Presented by The American Swedish Institute

• Improv
• Film

The American Swedish Institute’s new Summer Lawn Parties are inspired by The Vikings Begin exhibition and a chance to have some after-hours fun on the grounds of the Turnblad Mansion! Held one Thursday per month this summer, each party features live music, Viking-era craft demos and pop-up activities, beer samples, kubb tournaments and an outdoor showing of a Viking film at dusk. FIKA will have specialty cocktails and light bites available for purchase. 

Upgrade your experience with an Improv Tour of The Vikings Begin prior to each Lawn Party. Led by The Theater of Public Policy, this intimate, interactive tour allows you to experience the exhibition in new and interesting ways. The tour begins at 5 p.m. and includes a libation. Space is limited. 

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Presented by Lyric Arts Main Street Stage

• Drama

By Lorraine Hansberry
Directed by Austene Van

Sixty years after its premiere, A Raisin in the Sun—the first play by a woman of color to debut on Broadway—is widely considered to be one of the best and most important plays ever written.

Set on Chicago’s South Side, the play revolves around the divergent dreams and conflicts within three generations of the Younger family. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood. Her son Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: buying a liquor store and being his own man. Meanwhile, granddaughter Beneatha dreams of medical school.

The Younger family’s heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a timeless document of hope and inspiration.

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Presented by Lyric Arts

• Drama

Directed by Austene Van

Sixty years after its premiere, A Raisin in the Sun—the first play by a woman of color to debut on Broadway—is widely considered to be one of the best and most important plays ever written.

Set on Chicago’s South Side, the play revolves around the divergent dreams and conflicts within three generations of the Younger family. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood. Her son Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: buying a liquor store and being his own man. Meanwhile, granddaughter Beneatha dreams of medical school.

The Younger family’s heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a timeless document of hope and inspiration.

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Presented by Presented by Junkyard Cabaret

• Cabaret/variety

Join Mistress Ginger for a queer musical romp through Broadway of the 1980s. Expect shoulder pads, roller skates, and frisky felines galore. All your fave showtunes will be there. Think Cats, Phantom, Les Miz and more. Meanwhile, Ginger regales you with tales of her adventures in coming out queer, leading one and all on a bedazzled journey to luscious liberation. Meow!

Starring Mistress Ginger and directed by David Hanzal, with costumes by Nancy Pohl, lighting design by Heidi Eckwall, and film by Kevin Obsatz. 

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Presented by Jungle Theater

• Drama
• Comedy

MAY 18 - JUNE 16, 2019

Tuesday – Saturday 7:30 p.m.
Sunday 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

by Bess Wohl
directed by Lauren Keating

NEW YORK TIMES CRITIC’S PICK
TIME OUT NEW YORK CRITIC’S PICK
NEW YORK MAGAZINE CRITIC’S PICK

After a sold-out national tour, this 2016 New York Times Critics’ Pick will take on new life here at the Jungle. In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six wildly disparate urbanites embark on a silent retreat. The Huffington Post calls it, “a play unlike any other;” Variety claims it’s “flawless.” Filled with awkward and insightful humor, Drama Desk Award-winner Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds is the unique and compassionate new play that asks how we address life’s biggest questions when words fail us.

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Presented by Journey North Opera Company

• Musical
• Cabaret/variety

This ain't your Grandma's Opera!
Journey North Opera Company and Minnsky Theatre present OperaTease, an opera improve cabaret!

Join us for an enthralling night of entertainment filled with gorgeous arias sung by the best singers in the Twin Cities! All while stunning performers of all types improvise to bring the aria stories to life with dance, circus, and cabaret!

Join us for this fanciful fusion of the arts and opera like you've never seen before!

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Presented by Underdog Theatre

• Drama

With adulthood looming in the distance, Jahaan and his friends enjoy the last precious moments of Summer vacation. When Jahaan’s father returns after a year away, the world stops spinning for a moment and lines are drawn in the sand. A poetic exploration of missed connections and feelings too great to speak aloud.

