History Theatre Unveils Raw Stage Line-Up for Fall 2025
Events will run October 16-19, 2025.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jul. 23, 2025
History Theatre has revealed the line-up for the Fall Raw Stages Festival for October 16-19, 2025. HT celebrates entering the third decade of commissioning and developing new works with an expanded festival with 6 staged readings, a salon conversation welcoming audience into the new work process, and a festival celebration. Tickets are on sale now. Come and be a part of the magic!
"This year's festival is expanded to include six new works. During the pandemic, we fell behind in commissioning new work. Now we want to catch up a bit, and we had these amazing projects come to the theatre. We are excited to have expanded offerings in our super-sized festival this year, showing an even wider breadth of stories than before. At this moment when the current administration is stifling the teaching of history, we are proud to be making these stories from our shared history". -Laura Leffler Interim Artistic Director
History Theatre is a nationally recognized leader in developing and producing new plays and musicals that illuminate the diverse American experience through the lens of Minnesota's past. Since its founding in 1978, the theater has championed new works, staging over 120 world premieres that bring untold stories to life. This commitment to commissioning and developing new works and supporting artists both locally and nationally through the Raw Stages: New Works Festival allows HT to actively contribute to the theatrical canon to present original, thought-provoking productions that entertain, educate, and engage.
The Full Line-Up
LOVE ON A STICK: The Minnesota State Fair Musical
Book by Jeff Hatcher
Music by Chan Poling
Thursday Oct 16 7:30pm
A kaleidoscopic musical revue that spans 100 years of Minnesota State Fair history, LOVE ON A STICK follows families, lovers, vendors, big sows, Butter Sculptures, Teddy Roosevelt and anything you can put on a little piece of wood. A celebration of the color and resilience of the Great Minnesota Get Together.
DREAMLAND
Friday Oct. 17 7:30pm
The Dreamland Cafe is the place to be if you're Black in 1938 South Minneapolis. A place to debate and discuss; eat, drink, and let loose. "Jim Crow" ain't welcome-Cassius and his wife, Florence, make sure of that. But when a mysterious woman finds her way into their lives, everything the couple has built, for themselves and their community, is threatened. Dreamland is a new play with music about fighting for a better tomorrow-and the people you love.
DAYTON'S
Book by Alayna Jacqueline
Music and Lyrics by Denise Prosek
Saturday Oct. 18 12:00pm
With excitement swirling around Dayton's iconic 8th floor holiday display, this musical follows patrons across generations. Blending nostalgia and joy, it explores how traditions ground us, how they evolve with the families we build, and how new rituals shape who we become. It's a celebration of what we carry forward and the memories we cherish.
THE OLD MAN'S WAR
By Victor Wishna
Saturday Oct. 18 3:00pm
The Old Man's War tells the remarkable true story of August Bondi, an idealistic Jewish immigrant who flees revolution in Europe for America and joins the fight against slavery alongside radical abolitionist John Brown-until he's forced to question whether his hero's righteous war has gone too far. From the streets of Vienna to the prairies of Kansas, Bondi animatedly relives the relationships, battles, and choices that shaped his life and the course of a fractured nation.
AMERICAN GOLEM: THE KID CANN STORY
By Ryan London Levin
Dramaturgy by Jay Owen Eisenberg
Saturday Oct. 18 7:00pm
Escaping Romanian persecution, a Jewish immigrant family - the Blumenfelds - arrive in the American Midwest to pursue religious freedom. Yet they discover that Minnesota is embroiled in its own political turmoil. As they struggle to survive in the streets of Minneapolis, Isadore Blumenfeld finds an opportunity in the 1920's criminal underworld that may give his family the protection they seek
CAFE AU LAIT
By Vinecia Coleman
Sunday Oct. 19 12:00pm
Nellie Francis, a Black Suffragist from St. Paul in the 1920s, appeals to "History" to have her story forever etched in his book. In order to see her mission through, there is one rule she cannot break: thou shalt not be mean to History. This comedic play explores the Minnesota Suffrage movement through the eyes of Black women.
SALONS: Free events open to the public and all festival goers to dig deeper into the new play development and the New Work being produced across the Twin Cities.
- Twin Cities' New Work Ecosystem: Sunday, Oct 19 10:30am
- Description: Join a lively discussion with playwrights and new works practitioners to discuss new play development, what it takes to write a new history play, and what makes the Twin Cities such a bastion of new work. Panelists to be announced!
- Free refreshments to be provided
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