Located in the heart of the West Bank Theater District in an area just off downtown Minneapolis, known as Seven Corners and Cedar-Riverside, nestled between the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome Stadium and the main campus of the University of Minnesota is Theatre in the Round.

Now in their 49th year, the Theatre in the Round Players continue their 2000-2001 season, which boasts five area premieres. The season started with Impossible Marriage, the area premiere of the prenuptial comedy by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley. Barry Hamill directed.

Playing Aug. 11 - Sept. 3, will be Shivaree by William Mastrosimone (Extremities and The Burning Season). Another area premiere, it is a story of a brainiac-hemophiliac hermit young man who becomes overwhelmed when led by a belly dancer out into the world. Directed by Wendy Resch.

The third area premiere at TRP will be Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh (The Beauty Queen of Leenane). The production, that runs Sept. 15-Oct. 8, is about foster child "Cripple Billy," a young misfit who pines for a normal life and may just get it when a Robert Flaherty's documentary film crew comes to town. Directed by Sears Eldredge.

Howard Richardson and William Berney's Dark of the Moon will follow, playing Oct. 20 - Nov. 12. A Smoky Mountain villager falls under the spell of a witch boy who is turned human for as long as she stays true to him. Directed by Joel Sass. Director Scott Rubsam takes on Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn (Taking Steps and How The Other Half Loves, both previously mounted by TRP) Nov. 24 - Dec. 17 at the TRP. Absurd is Rubsam's most popular comedy and is about three couples' three different Christmas party disasters.

Perhaps the most provocative of the season is 2 by Romulus Linney. The area premiere set in 1945 Germany at the onset of the Nuremberg Trials will occupy the theatre Jan. 5-28, 2001. Focusing on Hermann Goering, Hitler's No. '2', who helped build the Third Reich. Directed by G. J. Clayburn.

Peter Shaffer (Amadeus and Equus) penned Lettice and Lovage about a British tour guide who embellishes so much that she gets fired, but because of her romantic world view befriends the woman who fired her. Directed by Linda Paulsen, the comedy runs Feb. 9 - Mar. 4, 2001.

Shakespeare shipwreck saga is marooned at TRP from Mar. 16 - Apr. 15, 2001. The Tempest, about the usurped Duke of Milan, Prospero and his daughter Miranda is presented under the direction of Craig Johnson.

The final area premiere of the season comes with Off the Map Apr. 27 - May 20, 2001. The play by Joan Ackermann centers on a New Mexican native who as a young girl lived off the land and hoped for a miracle. Her answer comes in the form of a displaced IRS agent. Directed by Lynn Musgrave.

Closing the millennial season will be the George Bernard Shaw classic Candida. The comedy about a Victorian love triangle between a reverend, his wife; and a poet, runs from June 1 -24, 2001.

Theatre in the Round Players was founded in 1952, with three other theatres in the Twin Cities: The Old Log in Excelsior and, the Edythe Bush and the Group Theatre in St. Paul. Today, the Minnesota area has over 150 theatre groups, and some major theaters including the Guthrie, the Childrens Theatre, and TRP. Next year will be their 50th season.

The play-by-play lineup for the TRP is as follows:

Impossible Marriage by Henley July 7 - 30
Shivaree by Mastrosimone Aug. 11 -Sept. 3
Cripple of Inishmaan by McDonagh Sept. 15-Oct. 8
Dark of the Moon by Richardson & Berney Oct. 20 - Nov. 12
Absurd Person Singular by Ayckbourn Nov. 24 - Dec. 17
2 by Linney January 5 - 28, 2001
Lettice and Lovage by Shaffer Feb. 9 - Mar. 4, 2001
The Tempest by Shakespeare Mar. 16 - Apr. 15, 2001
Off the Map by J. Ackermann Apr. 27 - May 20, 2001
Candida by Shaw June 1 -24, 2001

For more information about TRP, visit their website at www.theatreintheround.org. For tickets to shows at TRP, 235 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis at (612) 333-3010. -- by Ernio Hernandez