Steve On Broadway (SOB)

SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #20 - Small Tragedy

SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #20 - Small Tragedy (2003, Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis, MN)

Introduction: Hard as it is to comprehend that we're already 119 months into this "new" millennium, we are fast approaching the end of its first decade. While we have yet to agree on what exactly we should call the '00s, I'll take a cue from the fine folks at The Times of London and the BBC and henceforth refer to them at the Noughties.

With that small introduction, I'm pleased to present my list of plays and musicals that wowed me the most during that time. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of shows I've seen over the last ten years, I give you my countdown of my 25 personal favorite shows of the Noughties.

With works like Reckless, Prelude to a Kiss and The Light in the Piazza under his belt, Craig Lucas’ twisted, trademark storytelling has made a fan out of me.

So when I learned that the world premiere of his Small Tragedy would take place at the tiny Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, I made sure I was in the audience. With Lucas, things are never what they seem, and with a dash of Sophocles thrown in for good measure, Small Tragedy points to the real-live monsters living among us, nearly undetected. Despite an unknown cast for this initial engagement, Kip Fagan's intimate staging was so effectively haunting that it was the best small play I saw throughout 2003 (or for that matter, the entire decade). It later went on to enthrall Off-Broadway audiences and critics alike.

Six years later, I can still vividly recall the visceral impact this work had on me. That Lucas' morality play has not been produced more widely since remains more than just a Small Tragedy.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. I paid my own way for this performance.

Labels: Craig Lucas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Play, Small Tragedy, SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, December 08, 2009