Theater arts has been at the center of the creative atmosphere within Minnesota for decades. The varied array of local venues have both fostered talent through the years and brought world-renowned individuals to present their artistic approaches to our Minnesota stages. The theater scene has also been integral in social dynamics within our communities…from social issues, race, to gender.
The likes of The Guthrie, Mixed Blood, Penumbra, Park Square, Stages Theater, History Theatre, Theater in the Round, Duluth Playhouse, and so many more have drawn audiences in and left an indelible mark.
Collected here are a selection of interviews, performances, critiques, and profiles of those behind and in front of the curtains.
February 13, 1993 - MPR’s Beth Friend profiles Black playwright Endesha Ida Mae Holland. Segment includes interview with Holland, who recollects on time in Minnesota and how she found her path to writing.
February 25, 1993 - A Midmorning segment on F. Scott Fitzgerald and two plays at History Theatre about the author…Scott and Zelda: The Beautiful Fools by Lance S. Belville; and The Great Gatsby by John Carlile. Includes an interview with playwright Lance Belleville and professor Lloyd Hackle.
March 5, 1993 - MPR’s Maja Beckstrom profiles Warm Wind in China, a Canadian AIDS play debuting in Rochester. Report includes interview with playwright Kent Stetson.
March 5, 1993 - This First Friday program segment presents Isabell Monk, member of Guthrie Theater acting company, reading from Ntozake Shange’s Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo.
March 10, 1993 - MPR’s Beth Friend talks with Minnesota storyteller Kevin Kling about his play, The Ice Fishing Play. Kling is performing the play at the Humana Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Segment includes a short monologue reading by Kling.
March 10, 1993 - A Midmorning interview and performance with Stephanie Laitala, of Business and Professional Women, and playwright Madeline Hansen discuss the Susan B. Anthony play, The Cabinet Meeting.
March 19, 1993 - Playwright Lauren Nickisch reads from her one-woman production based on the life of Northern Minnesota pioneer woman Hephzibeth Merritt, Nickisch's great-great-great-grandmother.
March 19, 1993 - Playwright Mike Irwin and composer Joe Kimmell explain the source material for their traveling community play Rural Voices.
April 14, 1993 - American actor and author Gregory Alan Williams discusses directing his play adaptation of Evelyn Fairbanks’ The Days of Rondo book. The play is being staged at Great American History Theatre in St. Paul.
April 23, 1993 - MPR’s Beth Friend reports on Patient A, a play by Minneapolis playwright Lee Blessing. The work is about AIDS victim Kimberly Bergalis.