Chuck's Choices for the weekend of August 23, 2013

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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New this week:

Photo: Steve Peirick

Stray Dog Theatre's New Works Lab presents Complicated Lives, an evening of short plays written and directed by Stephen Peirick, Thursday through Saturday at 8, August 22-24. Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

My take: as I noted in a blog post this week, Steve Peirick has already accumulated praise for his acting and writing. This is his chance to pull off the hat trick and establish himself as a director as well. He has a strong cast assembled for this show and a production company noted for the quality of its work.

Photo: John Lamb

Insight Theatre Company presents Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies through August 25. Performances take place in the Heagney Theatre, 530 East Lockwood on the campus of Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves. For more information, call 314-556-1293 or visit insighttheatrecompany.com.

My take: Insight is one of the newer professional companies in town and has done some intriguing and off the beaten path work. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Andrea Braun says Time Stands Still "is the most interesting production I've seen at Insight Theatre so far, and I highly recommend it...[playwright] Donald Margulies takes a deceptively simple premise, examines it from four different perspectives (one per character), and how you feel about the play may well depend on which character you find espouses your particular belief. Margulies has created here, as in Dinner With Friends, two couples, but that's about where the similarities end. For me, this is a much richer, more mature work, more introspective and reminiscent of Margulies' Brooklyn Boy." Their theater at Nerinx Hall is comfortable and well appointed, with snacks and drinks available in the lobby. Held Over

Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2013

Union Avenue Opera presents Wagner's Die Walküre, the second of the four "Ring" operas, in a condensed and reduced version by English composer Jonathan Dove and director Graham Vick, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, August 16-24. Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sung in German with projected English text. For more information, visit unionavenueopera.org or call 314-361-2881.

My take: This is, as I reported in a blog post last week, a massively ambitious undertaking for a small opera company that has not shied away from pushing the envelope in terms of what can be accomplished with their financial and physical constraints. The results, as I said in my review for 88.1 KDHX, are not perfect, but they're very good and quite impressive. There has not, to the best of my recollection, been a performance of Wagner’s “Ring” in St. Louis in my lifetime and may not be another one for many years, if ever. That makes this a definite "must see." Note, by the way, that while parking is free, the lot fills up quickly, so it's a good idea to get there early. You can always have a snack and drink (non-alcoholic, alas) in the lobby before the show.