Written by JuCoby Johnson

Diretcted by H. Adam Harris

Assistant Directed by Joy Dolo Afinson

STARRING

Kory LaQuess Pullam

Amiee K. Bryant*

Brian Grandison

Rajané Katurah

Dan Ajak

Wariboko Semenitari

*Member of Actor's Equity Association

Designed by Leazah Behrens, Emmet Kowler, and Marshall Fenty

Stage Managed by Salima Seale

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Presented by Flying Foot Forum, a Park Square Theatre in Residence

• Drama
• Dance

Photographer Peter Adamson finds himself on a journey with his translator Faruk to save Faruk’s wife during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Friendship, love and painfully beautiful moments come to life with full-ensemble street dance and driving songs by Chan Poling (Glensheen, The Suburbs). With drama, dancing, and music by Chan Poling, Heaven is created and directed by Joe Chvala of Flying Foot Forum, a Park Square Theatre in Residence. “This is theater that grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you in your seat.” (How Was the Show)

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Presented by Theatre Elision

• Musical

Sea Cabinet (Music by Gwyneth Herbert and Fiona Bevan; Book by Heidi James) is a song cycle of linked songs about memory, obsession, love and the sea.  A woman walks the beach alone, obsessively collecting every discarded and washed-up object she finds.  She takes them home to catalogue each one with the care and rigor of a scientist. Each item sings with the memory of a secret sea-set story.  Written and originally performed in England, this will be the U.S. premiere of the work. This 75-minute song cycle is performed in one-act with no intermission.

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Presented by Commonweal Theatre Company

• Comedy

Fasten your seatbelts—there’s turbulence ahead in this laugh-out-loud, over-the-top farce! Bernard has the perfect setup: three beautiful fiancées, all flight attendants. And because of their schedules, they’re never in town at the same time. Until… a new, improved Boeing jet throws Bernard’s perfect timetable into chaos. Antics ensue as he scrambles to keep the ladies from learning about each other. How will this hilarious flight touch down?

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Presented by Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

• Musical

One mom. One daughter. Three possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you'll never forget!

ABBA's hits tell the hilarious story of a young woman's search for her birth father. This sunny and funny tale unfolds on a Greek island paradise. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother's past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago.

The story-telling magic of ABBA's timeless songs propels this enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship, creating an unforgettable show. A large cast, non-stop laughs and explosive dance numbers combine to make Mamma Mia! a guaranteed smash hit!     

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Presented by Red Eye Theater

• Experimental

A split evening of new performance.

relish
Choreographer and director: Arneshia Williams

Arneshia Williams blends a visceral mixture of modern and social dance vocabularies in this multimedia dance work. Layering classical genres in a diverse soundtrack, Williams shares her ever-shifting ruminations on themes of identity, time, and joy.

MATRYOSHKA: A Live Visual Album
Creator and performer: Anna Johnson
With Bella Yaga: Alana Horton, Joni Griffith, and Peter Morrow
And members of Mila Vocal Ensemble: Aleksandra Veriga, Laura Lentz Lanstad, and Sarah Callahan

In this live visual album, a woman enters a nonlinear dimension where she may experience herself as a microcosm of the universe. Anna Johnson brings together electric folk band Bella Yaga and guests from Mila Vocal Ensemble to tell a story of ancestral contact, necessary death and self-love in energys spiral flow through space-time. Drawing from a Slavic folk tale and the Wizard of Oz, the work collages original and traditional music, video projection, object theatre and dance to create ancient and psychedelic textures. A set of nesting dolls, or matryoshka as they are called in Russia, offers a visual metaphor for the layers of self, memory and universe that open throughout this ritual of transformation.

***SHOWS THURSDAY, FRIDAY, AND SATURDAY @ 8PM. PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO SUNDAY SHOW FOR THIS EVENT***

TICKETS PRICES:
Thursday: Pay-what-you-wish
Friday and Saturday: $15/$10 Students with Valid ID

TRANSPORTATION:
For transportation and parking information, please visit the Cowles Center website: https://www.thecowlescenter.org/parking-directions

photo cr: Val Oliveiro

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