Hey, Twin Cities | Buccaneers at the Children's Theatre Company

The awesome Children's Theatre Company always picks great plays to produce, but they've outdone themselves with this one. From now through October 21, they're doing Buccaneers by Liz Duffy Adams and Ellen Maddow. There's a fun YouTube video below with the cast and crew explaining the story, but it's basically about a girl who runs away from home to be a pirate:

When Enid Arabella learns of her downtrodden parents’ plan to send her away, she takes to the high seas, only to be captured by the tyrannical pirate Johnny Johné. Enid must summon her wit and gumption to save herself and the rest of the children of Johné’s crew. Under the most threatening of circumstances, the dragooned team of reluctant young sailors learns to form a democracy and ultimately to forgive the adults that have repressed them. This raucous world premiere pirate musical, with a score drawn from sea shanties and music from around the world, is a thrilling tale of empowerment, leadership, and justice.

Twin Cities Adventure | Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!: The Play

If you live in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area, you might like to know that the Mounds Theatre Community Players have been doing a series of plays based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Guards! Guards! is the eighth novel in the series, but the third play after Mort and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. Unfortunately, I haven't read a lot of Pratchett (Good Omens with Neil Gaiman may be the only one), but the Mounds Theatre usually does a great job and I'm looking forward to seeing how they pull this off.

From the website:

Here there be dragons . . . and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge fire breather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of Draco Nobilis ('noble dragon' for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city.

Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all . . .) Meanwhile, back at Unseen University, an ancient and long-forgotten volume -- The Summoning of Dragons -- is missing from the Library's shelves.

To the rescue comes Captain Vimes, Constable Carrot, and the rest of the Night Watch who, along with other brave citizens, risk everything, including a good roasting, to dethrone the flying monarch and restore order to Ankh-Morpork (before it's burned to a crisp). A rare tale, well done as only Terry Pratchett can.

Showtimes are 7:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays (September 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, and 22) and 2:00 pm on Sundays (September 9, 16, 23). Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and $6 for kids under 12. Shoot me an email if you want to go and I'll let you know when we're planning to attend. It could be like a date!