Penumbra Presents 2018-19 Season BEYOND BELIEF

Penumbra Theatre embarks on an exciting new season under Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy. The 2018-2019 Season, Beyond Belief, explores the rituals, practices, and creative forces that both bind and enliven us. The lineup features classic and contemporary works by emerging and established black artists, the return of the popular Let's Talk series, and meaningful community outreach programming celebrating African American art and culture.

The new season of main stage performances kicks off in August with two shows created by the students of Penumbra's renowned Summer Institute program, a leadership development program for teens in art for social change. In September Penumbra will present the critically acclaimed for colored girls, a choreopoem written in 1974 by Ntozake Shange. Directed by Sarah Bellamy and Lou Bellamy and featuring choreography by Ananya Chatterjea of Ananya Dance Theatre, this classic work from the Black Arts Movement is an example of the awesome power a chorus of women's voices can have and proves strikingly relevant as gender and race takes center stage in American politics. December features the return of Minnesota's holiday favorite Black Nativity with music by Sanford Moore and the Kingdom Life Church Choir and choreography by Uri Sands of TU Dance. In February Penumbra will produce a world premiere from the creator of The Ballad of Emmett Till, Ifa Bayeza. Directed by Talvin Wilks, benevolence is the second play in Bayeza's powerful trilogy about Emmett Till. In this groundbreaking new work, Bayeza paints a haunting, unforgettable portrait of the collateral damage surrounding a case that gained international attention and sparked the Civil Rights Movement. The main stage season concludes with a co-production between Penumbra Theatre and Theater Mu. The Brothers Paranormal, written by Thai-American playwright Prince Gomolvilas and directed by Randy Reyes, will be a regional premiere and is a witty and haunting story about two Thai-American brothers who launch a ghost-hunting business. When they investigate the home of an African American couple displaced by Hurricane Katrina, everyone's notions of reality, fantasy, and sanity clash against the shocking truth.

The highly popular Let's Talk Series returns with timely conversations on AfroFuturism, the power of bearing witness to trauma, the relationship between ritual and performance in seeking the divine, and stories from the Rondo neighborhood, where Penumbra has made its home. Curated by Sarah Bellamy and featuring local and national guest panelists, the Let's Talk series creates space for compassionate and challenging conversations addressing issues of social justice, equity, and the arts. Panelists will be announced in September 2018.

Penumbra continues to offer free film screenings and post-film dialogues with its Reel Talk Series . This season's films include The Language You Cry In, an amazing detective story that reveals meaningful links between African Americans and their ancestral past; The Last Angel of History, a sci-fi mixtape of music and identity from John Akomfrah that calls for black people around the world to uncover their histories; Daughters of the Dust, an independent film about three generations of Gullah women on St. Helena Island that was the first feature film directed by an African American woman to be distributed theatrically in the United States; and An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Terence Nance's debut film about unrequited love that blends of home video, fiction, animation, puppetry, voiceover, and nonfiction shorts.

As part of Black History Month in February, Penumbra will again host a series of family-friendly events to explore African American heritage and foster community at the theater. Sunday Suppers are communal dinners featuring readings of classic black plays performed by Penumbra Theatre company members. This season's Sunday Suppers-Mule Bone and Family Portraits-welcome families to Penumbra to share a meal and celebrate together. Later in the month, the public will also be invited to explore issues of race and identity using the tools of theatre at an acclaimed RACE Workshop. Developed to foster equity and invite dialogue in the workplace, neighborhoods, schools, and communities, Penumbra's RACE Workshop will be open to public participation for the third year in a row.

"This season powerful drama and provocative conversations will inspire us to practice our humanity to imagine a future beyond belief. I am excited to welcome audiences and artists to celebrate the customs that have kept African Americans connected, to honor what has sustained us through the darkest days of American history, and to join our circle as we move toward higher, healing ground," says Sarah Bellamy. "Moreover, I am thrilled to produce work that celebrates women of color who have been groundbreaking in their courage and artistry. It is intentional to produce plays by Ntzoke Shange and Ifa Bayeza in the same season: these virtuosic women are sisters. Uplifting two black female writers from the same family speaks to legacy and the power of ritual storytelling in profound ways. As women across the country break ceilings and silences, these plays feel right."

2018-19 subscriptions go on sale to the public on Tuesday, May 1 at 10 a.m.. Discount packages are available until June 30, 2018. More information can be found online at penumbratheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 651-224-3180.

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