Tonight is the opening night of imagine a u.s. without racism at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis!

The preview performances over the weekend went well! I was relieved to hear the audience laugh with the first line out the gate. You may read the first scene here.

After Sunday's preview performance, a young Black man exited the theater with tears in his eyes, expressing "how important" the play was to him; a White woman asked if the play could tour all neighborhoods in Minneapolis; and two other individuals expressed interest in starting a Time Bank and Tool Library in their neighborhood.

The script is around 50% verbatim, drawn from interviews I did with over 100 people across the country from a diversity of backgrounds. Their experiences and ideas were woven into the eight characters who inhabit the play.

The play is accompanied by 50 Blog Posts about the project which capture words from interviewees and information about the people behind this project. I hope these posts give you a peek into the great diversity of the interviewees as well as their commonalities. 

The play runs at Mixed Blood Theatre through May 1. Unfortunately, we won't be able to stream the production nor share a video recording, but I will begin reaching out to theaters around the country to see if we might be able to get productions elsewhere.

Finally, in the spirit of the production, I set up a "community pantry" in the unused little library outside the theater. The photos below capture the community pantry and the IMAGINE team at our "last rehearsal ritual" group photo.

Aloha,

Seema