THEATER ENTERTAINS. But often it also makes us think, and think deeply.
That’s the case with Jake’s Women, a play by Neil Simon now unfolding on the stage of the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault.
I attended the play on opening night last Friday after volunteering to greet guests at the door. I admit I felt hesitant about watching this drama because I expected the content might unsettle me. It did. But sometimes we need a jumbling of emotions and thoughts in a controlled setting.
CONTROL
Control. Main character Jake, played by Jake Gustine, struggles with control issues, especially in his relationships. He’s a writer, which in itself requires discipline and control. Fiction writers shape characters, stories, dialogue, control the plot. As a writer who’s written short stories, I understand the craft and could, in many ways, relate to what I was hearing from Jake on the stage.
But this play stretches beyond control and Jake’s work as a writer to his relationships with women. He’s struggling in his marriage to Maggie, his second wife. His first wife, Julie, died. I’ve been married for 44 years. That’s enough decades to realize partners won’t always agree—and they shouldn’t. There will be joys, struggles and hard times. But I’ve found through all of it, the good times and the difficult ones, that my husband and I balance one another and that our love for one another has grown and deepened through the years.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is a hallmark in any relationship. That message resounds in Jake’s Women. As a professional communicator/writer, I wanted to walk onto the stage and yell at Jake, “Listen, just listen!” That’s how invested I was in the play. I consider myself to be a good listener, a necessary skill for my previous work as a newspaper reporter with a bachelor of science degree in Mass Communications. Listening seems underrated. But I’m convinced if we all listened more than we talked, we would all get along better.
CRISIS
There are certainly many conflicts between Jake and the other seven characters in this play. But conflict also exists within Jake as he experiences delusions while in the throes of a mental health crisis. He struggles to separate fact from fiction, a mark of psychosis. I appreciate whenever mental health gets a spotlight if for any reasons other than to raise awareness and educate.
Throughout the play, Jake “talks” to the women who have been an important part of his life. Here the play gets interesting. The audience needs to pay close attention to lighting to determine when Jake is living in reality and when he is delusional. The set never changes and Jake never leaves the stage, which is a feat in itself during a play that lasts more than two hours.
I quickly found that I could not allow my mind to wander during this theatrical production directed by Palmer Huff and performed by the Paradise Community Theatre. I had to listen closely to every word spoken by Jake Gustine and performers Brianna Bauernfeind, Linda Anderson, Charli Gomez, Casper Andersen, Kate Southwick, Clair Borgerding and Kris Snow.
Jake’s Women is an intense play. It’s also thought-provoking. And it’s a play I highly-recommend you see.
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FYI: Upcoming performances of Jake’s Women are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. Click here for ticket information.
TELL ME: Have you seen Jake’s Women? If yes, what are your thoughts on the play?
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
“Anonymous mother” & a call to action November 5, 2025
Tags: "I Am Minnesota", art, commentary, Faribault, immigrants, immigration, Kate Langlais, Martha Brown, Minnesota, Paradise Center for the Arts, portraits, stories
I ALMOST MISSED IT. “Anonymous Mother’s Story” positioned next to “The Young Mother” charcoal portrait in the “I Am Minnesota” exhibit by Faribault artist Kate Langlais. But there it was, tucked in the corner near the light switches in the Paradise Center for the Arts main gallery.
The exhibit features some 20 portraits and stories of first and second-generation immigrants from my community. None is more relevant than that of the young mother who now faces deportation and separation from her infant. Here are key words in her story: young mother. here legally. green card. application suddenly canceled. awaiting deportation. ankle bracelet. cruel and inhumane.
We’ve all heard countless media reports of people snatched from the streets and elsewhere by masked agents of the federal government, unlawfully detained without due process, separated from family, deported… That is, indeed, cruel, inhumane, heartbreaking and wrong. Even when immigrants are following all of the rules, all of the laws to legally live here, they find themselves targeted.
To read the story of this young mother from my area, to see the faceless portrait, and then to also view a photo taken by Martha Brown, candidate for Minnesota House District 19a, deeply touched me. Brown photographed only the young woman’s legs and the wheels of her baby’s stroller. That was absolutely the right and compassionate thing to do.
The intentionally-framed image is more effective and powerful than if Brown had photographed the woman’s face. Every single person who sees this image should understand the reasons for anonymity. In a statement with the photo, Brown urges southern Minnesotans to reach out to their U.S. congressman “to stop this cruel and inhumane treatment.”
Langlais’ inclusion of the anonymous mother’s portrait and story, along with Brown’s photo and words, is perhaps the most important part of the “I Am Minnesota” exhibit. And to think, I nearly missed it there in a corner of the gallery. Don’t miss this exhibit, which closes on November 15 at the Paradise Center for the Arts. It’s located in historic downtown Faribault, a place many immigrants call home.
FYI: The Northfield Public Library is hosting “Bridging Communities: A Celebration of Somali Culture” from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, November 8. The event features interactive dance workshops led by the Somali Museum of Minnesota Dance Troupe; a performance by the Faribault Middle School Choir; and a participatory sing-along of Somali songs. Other activities include henna art, face painting, bilingual Somali storytelling, a scavenger hunt with prizes and more. The library is collaborating with Somali community partners and St. Olaf and Carleton colleges to bring this event to Northfield.
NOTE: I photographed the “I Am Minnesota” exhibit with permission of the Paradise. I also received permission from Martha Brown to include her photo in this post.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling