masterpiece depicts the emotional and physical pain of the woman’s world. The film, set in an elegant turn-of-the-century manor house, revolves around four women, a young virginal woman who is dying of womb cancer (Bergman was never known for his subtle metaphors), two unhappily married sisters — one of which is suicidal and actually self-mutilates her sexual organ — and a maternal-type servant who loses her children. This is not a pretty world, my friends — and men might take offense at their utterly useless depiction; but the acting is impeccable and the camera work is spectacular. Bergman uses his lens to highlight the pain of each woman, to show the physical and emotional fragmentation. And he does so brilliantly. His color palette — another metaphorical representation of the pain and suffering — and his use of silence, seem to transcend the narrative and take on a life of their own.

7 p.m. & 9 p.m., Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; $8 (seniors $6, members/students $5).

DVD
The Threepenny Opera

Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht may never have had it so good. G. W. Pabst, who brought Louise Brooks to fame in his silent (and seductive) 1929 masterpiece Pandora’s Box, this time took to sound production and dirtied up the silver screen like never before. The Threepenny Opera tells the story of Mackie Messer (a.k.a. Mack the Knife) and the beautiful Polly Peachum. It’s is a feast for the eyes, ears, and the soul, wallowing in the underworld and bringing the original characters to life as if they had wandered on-screen straight from the gutter. It will be interesting to see how or if Criterion can clean up this film, however, since the original 1931 prints were destroyed by the Nazis. Notwithstanding potentially scratchy images, Threepenny is perhaps the greatest study of poverty and corruption ever filmed, and, like Pabst’s other films, a delicious romp as well. –by Peter Schilling, Jr.