Performance spotlights: 'Round and Round the Garden'

'Round and Round the Garden'

One of the nation's more durable community theater companies, Theatre in the Round concludes its 60th season with a production of "Round and Round the Garden," a comedy of affections and affectations by British wit Alan Ayckbourn. Set in a country house, the play revolves around a despotic invalid and her love-seeking, caretaker daughter. "Garden" is part of an Ayckbourn trilogy called "The Norman Conquests." Like a comic "Rashomon," all three plays -- "Table Manners" and "Living Together" are the other two -- look at the same events of one weekend from different spaces. "Table Manners" offers the view from the dining room. "Living Together" shows things from the sitting room. And "Garden" is like eavesdropping on some nutty people from the outdoors. John Gaspard directs a cast that features Muriel J. Bonertz, John Adler, Amy Shomshak, Kelli Gorr and Rick Lamers. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. next Sun. Ends July 29. Theatre in the Round, 245 Cedar Av. S., Mpls. $22. 612-333-3010.) - ROHAN PRESTON

'The Comedy of Errors'

You haven't experienced summer in Minnesota until you've experienced Shakespeare in the park. The Twin Cites' pre-eminent Shakespeare-in-the-park players are back for another run, and this time the Strange Capers offer up a sure-to-be-imaginative take on "The Comedy of Errors," one of the Bard's most slapstick, satirical works. Directed by Strange Capers artistic director Randy Reyes, who played Dromio in the Guthrie's 2002 production, the outdoor version trims the original five-act script into 90 minutes, a bonus for those of us who can't sit longer than the length of a summer blockbuster. But perhaps the best addition is the stage -- the grassy knolls of Powderhorn Park. (2 p.m. Sat.-Sun., plus July 14-15. Free. Powderhorn Park, 3400 15th Av. S., Mpls. www.thestrangecapers.com.) - JAHNA PELOQUIN