Vision

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From the Skewed Visions production "He Woke Up In A Strange Place Called Home And Although Looking For Bed He Kept Finding Death Instead" Photo: Craig VanDerSchaegen

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge" which, if true, would make directors like Dominique Serrand as important as scientists—but only when they use their imagination to help invent new futures. Check back with this issue to see where the Minnesota arts community wants to lead you, and why.

Soul workers

by Ben Krywosz • Dec. 21

Vision

Artists have a responsibility to define their own function in a world that really does crave all forms of artistic expression.

Noble dress-up

by Mo Perry • Dec. 21

Vision

She was done with the play-acting and joined the Peace Corps. But Mo Perry came back to the righteousness (and rum) of theater.

Resurrection

by Marya Hornbacher • Jan. 7

Audience | Vision

Theater brings mystery, excitement, and romance, and that’s just when her parents first met. Then she started to see shows.

A dog at the table

by Joe Chvala • Dec. 21

Vision

Years ago, people conjured minotaurs, tricksters, and the favor of the gods through ritual. Today, Joe Chvala uses dance and theater.

Useless is useful

by Ryan Hartigan • Dec. 22

Criticism | Vision

Grazing through other intellectual commentary on the arts, Ryan Hartigan turns Oscar Wilde’s aphorism "All art is useless" inside out.

The conventional unconventional

by Alan M. Berks • Dec. 30

Process | Vision

If everyone's input is equally valuable, how many alternative theater artists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A rehearsal proposal

by Alan M. Berks • Dec. 30

Process | Vision

Specialization bad. Company good. An argument for a return to a kind of ensemble theater, regardless of the type of work you like to do.

Los Angeles, take six

by Matthew Foster • Dec. 30

Process | Vision

People don’t rehearse only for art. They rehearse for a night out.

Live wire

by Quinton Skinner • Jan. 7

Vision

The state of the theater cannot be separated from the state of our culture or our lives in this country now.

Script work

by Polly Carl • Jan. 18

Management | Vision

In a nonprofit world that has adopted too many Wall Street values, all this exciting new work out there gets squeezed off the stage.

Interview with Dominique Serrand

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Jan. 21

Management | Vision

From religion to Minnesota's Legacy Amendment to health care reform, one of the forces behind Jeune Lune speaks.

Don't review this

by Melodie Bahan • Feb. 2

Criticism | Vision

Melodie Bahan loves good performing arts writing so much that she's begging arts journalists to make her life as a publicist more difficult.

Forgetting taboos

by Dominic Orlando • Feb. 5

Criticism | Vision

A critic’s reaction inspires Dominic Orlando to contemplate Doubt, Forgetting, and a taboo greater than sex.

Meet First Nations Theater

by Rhiana Yazzie • Mar. 5

Tradition | Vision

Great plays about the Native American experience exist. In a state with such a large Native population, Rhiana Yazzie explores a canon we should know better.

Reading for awesomeness

by Walking Shadow Theatre Company • Mar. 8

Vision

The creators of Shakespeare's Land of the Dead fill their seasons by reading and seeing more than seems possible.

The writer next door

by Matthew A. Everett • Mar. 8

Vision

Blogger and playwright Matthew A. Everett believes the next Kushner, or Albee, or even Shakespeare, is right under your nose. Meet them; do their work.

Blood! Dead cats! Punk rock!

by Casey Greig • Mar. 11

Audience | Vision

Sitting with his unemployment check, actor Casey Greig fantasizes about a season that'll draw in a younger audience. His fantasies are loud.

Mix and match

by Harry Waters Jr. • Mar. 18

Vision

Macalester Professor and actor Harry Waters Jr. cares less about what plays you pick than he does about how you choose to do them.

Young and new

by Richard Hitchler • Mar. 22

Process | Vision

What if your theater is so peculiar or so particular that you need to make the scripts before you can make the season?

No one asked me but …

by Alan M. Berks • Mar. 25

Vision

A completely biased, utterly subjective, unapologetically redundant, totally unsolicited list of demands about your next season.

Why I am a playwright

by Alan M. Berks • May. 17

Vision

What possible reason can an otherwise rational person have for devoting themselves to writing new plays? Hint: It’s not the abundance of money and respect.

Pay my rent

by Alan M. Berks • Jun. 28

Management | Vision

It's never going to work as long as landlords get more grant money than artists.

The Matchmaker

by Casey Greig • Nov. 2

Management | Vision

Is the solution to an actor’s career woes found in an old system? Casey Greig calls it patronage but you might think it's another old word that starts with 'p.'

Always difficult

by Wendy Knox • Nov. 2

Management | Vision

Artistic survival is always a challenge. How much harder does it become when your entire mission is to agitate against what comes too easily?

You are here

by Idris Goodwin • Nov. 9

Management | Vision

Do you need to be in a "good theater town" to make good theater? An award-winning playwright tries to build his career in more remote locations.

