2025
There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
–AMANDA GORMAN
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Penumbra means partial illumination. Our name invites us to walk in the light and to touch the shadows. We play in complexity, nuance, and depth. There aren’t always easy answers, but it is our work to go in, discover what is there, and to take a position.
This season we celebrate work by artists who have touched the cool shadows of our past and wrestled with the white hot electricity of imagination. We make space for deep healing through thoughtfully curated equity programs and restorative wellness practices for individuals and groups. We lean into what we know—that Penumbra is a place where we can hold space with intention, care, and love and that what those who join us there offer is bigger than what any one of us alone could manifest. We are creating spaces — on stage, in classrooms, and on our yoga mats, where we can bring what’s inside out, to be gently regarded, acknowledged, and attended to.
We dare to be together in a world that feels terribly disconnected and isolating. We celebrate in community. We mourn in community. We heal in community. We are learning our way toward healing and wholeness. It is not a destination, it is a way of being. We are eager to have you join us for more discovery along this path.
In these places where the shadows meet the light, Penumbra stands deeply rooted and brimming with possibility. We are holding a candle for you and for our beloved community. Join us.
Sarah
PHOTO CREDIT (ABOVE): SIMONE LUECK
This play will remain long in my head and heart.”
Arts
Our 48th season reaches across decades and centuries and into the present to bring you four extraordinary stories of challenge and change… and, through it all, hope. From beloved classics to bold new visions, join us to be moved, exhilarated, and empowered for the work ahead.
Roger Guenveur Smith’s
In Honor of
Jean-Michel Basquiat
October 17 October 27 THROUGH
Obie Award-winning actor, playwright, and director Roger Guenveur Smith returns to Penumbra with an intimate one-man show honoring his friend and collaborator Jean-Michel Basquiat. Weaving personal stories and historical anecdotes with his improvisational performance style, Guenveur Smith explores the legacy of one of the most defining artists of the 20 th century and his enduring impact.
Post-Play Discussion
October 24, 2024
Stay after the play for a moderated conversation to learn more about the work and hear unexpected stories behind its creation.
CREDIT (BACKGROUND): AN ORIGINAL COMPOSITION INSPIRED BY
CREDIT (FOREGROUND): ALLEN WEEKS
PHOTO
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
PHOTO
Langston Hughes’
Black Nativity
Directed
by
Lou Bellamy
December 5
December 22
Musical direction by Sanford Moore and the Kingdom Life Church Choir
Choreography by Marciano Silva dos Santos
Penumbra’s gospel re-telling of the Christmas story returns! For over 30 years, Black Nativity has brought together generations of Twin Cities families for a soulstirring, foot-stomping holiday tradition like no other. Director Lou Bellamy and musical director Sanford Moore are again joined by an incredible group of actors, vocalists and dance artists. Let this timeless story remind you of the reason for the season.
A celebration of light, love, and irrepressible joy.
Dominique Morisseau’s
Paradise Blue
Directed by Lou Bellamy
February 13
March 9 THROUGH
Welcome to the Paradise Club, home to a makeshift family of musicians living out their lives in a fastchanging section of Detroit. After a bewitching stranger arrives with ready cash and a secretive agenda, the future of these friendships and the club itself fall into doubt. Morriseau’s noir-inflected musical drama captures people yearning to find their song in a community on the brink.
Post-Play Discussions
February 20, 27, and March 6
Stay after the play for a moderated conversation to learn more about the work and hear unexpected stories behind its creation.
Black community in a fight for its future.
Donja R. Love’s
Untitled Fable
Directed by Lamar Perry
April 24
May 18 THROUGH
Two lovers are separated at sea. In search of his lost companion, one man crosses an ocean guided only by his yearning and the coaxing of the wind, sun, moon and a trickster fish. Love’s newest fable is an achingly poignant and sometimes funny meditation on the passage of time and the persistence of love — and a hopeful prayer that what we seek finds us.
Post-Play Discussions
May 1, 8, and 15
Stay after the play for a moderated conversation to learn more about the work and hear unexpected stories behind its creation.
We will meet again.
Healing in community has been life changing”
Wellness
Our public wellness programs are an invitation to heal together. Join us for honest conversations and engaging wellness practices in spaces cultivated for vulnerability, possibility, and momentum.
Collective Practice Circles
Start or sustain your racial healing journey side by side with your community. At two-hour Collective Practice Circles, we invite members of racially specific groups to come together for light food, fellowship, and shared wellness offerings, from guided meditation to sound baths. Our Collective Practice Circles are designed in alignment with racial identity, please inquire for additional information.
Circles for Black Community
Thursday October 3, 2024
Thursday January 9, 2025
Circles for BIPOC Community
Thursday February 6, 2025
Thursday May 22, 2025
Circles for White Allies
Saturday March 15, 2025
Thursday April 10, 2025
Racial Healing Roundtable: Black Community
For our beloved community to heal, it’s integral that we take the time to gather and talk about what ails us and what keeps us resilient. