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.
May 18, 1991 - Judith Lewis comments on progress toward multiculturalism on Minnesota stages, and within theaters across the country.
June 28, 1991 - MPR’s Susan Orandi reports on a Otter Tail County onstage program, which is staging plays at the historic River Inn, Fergus Falls. Lance Belleville, co-artistic director and playwright-in-residence at the theater details the plans for play and tying it to River Inn’s history.
June 28, 1991 - MPR’s Bob Potter interviews Lou Bellamy, artistic director of The Penumbra Theatre, about August Wilson. Bellamy discusses Penumbra’s production of Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
June 28, 1991 - MPR’s Leif Enger reports on the efforts being taken by the local community in staging a history play at the River Inn, located in Fergus Fall. The play, entitled Hooch, Hokum and Horsefeathers at the Hotsy Totsy Inn, presents the real-life drama (including murder) that took place at the inn back in late 1920-early 1930s.
June 29, 1991 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles the 8th Annual Young Playwrights Summer Conference, sponsored by the Minneapolis-based playwright's center. The program offers teenagers a chance to work one-on-one with some of the best-known playwrights in the Twin Cities.
October 18, 1991 - MPR’s Beth Friend reports on Mixed Blood Theatre/Ordway’s collaboration of a stage production of The Grapes of Wrath.
December 30, 1991 - Midmorning’s Paula Schroeder interviews playwright Celeste Raspanti about her travels to Czechoslovakia and about I Never Saw Another Butterfly, her play based on the real-life story of Holocaust survivor Raja Englanderova and stories from the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
January 10, 1992 - Midmorning’s Paula Schroeder interviews Loren Niemi and Jim Stowell about storyteller series being held on the Jungle Theater stage.
January 11, 1992 - Kim Hines, a local playwright, discusses her play, Who Was I The Last Time I Saw You? A Play in Four Lives. Topics in play include social issues in the Black and gay communities. Hines highlights two characters (80 year-old Mavis & 10 year-old Christy) and performs excerpts from play.
January 17, 1992 - MPR’s Beth Friend interviews American actor Ron Vawter about his stage work for Roy Cohn/Jack Smith. Vawter explores the themes of sexual identity in play with a series of two monologues that contrast the characters of two gay men who died of AIDS.