THOSE NIGHTS YOU CARRY HOME

Theatre B calls themselves “theater for the brave and curious,” and it’s not a warning. It’s a promise. A promise that an evening there will last for a very long time.

Fargo-Moorhead has no lack of theater. NDSU, MSUM and Concordia all have strong programs. There are the high schools, Trollwood, Gooseberry and FMCT, too.

But Theatre B does something different. Something a bit edgier. Something that gets inside and lingers. These are the plays that ask difficult questions in compelling ways.

“Our primary repertoire is contemporary,” says co-founder Carrie Wintersteen. “We chose that niche because no one else was doing it. The colleges and the community theater have their own goals. But they rarely do something like a four-character, Pulitzer Prize winning drama; a lot of people wouldn’t get to be on stage. Theatre B, with the ensemble approach, can leap at that opportunity.”

Wintersteen tells a story of a woman who drives from two hours away in South Dakota and has been attending for years. When they finally met, Wintersteen asked why she made the trek, often in questionable weather.

“Well,” the woman said, “the first time I came, I came to a show called ‘Next Fall.’ My daughter and I came together. At first we were a little uncomfortable when we realized the show was about a gay couple. We thought about leaving at intermission, but by the end of the show we were rooting for all of the characters. We wanted them to have a happy ending. That show completely changed our understanding of what it must like to be gay. We talked about it all the way home.”

After moving spaces a few times, the artists of Theatre B hope to have found their permanent home in north Moorhead, in the old Lincoln Elementary school. What was once a gymnasium is now a theater space that can seat one hundred. And that’s fitting. A space that used to exercise the body is now a space that stretches the mind.

There are thirteen active members in the Theatre B ensemble. The troupe puts on four mainstage plays each year. One of the brilliant truths of an ensemble approach is seeing the same actors create vastly different roles over time. It builds a relationship between audience and cast, between audience and play, between audience and idea. You trust the players.

Think about two recent performances. “Church and State” let us into the mind and heart of a pro-gun politician struggling with a shooting at his children’s school. “Marjorie Prime” made us wonder what it would be like if, when we died, we could be replaced by our best selves, at any age, to comfort those we leave behind. Forget easy, glossed-over, right versus wrong, simple answers. Forget the soft-focus feel-good fantasy. If the work is at Theatre B, the work has details.

So why is Theatre B doing “Hamlet?” “Many in our ensemble have formal Shakespearian training,” Wintersteen says. “Periodically it’s delightful to do something like ‘Hamlet’ and keep those skills sharp.” theatreb.org | 701-729-8880 sometimes

The current season includes “Hamlet.” Then “The Last Schwartz,” a play about a family of adult children who gather a year after their father dies. Then “The Roommate,” about two 50-something women from very different backgrounds who become roommates. Then, finally, “The Father,” a play about dementia as seen through the eyes of the person who has it. A segment of each play was performed at the Theatre B season preview and conversation about them could be measured in both time and space. People were talking about the work in the parking lot, in their homes, on an airplane, in New York and Tucson. People are talking about them still.

Sketchers

Note: All events are subject to change. Confi rm dates and times before attending.