schedule
Shelby Company
Winnemucca (three days in the belly)
Thu., Jul. 30 @ 8:30 p.m.
Fri., Jul. 31 @ 8:30 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 1 @ 4:00 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 3 @ 10:00 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 5 @ 7:00 p.m.
Warning! Adult language
Venue Minneapolis Theatre Garage
For ages 12+
Written by Dan Moyer
From New York, NY/Bay Area, CA
Web site www.shelbycompany.org
genres Comedy, Drama
features Regional premiere (Minneapolis-St. Paul), Original script/choreography, First-time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer
Overall rating
User reviews
Doubt, certainty, and purpose
by Sarah Wash Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
A man wakes up not knowing where he is or why. A man with a baseball bat walks into the room and starts making impossible demands. The tone shifts from playful to threatening in a single moment. And the audience is dragged along breathlessly from one moment to the next. If that isn't great theater, I don't know what is.
My one wish was to see more. Throughout 55 or so minutes, I found myself somewhat uncomfortable with the grafting of a closed world view, like that of the writers of the book of Jonah, atop a modern world, in which such uncomplicated certainty is not possible. And I don't mean certainty of purpose...I mean metaphysical certainty, a literal encounter with an all-powerful, anthropomorphic God. And what is this terrible sin that the Ninevites have committed? They are not paying attention to the Creator, and She is pissed. And only at the end, at about 55 minutes or so, the lovely spectre of doubt raises her head...ironically channeled through the same cipher as the one who channeled the voice of God. This introduction of a new element was so significant that I felt the play could go on at least another hour after that, but the house lights came up. But I would pay twice what I paid to see that extra hour next time. And I do hope to see more from this company in the future.
Brilliant ensemble!
by Michael Sauve Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Wow. There is entertaining theater, and then there is the kind of theater that grips your attention with a soul stroking trifecta of stunningly well executed theatricality: focused and committed acting, sensitive and visually stimulating direction, and unparalleled play writing. This ensemble is a class act, no buts about it. I want Dan Moyer's script in print so I can take it home and read it again and again. This show is a masterpiece for so many reasons that you should discover for yourself. This is everything you could wish to see in a play! But don't expect to leave the theater with any sense of catharsis, instead be prepared to ponder who's side you're on and why. I'm going to keep an eye on these guys to see what comes out next!
hot!
by Peter Neofotis Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Somewhere between the works of Richard Foreman and Jean Paul Satre lives and breaths this bold new play. And the acting is seemless.
Talented Cast, unique adaptation. . .
by Cody Stewart Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
8-1-09 @ 4:00 pm
Minneapolis Theater Garage
This adaptation of the whale story is passionate and well-acted. The performers and movement in the piece is superb. However I felt I would have experienced more from this piece if I could have read or recalled the Jonah and the Whale story beforehand. I rate this piece a 3 out of 5.
Amazing
by Joshua Humphrey Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
I went on recommendation from Matthew Everett's review. He gave it 5 stars, and expressed his jealously of having not written it himself. The script, the acting, the direction and cast are so perfect as to make me see their show again on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to see it again.
Winnemucca is about the purest form of theatre I've seen through the Fringe Festival and it came out of nowhere and grabbed me by the cajones and wouldn't let go. See this show before it's gone. There's only one left on Wednesday at 7.
Need to hear that again? Wednesday at 7.
Go. SEE THIS SHOW.
Excellent work all around.
by Derek Miller Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Everyone knows--or, at least, thinks they know--the biblical story of Jonah and the whale: Jonah is swallowed by a whale, survives three days inside it and eventually escapes. That's about as far as most people's understanding of it goes. (After all, hardly anybody actually reads the Bible.) What most people have missed in this simplistic telling is this: Jonah is a lowly schmuck chosen by God to be a prophet and deliver a city from evil. Even Jonah doesn't buy it. It makes no sense that a bumbling buffoon such as himself would be God's anointed, He tries to run away from God's command, joins a fishing crew plying the Red Sea and immediately his luck goes to hell. The boat is beset by a terrible storm, his crew mates turn on him, and he is tossed overboard as a sacrifice to appease the waves. It is here that Jonah is swallowed up by the whale and escapes three days later, pale and trembling, delivering prophecies that confound even himself. He emerges with a new understanding of God, but unsure what it means, with a new mission, but unsure how complete it, and with a new devotion, but one still tinged with fear and self-doubt. He's one of the more interesting prophets of the Old Testament, mostly because he himself is never entirely convinced of his own standing.
This is the story that the Shelby Company deftly updates and brings to the stage at the Theater Garage. In this retelling, Jonah is still a lowly schmuck, but the belly of the whale has become a locked, windowless casino motel room decked in blood-red tones; and the angels that visit Jonah take the form of a low-life casino hustler and an exotic dancer. It is an odd, disparate turn away from the original story, but it works so unbelievably well that you won't care at all that is no real whale flitting about the stage.
