MUSEUM by Eeva-Liisa Waaraniemi Frozen in a Final Moment
The Star Tribune and all other big boys in town have already blown the horn on this one, but maybe you, oddball that you are, only frequent obscure media channels and thus haven’t heard about it. Well, this is a show you shouldn’t miss. Put on your family-friendly face and join the rest of us at the Science Museum’s latest exhibit, A Day in Pompeii, opening today. Unless you travel to Italy to see the ruins yourself, this is a rare opportunity to see wall-sized frescoes, marble and bronze sculptures, jewelry and gold coins from a city frozen in its final moment. Many of us have seen unforgettable pictures of the people caught in their final, unscripted poses, suffocated by the volcanic ash that consumed the city. Eight of these figures are on view in the exhibit as plaster molds of the cavities left by the victims’ bodies. A free audio tour is available with admission. And while you’re there, stop by the Omnitheater to explore the birthplace of Western civilization in Greece: Secrets of the Past.
8 a.m. – 10 p.m., Science Museum of Minnesota, 120 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; 651-221-9444; $20 (children/seniors $15, members $7), $24 with Omnitheater (children/seniors $18, members $7).
The 6th Annual Bedlam Community Ten-Minute Play Festival begins this evening. The five-day event consists of 20 plays — each only ten minutes long — featuring a Sasquatch, a time machine, singing robots, three bears, an astronaut love affair, and plenty of sweet sugar cookies. Start with the first set of plays — that’s half — this very evening. Coming?, by Emily McPeck, directed by Michael Kelley; Dues, by Dwight Hobbes, directed by Michael Kelley; Robot Musical, by John Francis Bueche, directed by Cherie Anderson, music by Marya Hart; The Sunny Day, by Donna Sellinger, directed by Avedis Monoogan; Times of Changes, by Savannah Reich, directed by Samantha Johns; The Book of Ben, written and directed by Ben Kreilkamp; Albert Went Down to the Intersection, by Josef Evans, directed by Jon Cole; No Sugar Cookies for Herbert, by Tommy Jamerson, directed by Georgia Leigh Hallman; First Day on the Job, by Nathaniel Hicklin, directed by Emily McPeck; and Kind Eyes See So Far, written and directed by Jeremey Catterton.
8 p.m., Bedlam Theater, 1501 S. 6th St., Minneapolis; 612-341-1038; pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth today and tomorrow, after that it’s $10.
All the World’s a Stage
The Great River Shakespeare Festival’s 2007 Summer Season opens this weekend with Macbeth, directed by Doug Scholz-Carlson, and As You Like It, directed by Paul Barnes. It doesn’t get much better than this — comedy and tragedy, love and ambition. Take in a lesson on the morality of power tonight, and enjoy a comic mediation on love tomorrow. All is as it should be. Yes, Winona might be a little way off, but it’ll be worth the drive; and if you make it to the preview performances tonight and tomorrow night, you’ll end up saving almost half the price — and you can be among the first to rant about it.
With the Pride festivities having come to a head this past weekend, the notion of societal acceptance has been at the forefront of much media over the past couple weeks. But the exotic and flamboyant nature of the Pride Parade is certainly not a call to assimilation. Quite the opposite, in fact; it’s about creating new parameters, redefining social constructs, challenging norms. (Isn’t that why so many people still feel threatened by it?) Following suit, the Walker film series Queer Takes: Standing Out begins this evening with two films that help expand our notions of love and family. The first, Spider Lilies, directed by Zero Chou, follows a tenuous relationship between two women as they reconnect with a troubling past. The second, I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone, directed by Tsai Ming-liang, follows Chinese immigrant Hsiao-kang (Lee Kang-sheng) as he is lovingly cared for by a local man after he is beaten unconscious in Kuala Lampur.
7 p.m. (Spider Lilies) and 9 p.m. (I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone), Walker Art Cente, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7656; $8 (members $6).
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