You've seen "Birdman," or heard about it, right?
"H2O," a play by Louisville's Jane Martin, was developed about the same time as that Oscar-winning 2014 film, and has sort of the same setup. A Hollywood actor gets rich enough playing a superhero that he intentionally goes to Broadway to play "Hamlet."
"Yeah, I've heard that, but I haven't seen the movie," said Peter Hansen, whose Gremlin Theatre is producing "H2O" at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage, with a Friday opening.
Hansen is also playing the lead role, directed by longtime Gremlin friend Ellen Fenster. Hansen worked for her to good success in "Rocket to the Moon," one of 2014's best local productions.
In "H2O," Hansen will play a rich actor who feels empty. His life is in chaos, and he seeks to be taken seriously in "Hamlet." He auditions (and casts) a devout Christian for the role of Ophelia. Her moral and philosophical certitude and sense of calm appeal to him.
The play had its premiere last year at the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF). That production's director, Jon Jory, has said the play is something of a "great books" course, with lessons in Shakespeare and the Bible.
Ashley Rose Montondo, just seen in "The Crucible" at the Guthrie, plays the woman, a role that Jory said should not satirize faith.
"She provides structure for him," Jory said in a video for CATF.