Grayson DeJesus plays our hapless Jonah, an unremarkable man with two kids and a wife. He is thrust into consciousness at the beginning of the show, extremely hung-over, beaten and bloodied, with no memory of where he is or how he got there. DeJesus channels an incredible amount of subtlety and complexity through Jonah's befuddled interaction with this new world, even as he tries to shirk off his new mission. Jenni Putney gives a fine turn as Suede Lucy, one of the casino's dancers. Initially presented as a simple, sweet character, Putney slowly peels back the layers of Lucy as the character goes from child-like innocence to a literal incarnation of the Angel of God to the the voice of doubt that will echo in Jonah's head through the rest of his days. Will Brill brings the most incredible role, though, as the mercurial and dangerous Big Chet. It is an astounding performance, as Brill's characterization walks a razor's edge between charm and malice. He radiates a sense of danger, but hardly needs to raise his voice, and he sports a winning smile that would be at home on either your favorite booze-swilling uncle or a great white shark. Despite the fact that Jonah is a clearly a larger, physically stronger person than Chet (who is skinny as a rail) it is never in doubt that Big Chet could and would do some serious harm at the slightest provocation; and yet, Brill's character is incredibly likable. The cognitive dissonance would be hard for another actor to pull off, but Brill does it with such ease that it hardly seems like acting.
Even when there's not much going on in this show, there's a lot going on in this show. Every time you think you know what's going on, you don't. Every time you think you have all the information, you're wrong. Jonah is the wrong guy at the wrong time... or is he a true prophet? Lucy is a bit of the divine on earth... or is she something more sinister? Big Chet is a shitkicking western devil in cowboy boots... or is a drunken angel disillusioned by the job? There are many unanswered questions, and this smart script tells the audience that they are going to have to accept that. There will be no answers at the back of the book, and you will have to spend the rest of your life deciding on your own what's true and what's not.
I strongly recommend this show, and I hope that more people turn out for it, mostly so that the Shelby Company will come back to Minneapolis in the future with another fine piece like this one.
winnemucca
by dolores Kent Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Creative and intriguing. After the show I talked with friends and family and everyone got something different from it. It kept me thinking for days afterwards. I am looking forward to more of these incredible Shelby Company's plays in the future. A must see.
Surprisingly Faithful to the Source
by phillip andrew bennett low Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Dense, brooding, and poetic reflection on humility, certainty, reason, and terror. Please don't miss this. Full review available at the Twin Cities Daily Planet.
Ninjas Of Rhetoric
by Zoe Schwartz Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
With its lovely, understated language and well developed characters, Winnemucca really succeeds in creating a grounded and engrossing world. There is some air of mystery that surrounds the world of the show which gives it this great energy that makes you not want to look away. I\'m sure there are many great things to come from this company of talented and boisterous folks.
Winnemucca
by Christa Beverlin Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
Winnemucca at The Theater Garage August 1st 4pm
I am stuck on weather i want to not know what this play is about as apposed to knowing it all and spelling it across my lips with a drift. I have to counter check that i was in a small Kwick-E market in 7 corners and my friend and i ran into the two actors who are stars of this show. fantastic chaps! slap and a bath. so i am a tad biased to this show. The show was based or parallelled with the bible story johna and the whale. i have to say that there was set and that was quite refreshing to be within. many of the pieces of the fringe dont have set and it was nice to have a set. the actors were overwhelmingly fantastic! three people and it was butter. the show however was a little hard to grasp even as you wander out of the theater thinking, " i think i know what that was about". for lack of sounding stupid you want to think that you do. i wish there were some snippet of the bible story so that those of us who are "rusty" on that subject can get a jog before the show. in any event it was a great show really go for the acting these out of towners were fantastic!
I rated the show 3
Surreal and Witty
by AJ Sass Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This show was one of intrigue. Although the end result might leave one wanting, it's the process of discovery that made the show what it was. I would love to see this performed with another $2000 backing it to see what it can really do, but what they did was terrific. Each actor had a terrific performance, but I must say that Will Brill stole the show with his smarmy, volatile portrayal of Big Chet. A must see.
Excellent strong acting.
by Jeff Miller Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
I'm not sure what it all means but I really enjoyed the acting and interpretation. The acting kept me engaged beginning to end. A very sexy and saucy Suede Lucy juxtapositions Jonah. Big Chet rocked.
Throw this one back!
by re gurgitate Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
Sorry, the acting was uniformly good, but the story, meh. Pulling elements of the Book of Jonah presumably tied to the playwright's case of writers block could possibly have made an engaging story. This ain't it.
Engrossing!
by Robert Elhai Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
This show is a clever (if somewhat literal) modern-day reimagining of the Jonah and the Whale story. Much more drama than comedy...but thoroughly enjoyable!
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