Jillia Pessenda’s Made In China, part of Bedlam Theatre’s Ten Minute Community Play Festival. Courtesy Brad Dahlgaard.
The performing arts exist in the world, about the world, and for the world. In that spirit, we’ve asked a wide variety of performing artists across the state to inaugurate MinnesotaPlaylist.com by responding to the question, “What is the function of the performing arts?”
By Ben Krywosz
Posted Wednesday, October 1
Artists have a responsibility to define their own function in a world that really does crave all forms of artistic expression.
By Mo Perry
Posted Wednesday, October 1
She was done with the play-acting and joined the Peace Corps. But Mo Perry came back to the righteousness (and rum) of theater.
By Marya Hornbacher
Posted Monday, October 6
Theater brings mystery, excitement, and romance, and that’s just when her parents first met. Then she started to see shows.
By Hal Cropp
Posted Monday, October 6
People learn through imitation. Art imitates life. Life imitates art. In this town, they meet in the grocery and city council.
By Joe Chvala
Posted Saturday, October 11
Years ago, people conjured minotaurs, tricksters, and the favor of the gods through ritual. Today, Joe Chvala uses dance and theater.
By Julianna Skluzacek
Posted Saturday, October 11
What happened to the glamorous life in the theater she was promised? Community theater has other rewards. It better!
By Four Humors Theater
Posted Thursday, October 16
Four soldiers of the theater are pinned down by enemy fire in an unnamed country in an unnamed war. One of them won’t make it home.
By Kathleen Spehar-Hansen
Posted Thursday, October 16
Theater is collaborative, but the economy is competitive. Kathleen Spehar-Hansen tries to find balance in service to the community.
By Ryan Hartigan
Posted Tuesday, October 21
Grazing through other intellectual commentary on the arts, Ryan Hartigan turns Oscar Wilde’s aphorism "All art is useless" inside out.
By Trú Rúts Endeavors
Posted Tuesday, October 21
Shá Cage and e.g. bailey discuss how artistic expression rises from community in a highly personal way.
By Michelle Hensley
Posted Sunday, October 26
Performing in prisons and homeless shelters teaches Michelle Hensley a few things about connecting with the audience.
By Alan M. Berks
Posted Sunday, October 26
Why Hamlet is the perfect Baby Boomer.
September 2010
Personal best
August 2010
Fringe points of view
July 2010
Gone fishin'
June 2010
Wild grass
May 2010
What's that sound?
April 2010
The healing arts
March 2010
All the world's a stage. . .
February 2010
Reel live
January 2010
Feeling Minnesota
December 2009
Jingle blogs
November 2009
Making art, work
October 2009
So very close. . .
See it this week at The Gremlin Theatre in Minneapolis. Presented by Theatre Pro Rata.

Karen Landry performs in The Last Seder playing at Park Square Theatre this month.
Find performers, designers, crew, writers, composers, choreographers, and administrators for your next project.
Commonweal: Required Reading - what would you add to this list of essential theatre reads? http://bit.ly/dneYjx #2amt #mnpl
sailert: Agree. RT @almeberks: #mnpl Scottsboro Boys was wow. Complicated, beautiful, affecting, intelligent, entertaining, disturbing. More please
maxsparber: TC Arts are "in many ways, ahead of the rest of the country" -- NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman http://bit.ly/TCarts #mnpl #2amt