Through our eyes 2 - new play festival, Sep 19 - Oct 4
About the Festival
The Festival is a three week new play festival that is also the culmination of the 2024 - 2025 Through Our Eyes playwriting cohort. For the past year, six Twin Cities playwrights, Mayra Gurrola Calderón, Johanna Keller Flores, Michelle de Joya, Sunny Thao, Jamaka Young and Ehkhudah Zar have developed new scripts through a cohort & mentorship program. Five of the plays, ranging in subject matter from quinceañeras to neighborhood hair salons, will be showcased as part of the Festival.
The first two weeks of the Festival featured two plays performed back to back at Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis. The final week of the Festival will feature three stage readings at 825 Arts in St. Paul. Sprinkled throughout will be workshops, post-show discussions and a puppet show for our youngest audience members.
the plays - AT OPEN EYE THEATRE, Mpls, SEPTEMBER 19 - 28, 20
Burn & Dash and Quinceañera
The first two weeks of the festival features plays by Sunny Thao & Mayra Gurrola Calderón, performed back to back on the same evening.
Burn & Dash
by Sunny Thao
Directed by Jame See Yang.
Alternately set in the back of a van and the forest of a village, two girls form a deep friendship in the shadow of bride kidnapping.
Performed by: Grace Ly & Lily Bo Eun Goebel.
Quinceañera
by Mayra Gurrola Calderon
Directed by Nora Montañez Patterson
In preparing for her quinceañera, a girl faces long buried secrets and uncovers a whole world. Quinceañera explores themes of motherhood, grief, queerness and discovery.
Performed by: Bella Maldonado, Isa Condo-Olvera, Lucía Salazar-Davidson, Phi Hamens Nelson, Reyna Rios & Samuel Osborne-Huerta.
Actors in filmed sequences for Quinceañera: Carla Solari, Claudia Veronica Garcia, Gigi Picota & Johanna Keller Flores.
CREATIVE TEAM
Amanda Oporto, Bailey Fenn, Callie Aho, Caroline A. Zaltron, Ches Cipriano, Eliza Rasheed, Isabella Freeland, Mitchell Frazier, Sequoia Hauck & Visal Anandakumar.
PERFORMANCE DATES:
Friday, Sep. 19 at 7:30 pm - Opening
Saturday, Sep. 20 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, Sep. 21 at 2:00 pm - Masks required, Open Captions, Post-show discussion
Thursday, Sep 25 at 7:30 pm
Friday, Sep 26 at 7:30 pm - ASL Interpretation
Saturday, Sep. 27 at 7:30 - Open Captions
Sunday, Sep. 28 at 2:00 pm - Masks required, Closing
LOCATION:
Open Eye Theatre
506 East 24th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55404
TICKETS
Pick-Your-Price, $25 - $10 for every performance. Free community tickets available for the Thursday 9/25 performance.
AGE RECOMMENDATION
Recommended for ages 14 & up
CONTENT WARNING
Burn & Dash includes themes of bride kidnapping.
Quinceañera includes themes of the death of a loved one.
ACCESSIBILITY
Open Captioning on 9/21 & 9/27
ASL Interpretation on 9/26 by Indigenous Interpreters Organization
Sensory Kits available at the box office
the stage readings - AT 825 ARTS, ST. PAUL, Oct 2-4
STAGE READINGS
The last week of the festival features stage readings of new works by Johanna Keller Flores and Michelle de Joya; a ritual creation & sharing by Jamaka Young, and puppet making & storytelling by Speaking Out Collective.
SCHEDULE:
Thursday, October 2 at 7:30 pm
Something's in the Water stage reading
by Johanna Keller Flores
Directed by kt shorb
Luz and their girlfriend Fiore move into a new house outside the city looking for a fresh start, but their grief, dreams, and a new presence proceeds to haunt them.
Recommended for ages 14 & up.
Friday, October 3 at 7:30 pm
AB NAILS stage reading
by Michelle de Joya
Directed by Siddeeqah Shabazz.
When a Vietnamese family owned nail salon in the Frogtown neighborhood is faced with losing their business, a new Black nail artist joins the staff and turns everything around, but tensions rise as the community dynamic starts to shift... Can the family let go of their pride and adapt in order to survive or will they let it all go up in flames?
Recommended for ages 16 & up.
Saturday, October 4 at 2:00 pm
Underground Intersection & Ritual Creation
By Jamaka Young, with music by Mayyadda
Directed by Suzy Messerole & Siddeeqah Shabazz
Artist Jamaka Young will share scenes & songs from her new musical Underground Intersection. Following the sharing, Young will close out the Through Our Eyes 2 Festival by leading a group ritual for staying creative and resilient in challenging times.
Recommended for ages 14 & up.
TICKETS:
Pick-your-price $15 - $5
special events
Craft Your Own Monologue - Writing Workshop
Date/Time: Friday, Sep 26 from 6:00 - 7:00 pm
Location: Resource, 512 East 24th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55404
In this workshop, Exposed Brick Theatre artists will guide you in brainstorming and writing monologues, bringing your own identity, culture and aesthetics into the writing process. This workshop is held at Resource, which is right next door to Open Eye Theatre, so particpants can also stay for the 7:30 evening performance of Burn & Dash and Quinceanera.
Recommended for Ages 16 & up.
Reservation required; cost is $15- $5 sliding scale.
Click on Photo to Register
Thelma and the Lettuce Thief
Puppet Making & Storytelling with the Speaking Out Collective
Date/Time: Saturday, Oct 4 at 11:00 am
Location: 825 Arts, 825 University Ave., St. Paul
Thelma helps Grandpa in the garden where she learns about slowing down, sharing what you grow, and planting seeds of change. Audience members will experience an interactive puppet show. Following the show, participants will make their own puppets.
Recommended for all ages, specifically geared for young children & their families.
FREE (Donations welcome) & No-Reservation required.
The activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund and support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Through Our Eyes 2 Festival is also funded by grants from the Jerome Foundation, Marbrook Foundation, McKnight Foundation and Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation; and the generosity of our individual donors.
