Ansa Akyea News

The Old Globe, together with Children's Theatre Company (CTC), and in partnership with The Old Vic, today announced details for the Minneapolis and San Diego productions of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax in its U.S. premiere. The production, based on the book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, is adapted for the stage by David Greig (Artistic Director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company; recent work: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Cover My Tracks) with music and lyrics written by Charlie Fink (Frontman/songwriter for the hit musical group, Noah and the Whale (2007-2015). H. Adam Harris, along with Meghan Kreidler and Rick Miller puppeteering, will play The Lorax. Joining them is Steven Epp as The Once-ler. Playing multiple roles in the ensemble are Ansa Akyea, Christopher Becknell, Stephanie Bertumen, Brian Bose, Ryan Colbert, Lynnea Doublette, Johannah "Joh" Easley, Rajane Katurah, Ryan Lear, Ryan Dean Maltz, Emily Michaels King, and Autumn Ness.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) together with The Old Globe (San Diego) in partnership with The Old Vic (London) today announced details for the Minneapolis and San Diego productions of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, based on the book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

CARDBOARD PIANO is an ambitious play centered on questions of trauma: what can and can't be fixed. It opens with life-affirming and joyous love between two young women in Uganda.

Park Square begins the new year on the Andy Boss Thrust Stage with the Midwest premiere of Hansol Jung's timely drama Cardboard Piano. Signe V. Harriday directs the powerful play about romance and redemption against the backdrop of inexplicable violence. The Courier Journal called Cardboard Piano deeply moving and haunting upon its 2016 premiere at the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New Plays.

In the cultural collision of a restaurant kitchen, Chef George, trying to stay sober, spends his shifts yelling at trash-talking Guatemalan line cooks, a wet-behind-the-ears American busboy, and a quiet East African dishwasher. But the heat turns up when an immigration agent arrives.

The Playwrights' Center is excited to announce the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission recipient, 2017-18 McKnight Fellows in Playwriting, 2017-18 McKnight Theater Artist Fellows, 2017-2020 Core Writers and 2017-18 Core Apprentices.

Mixed Blood Theatre today announced the cast for SAFE AT HOME-a site specific theatrical event performed at CHS Field in St. Paul. Directed by Mixed Blood Artistic Director Jack Reuler and featuring 18 actors, this 9-scene thriller uses baseball to examine flawed US immigration policies, racial politics, America's obsession with celebrity, and the collision of personal ethics with massive entertainment and media dollars. 

Award-winning director Marion McClinton makes his directorial debut at the Jungle with BARS AND MEASURES, a music-filled new play with an original score by jazz composer Justin Ellington. A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, the riveting drama by acclaimed playwright and spoken word artist Idris Goodwin is on stage August 26 through October 9 at the Lyn-Lake neighborhood theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis.

Award-winning director Marion McClinton makes his directorial debut at the Jungle with BARS AND MEASURES, a music-filled new play with an original score by jazz composer Justin Ellington. A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, the riveting drama by acclaimed playwright and spoken word artist Idris Goodwin is on stage August 26 through October 9 at the Lyn-Lake neighborhood theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis.

Park Square begins 2016 with a world premiere adaptation of Charles Dickens's GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

Park Square begins 2016 with a world premiere adaptation of Charles Dickens's GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

2014-15 McKnight Theater Artist Fellows Austene Van and Sally Wingert, along with their collaborators, will present selections from works in progress on June 29 at 7 p.m. at the Illusion Theater.

Centering on the lives of four strippers, and propelled by the poetry and athleticism of live pole dancing, PUSSY VALLEY is a profound exploration of the African American, white, gay, straight, young, and old denizens of a strip club in contemporary rural Mississippi. Embedded in a world of poverty, abuse, power imbalances, racism, jealousy, homophobia, abandonment, and sexploitation, this searing drama reveals resilient women in pursuit of happiness, stability, motherhood, independence, a decent living, and romance, always battling for personal integrity.

Based on Mark Twain's classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Children's Theatre Company (CTC) will present Greg Banks' adaptation of Huck Finn, now through April 4, 2015. Banks, whose CTC credits include Pinocchio, Robin Hood, Antigone, Romeo and Juliet and more, will direct, with music composed by Victor Zupanc, set by Joseph Stanley, costumes by Mary Anna Culligan and lighting design by Paul Whitaker. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Based on Mark Twain's classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Children's Theatre Company (CTC) will present Greg Banks' adaptation of Huck Finn, tonight, March 3 - April 4, 2015.

Based on Mark Twain's classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Children's Theatre Company (CTC) will present Greg Banks' adaptation of Huck Finn, March 3 - April 4, 2015. Banks, whose CTC credits include Pinocchio, Robin Hood, Antigone, Romeo and Juliet and more, will direct, with music composed by Victor Zupanc, set by Joseph Stanley, costumes by Mary Anna Culligan and lighting design by Paul Whitaker. Huck Finn premiered at CTC in the 2006-2007 season and is part of the theatre's ongoing commitment to reimagining classics for the stage.

The 55454 SERIES, Africans and Muslims in America, continues with AFRICAN AMERICA, written by Mixed Blood favorite Warren C. Bowles. In this 45 minute family show, a young professional African American woman, proud of her Afrocentric identity, is educated by a Pan-African interloper who helps her explore the complexity of the continent's disparate languages, cultures, races, and politics. This new friend introduces her to daily influences from South Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, Libya, and Liberia. Debunking myths of a monolithic African culture, it includes Kikuyu morality tales, stories of indigenous clans and their marked differences, self-determination and sovereignty, and proud aftermaths of post-colonial independence. It is laced with surprises, education, and attitude. Ghanaian Ansa Akyea makes his directorial debut, leading a cast of Equity actors Aaliyah Habeeb, Hope Cervantes, and Sasha Andreev.

Launching the 55454 SERIES, Africans and Muslims in America, is PILGRIMS MUSA AND SHERI IN THE NEW WORLD by acclaimed playwright Egyptian-born Yussef El Guindi. Smart and funny, this winner of the American Theatre Critics' Steinberg New American Play Award is a comic love story centering on a Muslim immigrant who falls in love with an American non-Muslim woman, after immigrating to the US for an arranged marriage with an American Muslim. Hailed as '...a comic charmer and a humane reminder that most of us are pilgrims of one kind or another in this big, complicated, rewarding land we share,' by The Seattle Times, PILGRIMS MUSA AND SHERI... is the perfect opener for Mixed Blood's Series, named after its zip code, which will continue into spring.

Performed in four 15-minute quarters with a half-time show, featuring a dance company, a drum corps, and a fully-padded cast, COLOSSAL is an epic event that simultaneously celebrates and attacks our nation's most popular form of theater: football.