Ever since it opened in 1963 with a modern-dress take on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater has been updating the classics in an effort to make the creations of centuries past feel prescient for contemporary audiences.

In the case of the company’s season-opening production of Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 drama “A Doll’s House,” appearances can deceive, for Luciana Stecconi’s set and Trevor Bowen’s costumes look quite faithful to the year of its writing. But playwright Amy Herzog has authored an adaptation that sounds right at home in 2025. The language is considerably less flowery and formal than in Ibsen’s original, and each character is much more approachable, successfully bridging the cultural distance between then and now.

And thanks to six disarmingly powerful portrayals and Tracy Brigden’s detail-oriented direction, this production makes impeccably clear why this classic play is still so urgently important. It feels like the kind of interpretation that Sir Tyrone Guthrie had in mind when he first hung out his shingle here in the center of North America.

By the end of this two-hour show, it’s become clear why this play was considered such a landmark when it premiered, why newspapers were printing editorials and letters discussing its denouement, and why some producers and performers balked at presenting it. But the Guthrie’s latest version feels not the least bit dated, making a strong case that the issues it raises have never been satisfactorily resolved.

“A Doll’s House” takes us into the household of Nora and Torvald Helmer, a seemingly happy upper-middle-class couple on the economic ascent after some tough years. He’s about to be named head of a bank and has recovered from a life-threatening health scare that was waylaid by treatment in Italy. But how that journey was financed becomes a sticking point, for a loan was involved, one initiated by Nora. And women weren’t allowed to do that in 1879 Norway. Was fraud involved? And, if so, will that make her subject to blackmail?

Herzog’s script dispenses with anything extraneous to driving the story forward, and that makes the conflict gripping, as do the invariably outstanding performances.

Foremost among them is Amelia Pedlow’s Nora. For much of the play’s early going, it seems as if Pedlow has taken the bubbly matchmaker protagonist from Jane Austen’s “Emma” that she portrayed on the same stage in 2022 and transported her to 19th-century Norway. Her Nora seems flighty and light-hearted – as her husband seems to see her – until a crisis begins to take shape within their house. She grows increasingly complex as she subtly evolves, Pedlow shaping her into a woman who commands your attention and respect.

She’s complemented splendidly by David Andrew Macdonald’s elegant but self-absorbed Torvald. His performance is a triumph of naturalism, as is that of Andrew May, who brings layered emotional textures to the couple’s best friend.

Both Catherine Eaton and Ricardo Chavira do fine things with their parts, as well, although there’s the sense that Herzog’s trimming (some productions of “A Doll’s House” run three hours, but this comes in at two) left them little time to flesh out their characters’ transformations.

Nevertheless, this is a very rewarding production that presents an eloquent argument for why Ibsen is considered one of history’s great dramatists.

‘A Doll’s House’

When: Through Oct. 12

Where: Guthrie Theater, 818 Second St. S., Minneapolis

Tickets: $94-$18, available at 612-377-2224 or guthrietheater.org

Capsule: Invariably excellent performances make this classic compelling.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

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The third week of September might be recalled as when Minnesota United’s promising season slipped through its fingers.

After a heartbreaking home loss to Austin FC in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Wednesday, the Loons had a chance against the Chicago Fire on Saturday to move into a first-place tie with San Diego FC atop the Western Conference.

Instead, a depleted MNUFC starting lineup gave up two goals on nearly identical free kicks in the first half and lost 3-0 at Allianz Field.

The Loons didn’t start hungover, but a lull sunk in after falling behind late in the first half and into the second half.

Minnesota appeared to have a lifeline into the game with a goal from Momo Dieng in the 68th minute, but the new striker was ruled offside. Less than two minutes later, Chicago’s Philip Zinkernagel blasted a shot into the back of the net.

In frustration to falling down three goals, Loons defender Julian Gressel punted the ball high into the sky, and it can be compared to the Loons’ season seemingly being kicked away this week.

