Torch and Gremlin team up for four-show season

Torch Theater and Gremlin Theatre – two middle-aged small troupes – are collaborating on a season of four shows in what could be the final year of the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. The corner at Lyndale and Franklin Avs. in Minneapolis has been targeted for redevelopment although the project plans are a bit unclear.

Stacia Rice and Peter Christian Hansen starred in "Sea Marks" at Gremlin Theatre in 2012.

Regardless, Torch and Gremlin will co-produce "Death and the Maiden," by Ariel Dorfman. A reaction to Chile's authoritarian past, the play is a taut melodrama about torture and revenge. David Mann will direct Stacia Rice, Peter Christian Hansen and Craig Johnson – all Torch/Gremlin regulars. The production runs Jan. 30-Feb. 21.

Torch then gives the regional premiere to "Boeing Boeing," the Marc Camoletti farce that Mark Rylance sent into orbit on Broadway several years back. Zach Curtis, Rice and Mo Perry will be directed by Johnson. Lots of slamming doors, confused identities – that sort of thing. It runs March 13-April 4.

Gremlin then takes charge with "H2O," a regional premiere of the play by Jane Martin. Ellen Fenster, who directed last spring's "Rocket to the Moon" for Gremlin, is back for this production. The play is about callow actor who will star in "Hamlet" and meets his match in the woman who will play Ophelia. No casting news about the production, which runs June 5-28.

The fourth production will be another collaboration between the two companies. The title and dates and have not been announced. Nothing on the web sites as of this moment. Rice and Hansen -- artistic directors of each troupe -- promise that information will be forthcoming. Check back.