Open Wardrobes

On Monday night I went to see Corleone at Gremlin Theatre. I had missed this show at the MN Fringe a few years ago, due to its extreme popularity, and so I wanted to make sure to catch it this time around. The general premise of the script is "What if Shakespeare had written 'The Godfather'?" The script, written (and here directed) by David Mann, is certainly a fun romp through such a possibility. It has a very Shakespearean feel to the language, throwing in many a Shakespeare reference for good measure (i.e. "Michael, remember me!" says the ghost of his brother Sonnie). Mann also changes elements to better fit Shakespeare's era, using daggers rather than guns, and the result is a piece that you could well believe came from Shakespeare's time if it were not the reference to modern-day places such as Hollywood and New Jersey. For the most part I didn't feel left out not having actually seen The Godfather, although I thought the play could have been more streamlined. It was sometimes difficult to keep track of the many minor characters (not helped by most actors portraying several roles) and some episodes felt unconnected to the rest of the plot. But on the whole the adaptation was nicely done and good fun.


The show had a solid cast all around. One of highlights for me in the cast was Ryan Lindberg (who I've seen in multiple Walking Shadow productions), who nicely carried Michael's arc from being disconnected with the family business to taking over as the new Godfather. I also enjoyed Garry Geikan's charming performance as the villain Sollozzo and Peter Christian Hansen's energetic and fun-loving Sonny, the roguish son of the Godfather. I was also impressed by Tamatha Miller's set design which I thought both simple and elegant. All in all it was a fun show and a good time. The show runs through December 13th, so plenty of opportunities to catch it (and a good reason to stop by Gremlin's space if you haven't seen it yet). Four out of five stars.