August 18, 2022
WORDS BY Erica Skarohlid ••• In preparation for the first Play Reading Festival at Six Points Theater last spring, festival director Robert Dorfman read more than 40 different plays to select three that were then presented virtually in March of 2022. Groupthink, by Mathew Goldstein, was one of them. Now, starting August 13th, a full production of the script will make its world premiere and kick off their next season. The script has evolved since the beginning of the festival. “I was able to conference with the playwright and what he delivered was everything we wanted and more,” said Dorfman. “The script is based on his personal experience—a millennial voice that is fresh, clever, and satirical.” He now continues the journey with the script as the director of the upcoming production. Groupthink is about a young and idealistic man working for a PR firm in hopes of launching his career. When the company takes on the world’s most controversial clients, he’s faced with the dilemma of doing the right thing. The provocative satire on business and politics explores honesty, equity, and the state of being human in the world today. “It’s a satirical piece about corporate collectivism and challenges the modern ethics of the group,” Dorfman says. “It explores the collective ideas we should all be aware of and gets people thinking about society at large. It asks the question: ‘How did we get here?’” In a recent rebranding, Six Points Theater (formerly the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company) remains dedicated to their mission of igniting the hearts and minds of people of all cultural back- grounds by producing theater of the highest artistic standards. Rooted in Jewish content, its work explores differences, illuminates commonalities, and fosters greater understanding among all people.
“In general, at Six Points we are looking at how Jewish stage literature is expanding, the root of the shows we produced are in Jewish stories and roughly 50 percent of the audience is Jewish,” he says. “However we strive to be a ‘bridge theater’—a theater that helps connect to other cultures and ways of thinking.” In an effort to connect the outside world to the theatrical one, Six Points Theater offers Doorways discussion programs that delve into larger themes from the performance. One of the programs paired with Groupthink is “Living in a World of Untruths and Alternative Facts,” which asks: With an abundance of news sources bombarding us daily with different interpretations of the news, how are we supposed to navigate our choices and get to the truth? Hamline Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies David Schultz and Rabbi Esther Adler from Mount Zion will lead the discussion August 22 from 6 to 9 PM at Lake Monster Brewing. These conversations are free and open to all.