A major American playwright’s work returns to the stage that started it all — plus, an art exhibition that explores what trees mean to Indigenous communities, a special screening of “Purple Rain,” and a world premiere musical are in store for this week’s MN Shortlist.
‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ at Penumbra Theatre — Through June 21st
August Wilson is considered one of the great American playwrights. Known for plays like “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Fences,” Wilson’s works explore the African American experience. Some of them have also been adapted into Oscar nominated films. While he often sets his plays in Pittsburg — including the majority of his seminal 10 play series “the Century Cycle” —Wilson launched his career as a company member at Penumbra Theatre, which focuses on social justice and platforms Black theatrical works.
“I remember, for instance, when Wilson was working on ‘Ma Rainey,’ and he was right out here in our hall, acting out and sort of showing us what Levee was going to do,” said Lou Bellamy, the founder of Penumbra.
“I remember telling him, August, you can't do that, you can't say stuff like that, and he just, he'd grin.”
Wilson’s work is returning to Penumbra with a production of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.”
“Joe Turner is one of the plays that August Wilson penned while living in St. Paul, so it's special in that sort of way,” Bellamy said.
Bellamy is also directing this production of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” This year is also Penumbra’s 50th anniversary, so it feels fitting to see the company return to its roots by performing the work of its most famous alumni. (Jacob Aloi)
Thomas Sticha at Earth Rider Brewery in Duluth — May 30
Musician Thomas Sticha’s music has a spectral quality to it and evokes the spirit of a Midwest cowboy. Sticha is based in Minnesota, and his home state comes through in pieces like “Mississippi Down,” a single he put out last year, a slow love ballad that uses clever lyric that evoke the mighty river. The show begins at 8:00 p.m., and fellow folk musician Laura Sellner will open for him. (Jacob Aloi)
‘Spirit Trees’ at Rochester Art Center — Through Nov. 29
This exhibition features the work of three artists who use natural materials to investigate what trees mean in Indigenous communities and how the plant-form has been a “longstanding witness to human history.” The show will include multimedia artworks by Twin Cities artists Chanelle Gallagher, Lela Pierce and Stephanie Lindquist.
The exhibition also includes photographs of sacred and historical trees by co-curator Valerie DeCora Guimaraes and Rochester community members.
“The trees I photographed range in age from 126 to 251 years. They saw the Dakota people while they lived in this area, they saw the founding of Rochester and Mayo. We need more reverence for them,” DeCora Guimaraes said in a press release. (Alex V. Cipolle)
Print Fest at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis — May 30-31
Highpoint is hosting its inaugural (and free!) Print Fest, which will take over its studios, parking lot and Lake Street sidewalk in Uptown. There are loads of hands-on activities and demos, including a weekend-long bilingual (English/Spanish) public art project led by printmaker Lynda Grafito on the center’s facade (presumably next to Peyton Scott Russel’s iconic 2020 mural of a young girl raising her fist). Other highlights include a demo led by Minneapolis printmaker Jasper Duberry on woodcuts and Black identity and custom bandana printmaking with Bohemian Press.
In conjunction with the new fest, Highpoint has an exhibition in its gallery celebrating the 25th anniversary of the center, which over its lifespan has hosted major international heavy hitters including Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Julie Mehretu. “MEGA CO-OP SHOW: Celebrating 25 years of the Highpoint Artists’ Cooperative” features some fantastic prints by local artists Hend Al-Mansour, Jenny Schmid, Charles Spitzack and more. The show has an opening reception 6:30 to pm Friday, May 29.
"Printmaking is an inherently resilient medium. It is democratic; print is for everyone. Highpoint has endured because it reflects those same values,” Highpoint executive director Jehra Patrick told MPR News. “It’s a place where fine art print editions by leading artists are being produced while fourth graders cheer after they pull their first print from a press. We are here for artists who seek community and access to equipment, and we are here for the neighbor who walked by on Lake Street every day and finally stopped in.” (Alex V. Cipolle)
‘My Ántonia’ at Theater Latté Da — June 3-July 12
The northeast Minneapolis theater describes this production as “a timely celebration of the contributions of immigrants to the nation’s identity and spirit as America marks its 250th anniversary” and I wholeheartedly agree.
Latté Da commissioned the world premiere musical adapted from the 1918 Willa Cather novel, which follows the story of the eldest daughter of a Bohemian immigrant family as they settle on the unforgiving prairies of Nebraska at the turn of the 19th century, as well as the lifelong friendship that ensues between Ántonia and the neighbor boy Jim. The California-based band The Kilbanes wrote a “sweeping indie-folk” score, and the cast includes local actors Sara Masterson and Will Dusek.
“For a company rooted in the Midwest, ‘My Ántonia’ feels almost inevitable,” Latté Da artistic director Justin Lucero told Broadway World. (Alex V. Cipolle)
‘Purple Rain’ screening at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis — June 4
When “Purple Rain” premiered in 1984, it made Prince a household name, and as author Frank Bures argues, shifted the pop culture image of Minneapolis from Mary Tyler Moore’s TV station to the neon signs of First Avenue. Aside from the Grammy and Oscar wins it picked up, it’s also withstood the test of time (a Broadway-bound stage adaptation had its premiere in Minneapolis last fall)
Ahead of what would have been Prince’s 68th Birthday, the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis will be screening “Purple Rain,” giving audiences an opportunity to return to the world of “the Kid” as he grapples with his rising fame and tortured past. The film begins at 8 p.m., but trivia will start at 7:30 p.m. (Jacob Aloi)