MNUFC (15-7-9, 54 points) was unbeaten in four straight MLS matches, including a statement win over San Diego last weekend. But instead of contending for the Supporters Shield, Minnesota will need to start looking behind them in the standings.

What a difference a week makes.

Meanwhile, Chicago (13-11-6, 45 points) boosted its position for the final playoff spot in the East.

On the first goal, Loons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair saved the initial header, but Chicago center back Joel Waterman was alone at the back post to smack it in during the 26th minute.

On the second goal, Chicago defensive midfielder Dje D’Avilla dunked on Morris Duggan to make it 2-0 in the 41st minute.

The Loons rested the four players who put in 120-minute shifts in the 2-1 loss to Austin midweek and had to make due with starting striker Kelvin Yeboah (hamstring) and defender Carlos Harvey (knee) being ruled out for the rest of the regular season on Friday.

Minnesota’s starting attackers — Dominik Fitz, Momo Dieng, Darius Randell — made their first MLS starts. Also, Nector Triantis made his first league start at center back, not his regular defensive midfield spot. It was the first time he played on the back line since August 2024 for Sunderland.

Needing a spark, head coach Eric Ramsay brought in the four out-field players who played every minute Wednesday. Robin Lod, Joaquin Pereyra, Bongi Hlongwane and Michael Boxall subbed in during the 55th minute.

WILLMAR, Minn. — Farmers in southern Minnesota will now have access to more coverage and precise data and weather updates to help them make decisions about irrigating crops or when to add fertilizer and apply pesticides.

Over the past year, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture installed 14 new weather stations on the Minnesota Ag Weather Network, including a dozen across southern Minnesota that previously fell outside the network’s reach, according to a news release from the Ag Department.

The locations of the new stations include Willmar (Kandiyohi County), Murdock (Swift County), Madison (Lac qui Parle County) and Fairfax (Renville County) in west central Minnesota.

The other new station locations are Cologne (Carver County), Eyota (Olmsted County), Geneva (Freeborn County), Godahl (Brown County), Hastings (Dakota County), Kenyon (Goodhue County), Pine Island (Dodge County) and Windom (Jackson County).

These new stations are already collecting data that is publicly available through the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network, which works in conjunction with Minnesota’s.

Each weather station is solar-powered and transmits data collected over a cellular network about every five minutes, according to the MAWN page on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture website. The stations can monitor weather conditions up to 33 feet in the air and monitor soil conditions as far as 7.5 feet below the surface. Data shared includes precipitation, relative humidity, soil moisture and temperature.

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In addition, the stations help MAWN and NDAWN offer modeling resources for growers such as daily estimated crop water use, runoff risk predictions and disease risk forecasts.

The weather data each station provides to each agricultural area is considered accurate within a 20-mile radius.

The installation of the new weather stations was made possible with $3 million from Minnesota’s Clean Water Fund, allocated for the purpose of expanding the network’s reach. The funds were received by the Department of Agriculture in 2023, according to the news release, and will support the installation of approximately 40 new stations over three years, developed in collaboration with local partners.

MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — Susan Otterholt Kempe paddled into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for the first time having never spent a night camping in the woods.

“I was a farm kid. In the summertime, my folks worked. They didn’t go on vacation,” she explained.

Her good friend, Launa Tucker, had some camping experience as a Girl Scout, limited at best.

The year was 1986, and the two were among a group of 17 women from their church, St. David’s Episcopal in Minnetonka. One member of the group had wilderness experience.

Their equipment was largely borrowed, and included old-style, canvas tents and heavy, aluminum canoes. They packed their own food to cook from scratch, carrying potatoes by the pound.

“There was nothing easy about anything when we started,” said Kempe, of Montevideo.

”We didn’t know any better,” Tucker quickly added, laughing.

“Baptism by fire” is how Kempe described the first Boundary Waters adventure starting at Lake One near Ely, Minn. From a camp on the lake, the two friends made a day-long paddle and portage trip to visit several area lakes.

