"Hamlet" Performance Update

Celebrated Twin Cities’ actor, Nick James, broke his leg Saturday, December 19, rehearsing for the Minnesota Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, in which he played the title role. While practicing the Act V fencing scene, Mr. James executed a maneuver that fractured an ankle bone and both lower leg bones. He will be on crutches for several weeks. Like many upcoming actors, he is uninsured.

Mr. James appeared as the shooter in MSC’s summer & fall production of Jane Martin’s Good Boys. The young actor comes from Kentucky, and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Morris.The original run of MSC’s Hamlet slated to open January 8th at the Lowry Lab in downtown St. Paul, is cancelled. The fate of the production is under discussion.

There will be two variety show benefits for Nick James, featuring comical-tragical, historical-pastoral sketches, monologues, songs, storytelling and live music January 22 & 23, at 7:00 PM at the Lowry Lab, in St. Paul. By donation. For further information call 651-641-0906.

Praise for "Good Boys"

Wow what a great opening, the audience did not want to leave!

This resulted in the actors and director coming back on stage to answer questions from the audience about the play, and it's themes of grief and forgiveness. This back and forth discussion between the cast and audience is rare, and it reminds us of the power of live theater. Come see for yourself this rare compelling drama.

Quotes from opening week

"A beautiful heart wrenching play, now three days after I saw it, I tear up when thinking about certain scenes. I plan to come back and bring my teenage son to see it with me."

"It is a truly challenging piece of theater. The terrific cast took the material on with gusto and passion, and left us feeling the emotional impact of such a difficult set of circumstances."

Diane Swanson, Drama Council Member, Phipps Center for the Arts

"I guess when it comes to plays we are not looking for an escape, but want to come see something with meaning, and this play provided it."

Good Boys by Jane Martin

Bill Gorman and Eric Wood in Good Boys
(Other players are Nick James, Pedro Juan Fonseca, and Anthony Galloway)

Good Boys centers around the patriarchs of two families--one white, one African-American-- suffering eight years after a Columbine-like school massacre. Both lost sons, one of whom was the killer.

Good Boys was written by the mysterious Jane Martin, of whom little is known except her plays. It is speculated that she is Jon Jory, who directed every Jane Martin premiere, including the Good Boys Premiere at the Guthrie Theatre.

The play concerns forgiveness. In the face of terrible guilt under terrible circumstances, a father seeks another father. One is a minister who has lost his vocation in the aftermath of his son's murder. The other father tries living a life after his son killed 8 students, and himself. It is a raw, tragic story, with Hope at play's end, appearing as a nuanced possibility.

Venue: THE LOWRY LAB, 360 St. Peter St., St Paul, MN, 55199--In the Lowry Building.

Dates: Friday, August 21 Sat, Aug 22 Sun, Aug 23 Fri, Aug 28 Sat, Aug 29 Sun, Aug 30 Fri, Sept 4 Sat, Sept 5 Sun, Sept 6 and Labor Day.

Show times: Fri, Sat eves at 7:30 PM; Sundays & Labor Day at 6:30 PM
Ticket prices: $20.00, with two for the price of one Saturday, August 22, and a Pay-what-you-can performance Labor Day.

Ticket phone: 651-786-9102
Ticket email: minnesotashakes@gmail.com. Please include your telephone number, your preferred date and number of tickets.
Website: minnesotashakes.blogspot.com

Nick James plays Ethan Erskine, killer of eight of his peers.