Innovation

LiveActionSet.jpg
From Live Action Set's production of "Please Don't Blow Up Mr. Boban," a popular play they devised with director Jon Ferguson. Photo: Scott Pakudaitus

You say can't tell the difference between performance art, dance, theater, puppetry and anything else. The disciplines change too quickly. They melt together. Any what are those playwrights doing? Don't be afraid. Use the articles below to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Raw honesty

by Trú Rúts Endeavors • Dec. 22

Innovation | Process

Shá Cage and e.g. bailey discuss how artistic expression rises from community in a highly personal way.

Electric Arc Radio

by David Salmela • Dec. 30

Audience | Innovation

An ongoing series of staged readings about four writers living in a house?!? How did they wind up with such a cool crowd?

Beyond “Offending the Audience” or how I came to write America’s most (and least) wanted play

by Greg Allen • Dec. 30

Audience | Innovation

The Neo-Futurists buy pizza for their audience whenever they sell out. Twenty years ago, they never imagined they'd be buying so much pizza.

This is our youth

by • Feb. 19

Audience | Innovation

University of Minnesota student Cristeta Boarini thinks more young people would go to theater, if more theater was like The Flickering Wall.

What moves you?

by Penelope Freeh • May. 4

Innovation

Every dance possesses some combination of old and new. Dancer Penny Freeh reveals her thoughts, and dreams, on the mixture that sustains her career.

Untitled. Unfinished. UNRELEASED.*

by Tom Poole • May. 4

Innovation

Do you want to do the work required to turn an idea into an actual play more than you want to eat kettle chips and watch reruns of Ultimate Cage Fighting?

Open doors

by Marya Hornbacher • May. 6

Innovation

The real risk in creating new work is not that the audience won't understand our vision; the real risk is that we won't understand theirs.

Growing pains

by Michael Kinghorn • May. 6

Innovation

Minnesota's new play production record stands up favorably to any city in the country — and like every city in the country, we've got lots to improve.

Adaptable

by MinnesotaPlaylist • May. 7

Innovation

The prolific, ubiquitous, droll, jocular, successful and local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher sits for a video interview on the state of playwrighting.

Mecca

by Allison Moore • May. 7

Innovation

Minnesota playwrights are often featured at the country’s premiere new play event; Allison Moore reports back from the production of her play Slasher.

Mom, I got news for you...

by Victoria Stewart • Nov. 3

Innovation | Management

No wacky playwright, living on absinthe and cobwebs, is Victoria Stewart. No regular paycheck or stability has she either.

Using whatever light you got

by Craig VanDerSchaegen • Nov. 3

Innovation

A photo essay of Skewed Visions' rehearsals for He Woke Up In A Strange Place Called Home And Although Looking For Bed He Kept Finding Death Instead.

Mission speaks

by Jack Reuler • May. 20

Innovation | Management

The conventional wisdom says that new work is too hard to produce successfully. Mixed Blood's Artistic Director Jack Reuler begs to differ.

When critic meets playwright

by Roy Close • May. 23

Criticism | Innovation

Muzzle the urge to call that theater critic a despicable prick. The critic may just be the best friend a new work can have.

Building a better bucket brigade

by Leah Cooper • May. 23

Innovation | Process

And see, it’s that maniacal way you pull on your hair and squeal that requires us to keep the rehearsal schedule secret from you.

Fuchsia sombrero ashtray

by Mo Perry • May. 26

Innovation

From an actor's perspective, if working on a classic piece of theater is a paint-by-number project, then doing new works is a beginner’s pottery class.

Challenge

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Jul. 15

Innovation

Mixed Blood, Penumbra, August Wilson, New York, the Guthrie, Pillsbury House — Faye Price is on quite a journey.

More than cabaret

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Jul. 23

Innovation | Management

How do you put politics into dance? Or build a queer-identified space where straights feel welcome? Why do it at all? Patrick Scully answers

Screendance

by Vanessa Voskuil • Feb. 25

Innovation

A kind of duet between dancer, choreographer, and cinematographer is beginning to emerge as an art form in the performing arts world.

Fuzzy labels

by Sheila Regan • Mar. 4

Innovation

What do three path-breaking troupes like Body Cartography Project, Skewed Visions, and Off Leash Area think they're doing?

Interaction and connection

by Scotty Reynolds • Mar. 22

Innovation

"At our 'picnic operetta' in the garden, random pedestrians, squirrels, clouds, and worms added to the live-ness of the story."

