Art Hounds: Saboteur, Smooch, and Will Eno’s “Oh the Humanity”

(© 2011 Bonnie Fournier, The Smooch! Project)

The hounds put their stamp of approval on a piece of theater which requires audiences to solve puzzles in order to proceed to the next scene, a not-yet-completed documentary about the art and act of forgiveness, and a darkly comedic existential drama.

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Poet and comedian Brian Beatty was pleasantly surprised when the local theatre troupe The Peanut Butter Factory brought "Oh the Humanity And Other Good Intentions" to Intermedia Arts. It's a play by absurdist American playwright Will Eno, whose work is rarely staged in the Twin Cities. It runs through this Sunday, July 24th.

Want to be in a documentary about forgiveness by award-winning filmmaker Dawn Mikkelson? Fellow documentarian Justin Schell suggests you head over to the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, Saturday and Sunday (7/23-7/24) to tell your story. Mikkelson's doc is called "Smooch," inspired by artist Bonnie Fournier's "The Smooch Project," in which Fournier's trying to collect ten-thousand photographs of someone kissing someone else on the cheek.

If you love puzzles and plays about industrial espionage in post-industrial settings, Michael Merriam has the perfect recommendation. Walking Shadow Theatre Company's "Saboteur: A Theatrical Game with Puzzles," asks audience members to solve puzzles in order to watch the play unfold. It's being presented at Universal Hydro Solutions, 2010 East Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, through Aug. 3. Seating is very limited. For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677. Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

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