TWIN CITIES STAGES

June 2, 2016

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Lemonade for the Lawnboy

Lemonade for the Lawnboy, currently playing at the Hastings Art Center, is a show that feels like it is exploding art (and I mean that in a good way). But what is really unique about this show is that you don't need to wait for the show to begin to start your experience. The Hastings Art Center is full of art that inspires the show, which is a musical about the relationship between David and Janet, and the art that David creates. The fact that David and Janet are real people and that we are surrounded by the art makes the experience feel more full, from the moment you walk in the door and through to the end of the performance. 

 

The show itself was very fun. It is based on the book written by the real life David and Janet and adapted for the stage by Greta Grosch. The play centers around David and takes place in his two worlds. The real world and his relationship with Janet, and his world with "the ladies", the art he creates, or as they are aptly called in the program his Muses. The world with the muses is fun and fantastical, and the interactions with Janet are endearingly sincere and often times very funny. As the tensions rise, as the often do in good theater, the line between the worlds start to blur and that is when things get fun. 

 

Lemonade for the Lawnboy is both a fun romp and an honest look into mental illness and recovery. The incorporation of the subject matter both inside the show and out makes it a different kind of theatrical experience. Lemonade for the Lawnboy runs through this weekend until June 5, and I recommend making the trip down to Hastings to see it.