City dance

by Torsten Johnson • Mar. 23

Innovation

Have you ever seen someone use the city as a jungle gym? It may have been Torsten Johnson playing with, and making play of, the landscape we take for granted.

Live on ice

by Debbie Tallen • Mar. 23

Innovation | Training

As figure skating grows more and more popular, it also grows more theatrical.

The art of participation

by Camille LeFevre • Mar. 27

Criticism | Innovation

Through analysis and experience, Camille LeFevre distills the essence of audience participation outside the black box into a quick study guide for audiences.

Symphonic drama

by Robert Neu • May. 18

Innovation

Music and theater. Not "music theater," but theater and music where serious music and serious drama are paired. Bob Neu explores this neglected genre.

A dramatic introduction to performance art

by Andy Sturdevant • Dec. 13

Innovation | Tradition

Andy Sturdevant introduces us to the sometimes baffling world of performance art.

Are we giving new plays the opportunities they need?

by Max Bunny Sparber • Dec. 23

Innovation

Max "Bunny" Sparber looks at why new plays have the life span of a mayfly, and asks if this is good for theater.

Pop-up theater

by Max Bunny Sparber • Jan. 31

Innovation

It's not new, and it's not fancy, but pop-up theater might offer a solution to the dearth of new theater in America.

Creating improv

by Mike Fotis • Feb. 10

Innovation | Management | Process

It's not easy creating structures for improvisational comedy. Mike Fotis discusses how he does it.

Twitter for theaters

by Coco Mault • Feb. 14

Innovation | Management

Tips and tricks for using Twitter to promote your theater.

Social media for theaters: Facebook

by Coco Mault • Feb. 22

Innovation | Management

How Facebook can be used to promote your theater.

Best kept secret

by Stephanie Long • Jun. 3

Innovation | Social Service

Museum Theatre is a constant balance of artistry and education

New labor for a new economy

by Matthew Foster • Jun. 8

Innovation

Playwright Matthew Foster argues that corporate ownership of ideas stifles innovation

Best of 2010-2011: Laurie Van Wieren

by Charles Campbell • Sep. 11

Criticism | Innovation

Laurie Van Wieran's "2nd Draft: Who Made These Video Tapes" helps us recognize what it means to be here now.

Best of 2010-2011: New Play Readings

by Matt McGeachy • Sep. 25

Criticism | Innovation

"When you need to feel complicit in something, like you belong to a community, go see a reading."

Introducing . . . the Fantasy Theater League

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Oct. 2

Innovation

Put your best production ideas to the test in MinnesotaPlaylist's new Fantasy Theater League.

Create your Fantasy Theater League team

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Oct. 4

Innovation

Want to play Fantasy Theater? Create your ideal local production here, now until Sunday.

Fantasy Theater League, Week 2

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Oct. 10

Innovation

Week 2 of Fantasy Theater League pits Theater of the Absurd against Theater of the Nude.

Build your own FTL rosters, Week 2

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Oct. 12

Innovation | Vision

Don't sit on the sidelines any longer. Enter your Fantasy Theater Team before next week's voting.

Rank your favorite casts and crew, Week 3

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Oct. 16

Innovation | Vision

This week, we have a bunch of new entries. Let them know what you think of their ideas.

Call for new teams, Week 4

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Oct. 20

Innovation

Submit new teams here. Competition is heating up and the public cries out for Craig Johnson to do a solo adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest.

Cast your vote in Week 4 of FTL

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Oct. 24

Innovation

What do you want to see? What do you not want to see? Make your preferences known, anonymously.

FTL Week 5: Classic Play Edition

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Oct. 27

Innovation

Imagine a fantasy local production of Arthur Miller's classic "All My Sons".

Same show, different casts: FTL Week 5

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Oct. 31

Innovation

How much can a cast make or break a play? Vote here.

FTL Week 6: Classic Play Edition #2

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Nov. 3

Innovation

What local cast and design would make Aeschylus's "Agamemnon" soar? Draft your teams today.

Who picked the best cast for tragedy?

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Nov. 8

Innovation

Vote here for your favorite combination of actors in the classic play, Aeschylus's "Agamemnon".

Suggestion box

by Alan M. Berks • Jan. 2

Criticism | Innovation | Management

We're considering a major redesign of the website in the coming months. Now is your chance to send us your suggestions.

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