They arrived back at camp to learn their campmates had been worrying about whether they would ever see them again. “They thought we had been eaten by bears or something,” Kempe laughed.

Today, what became the Women of the Wilderness are now planning next year’s adventure. It will be the 40th anniversary trip for this group of church ladies who discovered the allure of the wilderness and can’t let go. Members have come and gone, and as the original group aged, it merged with a younger group of women from the church with similar outdoor interests.

Friends Sue Kempe, left, and Launa Tucker continue to enjoy annual Northwoods adventures. They are original members of a group from their church that began making annual trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1986. Next year will mark the 40th anniversary for the Women of the Wilderness. (Courtesy of Susan Kempe)

The two good friends are the remaining members of the original group. They are 78 years of age. The physical realities of aging have tempered their wilderness prowess.

In recent years, the WOW group has been basing itself on the edge of the Boundary Waters at a resort, from which they make paddling and hiking excursions.

Kempe grew up on a Chippewa County farm north of Montevideo near the Swift County border. She and her husband, Bob, were living in Hopkins and members of St. David’s Episcopal Church when her adventures began. Tucker is a cousin to Bob and a Twin Cities resident. She and Kempe became close friends after first meeting.

Through the years, more than 50 different women participated in Boundary Waters and Northwoods adventures as part of WOW. Some took part for many years; others for just a few.

One of the group’s long-standing traditions is to hold its own religious service while camping, complete with scripture reading and singing. At the service, they recite the names of all who have participated through the years, and remember those who have died.

Their 1986 trip, starting at Lake One, was followed in subsequent years by other adventures in the western Boundary Waters Canoe Area, with Ely as their starting point. Over time, they began to explore the lakes accessible from the Gunflint Trail, on the eastern end of this 1.1 million-acre wilderness in northeastern Minnesota.

They’ve seen moose and all variety of Northwoods wildlife, with one exception. They have never encountered a bear.

They have encountered headwinds, pelting rain and cold. On one paddle to leave the Boundary Waters, the winds were so strong, Tucker said they weren’t even sure they could do it. They didn’t seem to be making any headway, and were fast tiring but persevered, she said.

On another paddle, lightning forced the paddlers to take refuge in the woods. Strong winds chilled the drenched paddlers to the bone. They huddled together to keep those who were coldest from hypothermia.

But the memories that keep them coming back are very different. Tucker will never forget the time she and another camper took a midnight paddle on a quiet lake and watched the moonbeams shimmer on the water.

Even talk of portages can elicit good memories. Kempe and Tucker both remember the feeling of accomplishment they enjoyed for doing something they didn’t believe themselves capable of doing.

For Tucker, the fresh smells of pine and woodland vegetation are among her favorite memories of what she enjoys most in the wilderness.

For Kempe, it’s the gentle sound of the winds soughing in the trees, the tremolo of loons calling, and even the abrupt clunk of a canoe paddle shaft striking the side of the canoe.

The memories of the places and sights they’ve seen in the wilderness are many. The white sand beach on the gin-clear waters of Frost Lake immediately popped to mind for Kempe when asked about her favorite places. But then, she couldn’t help but recall the stunning view of lakes and forested hills she enjoyed from a portage on the border with Canada.

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Most important to both, really, was the time they spent around campfires in conversation with friends, and the one-on-one conversations with close friends that were made possible by the trips.

“This is a time we can be together,” said Kempe of the time she and Tucker enjoyed.

“What’s the magic of the woods? Communing with nature, and each other, and challenging yourself,” Kempe said in response to her own question.

“If you don’t understand it, you don’t understand it. There’s no explaining it,” she added.

There is a way to discover it, and it only requires what Kempe and Tucker did nearly 40 years ago. They dipped their paddles into a wilderness lake’s water and took on their baptism by fire. “That’s what clinched it for me,” said Kempe of accomplishing that first adventure. “I can do this.”