By: Blair Ingenthron
July 13, 2024
Six Points Theater has revealed their 2024-25 season, which also marks the company's 30th anniversary.
It was 1994. Summer. And Barbara Brooks took a big gamble. She knew the Twin Cities didn't have a theater dedicated to Jewish themes or messages. So, she decided to start one and called it Minnesota Jewish Theater Company. And now, 30 years later, with a production count of 115 plays and musicals, 5 commissions and 14 world premieres, Six Points Theater is thriving!
During those 30 years, Barbara did everything from laundry, sets, box office, props and more. She has produced every production since 1995.
Over time, the theater and its productions have garnered several awards including 5 Ivey Awards, Broadway World Awards and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Arts Achievement Award, and many "best of year" and "top ten" inclusions by theater writers.
The 2024/25 season includes a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere explores bigotry and racism in a California city; in a newly minted Tony Award-winner, a solo show that's hysterically funny and brutally honest follows a young Jewish stand-up comic as he checks out a white supremacist meeting in Queens; God takes the stage in a parody on the Ten Commandments, and lets us know in no uncertain terms which commandments should be improved upon, with hip and irreverent commentary brought to life by Sally Wingert in the role of God.
Additional Programming, POLITICS AND THEATER: Political Writing by Jewish Playwrights, What is Political Theater?, and The Theatrics of Government; and the play SURVIVORS.
(see below)
HERE'S THE SEASON/3-SHOW PACKAGE:
Just for Us
Directed by JC Cutler
October 26 - November 10, 2024
Welcome to the world of stand-up comic Alex Edelman. An intelligent, brutally honest, and hysterically funny Jew from Boston who, from his play Just for Us, we learn about his adventures, his friends and his family. Alex, who's living in New York, calls himself "professionally charming," and thinks empathy is at the core of Judaism. "I see myself very much as a Jew. More than anything else. And I hate that." After being trolled on social media by Nazis, Alex ends up at their white supremacist meeting in Astoria, Queens. Once the group discovers Alex is a Jew, he's booted out of the meeting. "I wanted them to like me." Alex won a Special Tony Award for this play in recognition of his "exemplary debut." Just for Us - Come along for the ride and hold on tight! Casting to be determined.
The Messenger
by Jenny O'Connell Davis
Directed by Faye M. Price
March 8 - 23, 2025
The Messenger, a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, explores bigotry and racism in an American town. It tells the story of 4 women living in upper middle-class predominantly white Pasadena, California: Georgia, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who taught math for over 20 years and told her students about her wartime experiences; a mother of one of Georgia's students who becomes irate at Georgia for sharing her history; a library curator who discovers hidden archival documents revealing WWII evil; and an Asian student who recounts experiences she and a friend have in school and as volunteers at the botanical garden. They all speak from different moments in time, about different incidents, but they're part of the same larger story, and the past and present are connected in a timely cautionary tale that inspires us to take a stand against hate.
An Act of God
May 3 -18, 2025
If you were able to ask God a question, would you? A funny, hip, irrelevant, parody on the Ten Commandments with ample use of popular culture and current news. God doesn't mince words in speaking about today's world and in this process is helped by two wingmen, Gabriel and Michael. Michael is in the house seats to get responses from the audience members. Who knew God had a sense of humor? Starring Sally Wingert as God.
SURVIVORS
by Wendy Kout
Directed by Warren C. Bowles
Special Event Programming/Limited Run
Thursday, January 23, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, January 24, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, January 26, 1 p.m.
Highland Park Community Center Theater
(Additional dates being booked at other sites)
A Play About the Holocaust and Standing Up to Hate
SURVIVORS weaves together the true, inspirational stories of 10 Holocaust survivors whose ordinary and joyful young lives were transformed by fascism and the Nazi regime. Illustrating the risk of normalizing hate, this dynamic, uplifting work impels us to take lessons from the past, and think about how we can take constructive action to create a safer, more inclusive community. Each performance at the Highland Park Community Center Theater will be followed by a post-show discussion.
Ticket Pricing for 3-Show Subscriber Package
Tuesday at 1 p.m., $72
Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., $72
Thursday at 7:30 p.m., $72
Saturday at 7:30 p.m., $105
Sunday at 1 p.m., $87
Sunday at 7 p.m., $72
Full-time students may select any day of the week, $39
SURVIVORS - $25
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING: POLITICS AND THEATER
Free and Open to the public - Reservations Required - call 651-647-4513
Location: Highland Park Community Center Theater
1978 Ford Parkway St. Paul, MN 551161978 Ford Parkway St. Paul, MN, 55116
Political Writing by Jewish Playwrights
Monday, August 19, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Readings from plays by Clifford Odets, Arthur Miller, David Mamet and Tony Kushner
What is Political Theater?
Wednesday, August 21, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
With Wendy Knox, Founder and Artistic Director of Frank Theatre and
Beth Cleary, Professor Emeritus of Theater, Macalester College
The Theatrics of Government
Thursday, August 22, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
With Hamline Distinguished University Professor David Schultz and Capitol reporter and theater critic, Rob Hubbard, and Minnesota Senator Sandy Pappas
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