The Juniper Tree
Open Eye Figure Theatre
Star Tribune- Somewhat Recommended
"..."The Juniper Tree" is an odd little tale and Sommers' telling is modest and straightforward for the most part. A couple long to have a child. They do, a boy, but the mother dies soon after and is buried - as was her request - beneath the juniper tree. The father remarries a harridan and this union produces a girl."
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Graydon Royce
Twin Cities Daily Planet- Somewhat Recommended
"...I enjoyed the production, but I did have a gnawing unease about the misogyny of the original story. The evil stepmother trope, so prevalent in the Grimm's fairy tales and indeed much of Western folklore, gets really tiresome for a feminist to sit through. Maybe that's why there's been such a movement lately to make these stories more palatable by turning them around, showing the stepmother/witch/evil sorceress from a different perspective. Think Into the Woods, which gives the perspective of the Witch, or even Frozen, which gets rid of the Snow Queen altogether in favor of a story that focuses on two sisters. There's also Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, who portrays the witch in Sleeping Beauty as a kind but misunderstood fairy."
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Sheila Regan,
Aisle Say Twin Cities- Somewhat Recommended
"...Unfortunately, this play also makes a few missteps that really prevented me from enjoying it as much as I had hoped. The play's villain, Madame Traum, is not only played by a man but she is portrayed in a way that I can best describe as a comical drag queen. Why the casting choice? It struck me as a poor choice - not because of any shortcomings on actor Robert Rosen's part, or because men can't play women and vice versa, but because this seemed like a way to get cheap laughs. Ha ha, look at the ugly woman with a low voice, I guess. But what exactly are we supposed to take away from this? That a man who wears women's clothing is a joke? That men are ugly and women are pretty? That women can't play over-the-top bad guys? As someone who has a lot of trans-identified friends, this made me uncomfortable."
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Liz Byron
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