Illusion Theatre's Annual Fresh Ink Series Returns in July

This summer's Fresh Ink series features a satirical one-person play, a true-life story based on an unlikely friendship and a boundary-stretching physical theater piece. Continuing Illusion Theater's 40th Anniversary Season, the annual showcase is on stage for three weekends in July - July 9-11, July 16-19 and July 23-26 - with each weekend offering a new work-in-progress at Illusion's 8th floor theater in the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave. in downtown Minneapolis.

The first weekend July 9-11, Zaraawar Mistry (Dreamland Arts) performs his slightly jaded sardonic spoof, Dr. Deep - Shake Your Noggin Like a Bobblehead. In this solo piece, Dr. Deep addresses the Fundamental Laws of the Universe and how, by understanding them, we can live a life of Essential Beingness.

From July 16-19, Yussle the Muscle: A Fable from the Sweet Science of Bruising, written and directed by David Feldshuh (author of Pulitzer Prize finalist, Miss Evers' Boys), will be on stage. In the run up to World War II, Max Schmeling, German heavy weight boxing champion and Nazi poster boy, became friends with his Jewish, American immigrant boxing manager, Yussle Jacobs. This story is about the survival of their friendship in defiance of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Third Reich's Minister of Public Propaganda and Enlightenment.

The third weekend's offering July 23-26 is I'll Be Trying To Be There by the Neutral Mask Collective, a nine-person ensemble that creates experimental theater aimed at being truly present with the audience. Using a movement-based approach, they'll present a series of non-traditional scenes that examine human relationships, behavior, needs and expectations.

Fresh Ink gives space for emerging and established artists to explore new ground, develop their creative pieces and try their works-in-progress in front of audiences. Now in its 28th year, Fresh Ink has presented more than 120 plays, with many going on to become full-length productions.

Single tickets are $20 ($15 for students). Two play packages ($36) and three play packages ($51) are also available. All tickets can be purchased at the Illusion Box Office at 612-339-4944 or online at www.illusiontheater.org.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.