Designing a life in the theater, by accident

by Jeff Bartlett • Nov. 16

Production | Vision

When Jeff Bartlett wandered off the street into a construction zone, he never imagined it would become a good part of his life's work.

Be thankful you aren't the Morris Squill

by John Middleton • Nov. 22

Vision

We asked one of our favorite writers for his thoughts on surviving as a performing artist. Now, we're not sure whether he'll ever talk to us again.

Unbearable lightness of holiday theater

by Matt Sciple • Dec. 30

Criticism | Tradition | Vision

Snow can be heavy, dirty, and hard to handle. Holiday shows are not. Matt Sciple thinks they might benefit from a bit more blizzard, a bit less whitewash.

Penumbra style

by Stephanie Lein Walseth • Jan. 10

Criticism | Vision

While Garrison Keillor seems like Minnesota's essential national representative, don't forget that Penumbra Theatre nurtured the equally famous August Wilson.

The dance scene

by Lightsey Darst • Nov. 3

Criticism | Vision

Decentralized, political, process-oriented, and anti-fashion: Does that sound like the dance you've seen around town?

The missing Minnesota mythos

by Marya Hornbacher • Jan. 17

Criticism | Vision

"We are on the cusp of a change in what Twin Cities theater is, or at least, what it is willing to do."

Imagining sustainable independent cinema

by Kevin Obsatz • Nov. 3

Vision

You thought film was where the money was? Think again. Kevin Obsatz makes an impassioned plea for a sustainable, Minnesota-centric film industry.

A huddle of Greek gods

by John Middleton • Feb. 28

Vision

Forget the intersection of film and theater. If we can't figure out what makes theater different than film, expect theater to get run over even more.

Transformation

by Leah Cooper • Apr. 19

Process | Social Service | Vision

Far from big budget shows and scrambles for development opportunities, Leah Cooper experiences the kind of theater that still lives up to her childhood ideals.

Leaving a mark

by James Williams • Apr. 28

Social Service | Vision

The impulse to create can be channeled into social or antisocial directions. James Williams teaches theater to help build a better society.

In defense of music theater

by John Patrick Fitzgibbons • May. 31

Vision

Is music theater a lesser form of theater? Why do non-music theater actors seem to disparage the talents of their colleagues?

Your mission

by Jack Reuler • Sep. 29

Criticism | Vision

If you aren't viciously committed to your nonprofit's mission, then you should pull the plug on your next show. And maybe even your entire institution.

Local playwrights tackle WikiLeaks

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Dec. 16

Process | Vision

How would playwrights respond to WikiLeaks? We ask ten.

“Yeah! We’ve got this!”

by Andy Sturdevant • Mar. 20

Vision

Artist Andy Sturdevant reflects on his invigorating experience as an Arts Advocacy Day participant.

Thespis to theater in America: “Why can’t I quit you?”

by Matt Sciple • Apr. 28

Criticism | Vision

A dramatic dialogue in which theater addict Matt Sciple hides behind the fake moustache of satire to question the value of his chosen profession.

So I married a theater owner

by Katharine Kelly • May. 4

Vision

To an artist owning a theater looks like a dream-come-true adventure. But to a spouse?

Sit down. Shut up. (I've done this before — and some audiences actually laughed.)

by Brian Beatty • May. 11

Audience | Vision

One performer's progression from caring about his audience to caring about his art.

For love or money: or how I feed my daughter

by Shanan Custer • May. 16

Vision

Do we work for money or love of our art?

SHUT UP AND LAUGH: or how I learned to stop worrying and love comedy

by Joshua English Scrimshaw • May. 31

Vision

Joshua English Scrimshaw answers the question what do artists who do comedy think of the phrase "more than just comedy."

The big art ball

by John Middleton • Jun. 6

Tradition | Vision

What does it mean to think like an artist?

Tom Poole Remembered

by Alan M. Berks • Jul. 17

Vision

Local theatermaker Tom Poole passed away on Wednesday, July 6. Alan Berks remembers a writer and a person who inspired him to be smarter, funnier, and better.

The best is yet to come

by Alan M. Berks • Sep. 5

Audience | Criticism | Vision

Challenging is a criteria for excellence that Minnesota may experience more in the year to come.

Best of 2010-2011: The Oldest Story in the World

by Jeremy B. Cohen • Sep. 5

Criticism | Vision

The Playwrights' Center's new Artistic Director tells us why he feels at home here in the Twin Cities.

Build your own FTL rosters, Week 2

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Oct. 12

Innovation | Vision

Don't sit on the sidelines any longer. Enter your Fantasy Theater Team before next week's voting.

Rank your favorite casts and crew, Week 3

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Oct. 16

Innovation | Vision

This week, we have a bunch of new entries. Let them know what you think of their ideas.

"I can own my own home"

by Levi Weinhagen • Nov. 13

Process | Vision

Craig Johnson and the life and work of one Twin Cities theater artist

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