BLOG: Sweet Foundation Money

Winding Down the Season There's not really a good marker for when the "theater season" begins or ends, but in the Twin Cities, I guess we can roughly peg it at the Ivey Awards, that special time of year in which we, the theater community, all come together to barely survive collective alcohol poisoning. Now that we've all written our obligatory "best of the season" articles, we can put the whole 2013-2014 theater season to rest by moving on to the next year. That means it's time for the 2014-2015 edition of TCG's annual Top 10 Most Produced Plays.* *Actually, "Most Produced Plays That Are Not Shakespeare and/or Christmas-Themed" This year's big winner was Christopher Durang's Chekov mashup Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, with 27 productions coming up next season. (This show was also on the 2013-2014 top ten list) Congratulations, Mr. Durang! You've helped reinforce the idea that all people want to see in theater are remixes of things they've already seen before. Also, ladies, I know you were excited about last year's Top Ten list, on which half of the entries were written by female playwrights. It was a high point in gender equity in the arts, possibly a watershed moment and a turning point in the long tradition of major houses overlooking female playwrights as strange and unsafe commodities, and this year's list has put a stop to that nonsense. Checking Off the List You might have noticed that the Guthrie just performed Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike last season, as they did with other Top Tenners Other Desert Cities and Tribes. (The Guthrie had also been planning on doing 4000 Miles next season, but ceded it to Park Square earlier this year.) So, the Guthrie's got 30% of this year's list down. I know that seems like a pretty low percentage, but don't worry. The rest of the Twin Cities has their back. Along with Park Square picking up 4000 Miles for next season, the Jungle took on Venus in Fur, the Hennepin Theater Trust brought in a touring production of Peter and the Starcatcher, and Theatre Latte Da will be doing Into the Woods next year. The folks down at Commonweal in Lanesboro even pitched in to do the Mark Brown adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days, and our friends at the Old Log are taking care of Outside Mullingar next season. And, with that, we've got 90% of the Top Ten this year covered. (For some reason, no one around here wants to take on Bad Jews.) Yay! We're just like everyone else! However, if you're one of those weird people who thinks that maybe we should stop worshipping work imported from other markets and get down to the dirty business of developing our own aesthetic, Sheila Regan at Twin Cities Daily Planet has some words for you. And the Winners Are… Speaking of that Minnesota aesthetic, A few months ago I told you about the 69 finalists for Knight Arts Challenge. I'm happy to report that I got be sort of an actual journalist this week by attending the award ceremony for the 42 winners. The most important part for me was the open bar and the incredible food spread (including the intimidating sandwich loaf), but I guess it's also worth mentioning that some artists got some cash for their projects. As St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman said during his thanks to the Knight Foundation, "Thank you for giving us money. You're always welcome to come back. We'll buy you dinner." Dennis Scholl, vice president for arts at Knight, reminded Coleman that Knight paid for the food that I was busy shoving down my gullet and that the city has never actually bought them dinner before. Sadly, the "skateable art park" that I referenced in my previous article on the Knight Arts Challenge was not among the winners; but a number of performing arts projects did make the cut: Mu Performing Arts received $70,000 to create a new show about 21st century immigration, based on interviews with St. Paul residents; Nautilus Music-Theater received $40,000 to help underwrite programming at its new space in Lowertown; The Science Museum of Minnesota, in conjunction with Penumbra Theatre, received $55,000 for a program to explore race and racism through a new exhibition and theater workshops. In the dance world, Ananya Dance Theatre received $50,000 to create a new performance about women and traditional agriculture; Contempo Physical Dance received $30,000 to establish a choreography residency for Brazilian and African Diaspora dance; and Ragamala Dance received $18,000 to help put on a community event based on the festival of Navaratri. The Knight Foundation also picked a few theater projects that will not happen in a theater. Curious Incident received $15,000 to create a series of immersive arts events in St. Paul; The Winding Sheet Outfit received $4,000 to put on Theatre of the Tiny Clandestines, a series of performances in small, mobile black tent, whose changing location must be discovered through a series of clues; and Wonderlust Productions received $35,000 to develop a new site-specific show at the state capitol building, based on the lives of the people who work there. There was plenty of buzz around the Minnesota Fringe Festival's application for a winter festival to take place in St. Paul, but, alas, the Knight Foundation decided not to fund this project. Unfortunately, the Fringe will remain a Minneapolis-centric project for the time being. However, do not despair Fringe (or the 826 other applicants from this year); the Knight Cities Challenge will begin accepting applications on October 1. I'm sure there will be a lot for them to choose from. According to Dennis Scholl from Knight, the Arts Challenge in St. Paul turned out the highest number of applicants per capita of any city where they've tried it before. No Press Allowed Before we go this week, there's one more link I want to share with you, even though I couldn't weasel it in to the rest of this column, so here goes: What if a theater made the crazy decision to not invite press to its opening weekends? (Answer: they get a lot of press)