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Some people have living rooms bigger than the performing space being used by Dark & Stormy Productions for its current production of 

 That's actually a good way to think of it: as some high-powered acting talent sharing the room with you — maybe sitting in the chair next to yours. You don't just get to watch Sally Wingert interpret a role, as you might have seen her do dozens of times; you get to hear her deliver her lines in a normal, human-sized environment. Instead of projecting her voice to hit the back wall of the Guthrie, she can speak at little more than conversational volume. It's as if these actors were working on camera instead of on stage.


All the more jarring, then, when they scream at each other. 


It's a jarring play. The only character who seems completely in control is Kurt Vonnegut — make that the 

 Kurt Vonnegut, serving as imaginary therapist in the minds of two other characters who appear to be going mad. Vonnegut is played by the rock-steady James Craven. The two characters on their way down and out are a married couple, played by Wingert and Robert Dorfman, whose lives have been disrupted by the mental illness and slow destruction of their daughter, played by Sara Marsh. 

Marsh does something with her eyes that conveys a lack of focus, a detachment from the events going on around her. Even in the close quarters of the performance space, she seems authentically disturbed — maybe even a little dangerous, if only to herself.

Much more dangerous is Dorfman's Ned, father to Marsh's Karen, who is driven to such lengths of despair and grief that he contemplates mass murder. When he smiles malevolently at the audience — from a distance of only a couple of feet — and asks, "Am I happy to see all of you, or is that a gun in my pocket?" his menace seems real. Especially since we know there's a gun in his pocket.

Wingert appears unhinged from the start, being the first member of the family to engage Vonnegut's services as a therapist. Her character Gwen remains confident in her perceptions, even as they prove wrong. She adapts to life in a homeless shelter with the same self-assuredness she brought to her marriage and her role as Karen's mother. Her daughter may be a paranoid bipolar schizophrenic, but that's no excuse for tying up the bathroom. 

Clearly, everybody in this family needs to see a therapist, but why Vonnegut? There's no clear answer. "And So It Goes" takes its title from "Slaughterhouse-Five," and some of the dialogue refers to that and Vonnegut's other works. But even with Vonnegut's help, this script seems less focused than the actors who perform it. Through June 25 at Grain Belt Studios in northeast Minneapolis.

If you've only seen the superb nine-man ensemble Cantus perform classical works, you should give the annual 

 a try. The group's personality slips its leash and delivers a completely different experience. This year's concert is built around the 1966 Beach Boys album, "Pet Sounds," and delivers both radical reinterpretations ("Sloop John B") and straight homage ("Wouldn't It Be Nice"). Other highlights include a brilliant adaptation of "Thrift Shop." Longtime patrons should take note that this is the last appearance of three singers: Paul John Rudoi, Matthew Tintes and Joe Shadday. Rudoi and Tintes have been with Cantus the better part of a decade, and their departure feels like a blow. It's another chance for the group to prove — as it has done before — that it's more than the sum of its individual members. The "Covers" concert series continues through June 11 at the Cowles Center in downtown Minneapolis.

 a remarkable play about a megachurch's destruction over doctrinal differences. Staged by Walking Shadow Theatre at Mixed Blood, the play begins as a worship service at which a pastor offers both good news and a challenge: The good news is that the church has paid off its mortgage. The challenge is that he no longer believes in hell, or that Jesus is the only path to salvation. That revelation sets off a slow-motion bomb in his congregation, with devastating effect. An intelligent script and top-notch acting make "The Christians" an event that you really must see — but don't worry, you won't go to hell or anything if you miss it. Ends Saturday at Mixed Blood in Minneapolis.

If it's taken you a while to get used to Trevor Noah as Jon Stewart's replacement on "The Daily Show," here's an idea: Get to know him as a 

. The South African's on-stage personality has all the braininess of his behind-the-desk character, but his timing seems more natural and his delivery more fluid. You can get to know him better by attending his stand-up show, 

 Friday night at Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis. 

 Noah's rapid-fire facility with accents.

 event is dedicated this year to climate change. Appropriately, you won't have to drive all over town to participate. Although some early events will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center, most of the action will center on Mill City Museum and the Guthrie Theater. There's too much going on to mention here, but the evening (and morning) promise to be unlike any other. At least until next year. Saturday night into Sunday morning, Minneapolis.

Arts and Culture

Eric Ringham

Author

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A few arts recommendations for the weekend

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