After a three-and-a-half year hiatus, Minneapolis’ Frank Theater slowly returned to the stage last October with a dramatic production created in its tiny rehearsal space that seats just 40 people. It’s a play called FETAL by Trista Baldwin, set in the waiting room of an abortion clinic on the day Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“FETAL was a great experiment for us,” says Artistic Director Wendy Knox. “It was a great play for us because it was like a punch in the face. Look, this is fucking important, damn it.”
The performance went so well that Frank is trying to revive the show, but before that, another play by Martina Majok, “Ironbound”, will be performed at the Gremlin Theater. It opened last weekend. Both plays are consistent with the work Frank tends to produce: gritty, meaty scripts that intersect with social and political issues.
Knox has been in the business for 35 years and produced the first Frank Theater play, Franz X. Kroetz’s “Farmyard,” in 1989 at St. Paul’s Lil Pony Theater. That same year, Knox directed Maria Irene Fornes’s “Mad.” , at At the Foot of the Mountain, an important feminist theater that will close after two years.
Knox says that in Frank’s early days, people asked her if the new theater would replace ATFOM as a feminist theater company. Ms. Knox said that while she personally considers herself a feminist, she was hesitant to use the word as a defining element of the organization. “When we created our mission statement, we made a conscious decision not to include anything about feminism, because at that point we didn’t want feminism to be marginalized,” she says. .
Still, Frank often produces works by female playwrights that touch on feminist issues.
Knox discovered “Ironbound” while looking for new material for this season. Majok’s play “The Cost of Living,” which depicts the relationship between disabled and able-bodied people, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2018. Majok also wrote Sanctuary City, a play about two best friends who are immigrants and get married. Undocumented friends can become citizens through naturalized friends.
In “Ironbound,” Majok draws on her own mother’s experiences to tell the story of a Polish immigrant woman’s struggle to survive. She travels back and forth through time, portraying Darja’s tenacity, flaws, and her capacity for compassion.
Much of the action takes place in front of a bus stop, a symbol in the world of lower-class theater and the lack of access to America’s ultimate possession: the car. In Frank’s film, Joseph Stanley’s sets transform the bus stop into a dilapidated, trash-filled corner.
Darja, played by Brittany D. Parker, works a series of low-paying jobs, first in a factory that eventually closes down, then as a house cleaner. Her first husband, played by Benjamin Dutcher, abandoned her and her child for her music career, and her second husband (unseen in the film) abused her, and then she moved to Carl. Finds her serially unfaithful boyfriend played by Schoenborn.
In fact, the only man who seems to show any kindness to Darja is Vic, played by Jacques Bonko. Vic is similar in age to Darja’s son, but he attends a prep school instead of a public school. They meet on the street when Darja has no place to sleep and Vic engages in sex work. The scene between the two illustrates a major theme in the play: that moral values often do not align with the mythical “American Dream.”
Majok paints a harsh picture of America and capitalism, where hard work does not lead to prosperity or even the ability to make a living. In Parker’s portrayal, Darja faces her own destiny with both resignation and realism, and often engages in her relationships transactionally. That’s partly because she has to. She is doing what she has to do to survive and take care of her son. He is another invisible character who is understood to have a battle with mental illness and addiction.
Outside of Parker, Schoenborn has received the most stage time. He gives Tommy such a weakness that he almost forgives his stupidity.
On the other hand, Dutcher’s Mac is also naive even if he fails at Darja. An experienced performer in opera and musical theater, “Ironbound” is Dutcher’s first non-musical drama. During his audition, Knox said he was initially hesitant to cast him because he had no experience with this type of play. However, she changed her mind on a callback.
“In the callback, he had to do this thing that refers to singing a Polish blues song and playing the harmonica,” she says. “Ben came over and he looked up the song and sang it in Polish.”
he got the role.
Starring Brittany D. Parker, it also brings a different experience than a scripted play. Much of Parker’s career has been in the fields of theatrical improvisation, comedy, and film. Parker adds lightness to his characters, even combat, and allows him to tap into emotions that are often suppressed.
In total, three of the show’s four cast members have never worked with Frank before (Schoenborn has worked with the company before). Part of the reason, according to Knox, is that the Twin Cities cast has changed. “People were tired,” she says. “They turned around and got new jobs.”
Frank has also lost a longtime collaborator, adding an element of sadness to his work. Meanwhile, union rules have changed, audiences have changed, and the theatrical landscape as a whole continues to evolve, Knox said.
But she’s not ready to finish the job anytime soon. Now, at 67, she says, “I’m still active.”
“Ironbound” can be seen at the Gremlin Theater in St. Paul through Feb. 11 ($30). Meanwhile, “Fetus” returns to the Frank Theater rehearsal space in the Ivy Arts Building from February 22nd to March 10th. Click here for details.