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Current Reviews As You Like It "Lear de Bessonet's quick-paced creation not only wrestles plenty of laughs, but also gets to the deep heart of the play." City Pages More... "Ten Thousand Things' production of Shakespeare's sunny comedy finds a cleansing spirit of nature and love." Star Tribune More… "top-notch production, filled with love and laughter, the bittersweet tang of longing and the redemptive power of possibility." Pioneer Press More… "…a perfect 'As You Like It.' There isn’t a false effect anywhere." howwastheshow.com More… Past Reviews General "The more unlikely the venue…the better - and the more raucous, the more rewarding for Ten Thousand Things." Matt Shaer, Christian Science Monitor More... "Ten Thousand Things speaks to nontraditional audiences, and they speak back." American Theater More... "Ten Thousand Things theater knows a thing or two about captive audiences" minnpost.com More... Il Campiello "This might be the most fun you have in the theater all fall." Star Tribune More... "Ten Thousand Things hits again with 'Il Campiello'." City Pages More... Man of La Mancha "Man of La Mancha reaches into the mind, heart, and soul in a way that all the flashy sets, cast of thousands, and bold, auditorium-filling voices never manage." City Pages More... "...this 'La Mancha' feels like a new play, its essential ideas immediate and constantly consuming our attention with fresh and vigorous assaults." Star Tribune More... "...a fine and moving interpretation of 'Man of La Mancha' that loses no power in its compact telling." Pioneer Press More... Doubt, A Parable "Ten Thousand Things' sharp, taut production of John Patrick Shanley's parable on modernity and tradition is a must-see." Star Tribune More... "The conflict of flesh and blood versus ideas and convictions is brought to thought-provoking life in Ten Thousand Things Theater's production." Pioneer Press "A sizzling 'Doubt' by Ten Thousand Things...Wingert's fierce performance is a must-see." Twin Cities Daily Planet More... "...absolutely mesmerizing." City Pages More... Life's a Dream "Ten Thousand Things' members do so many things well that it's perilous to say 'this is what they do best.' I've made that claim for their Shakespeare. But 'Dream' shows a rich love for the allegorical fable." Star Tribune More... "...a clear, crisp, comprehensible telling of the tale...Ten Thousand Things' stripped-down style - no set, minimal costumes, audiences seated on all sides of the performers with no theatrical lighthing - drills right to the core." Pioneer Press More... "...Michelle Hensley's able direction keep it all clear and direct...The show could easily get bogged down in the philosophical underpinnings that drive the plot, but instead they all lead to the show's stunning finale." City Pages More... "This is an engaging production with uniformly strong performances by the kind of dream cast that the company always rounds up. TC Daily Planet More... Stones In His Pockets "With director Michelle Hensley, these two actors carve out giddily distinctive work, using constant metamorphosis to elicit laughs, despair, vacuity, and a refreshing, enlivening pointlessness when things are steaming along. " "Ten Thousand Things continues its recent hot streak with "Stones in His Pockets," Marie Jones' examination of lost and found hope in a depressed Irish village. In the hands of veteran performers Steve Epp and Jim Lichtscheidl, the bare stage comes alive with a bevy of quick-but-fully-realized characters." Othello "Directors Michelle Hensley and Sonja Parks have put together a gripping, muscular staging. Luverne Seifert's Iago swaggers with bluff confidence-a vulgar and oily user full of vengeful menace. As the Moor, Ansa Akyea imposes with his powerful physical carriage-regal and noble-and snappish emotions." Star Tribune More... "Last year when I was writing an article on the history of Twin Cities theater, I interviewed a number of established local directors, actors, and writers. One of the questions I asked was, "What local theater company are you especially excited about?" The answer I heard more often than any other was Ten Thousand Things. Now I understand why." Twin Cities Daily Planet More... Raskol Raskol gives new life and light to Dostoevsky. The company has streamlined the tale, filled it with color and light, sprinkled it with music and melody and given a classic tale a tempo that is familiar and yet new." Pioneer Press Ten Thousand Things' reimagining of that novel, Raskol, delivers music, humor, and wrenching depth...This production feels as alive, and relevant, as if it had been created from scratch..." City Pages More... "...a masterful staging...a fast-moving and surprisingly comic swirl. The performances are uniformly terrific. Particular kudos must go to Michelle Hensley's deft and intelligent staging." howwastheshow.com More... "True to form, Raskol is a taut, surprisingly funny script that cuts to the essence of Crime and Punishment." Jaime Kleiman, mnartists.org More... "When Twin Cities actors put on a play for female prisoners, the inmates coud relate - this was an in-the-big-house staging of Crime and Punishment." Star Tribune More... Endgame "The resonance was achingly inescapable...Wordplay crackles, the pace is always insistent...” Star Tribune More... "Ten Thousand Things puts on crucial, national-level theater, and this constricting mind-maze tempts mightily." City Pages More... "...Bellamy uses his voice like a symphony - now tremulous, now percussive, now muted, now warm. Christiana Clark give Clov an intriguing blend of resignation and resolve..." Pioneer Press Twelfth Night "Ten Thousand Things upsets the natural order with a fun, innovative approach to Twelfth Night...Yet another reason why Ten Thousand Things' work with Shakespeare always deserves a studied look." Star Tribune More... "Ten Thousand Things creates accessible, interesting, joyful Shakespeare in Twelfth Night...Director Michelle Hensley and her company embrace Shakespeare's language, coaxing out its knowing humor with splashes of color and simple, evocative images." Pioneer Press "This Ten Thousand Things production of Twelfth Night, burrows into all the ambiguity and emerges with a trove of funny, moving treasures." City Pages More... |
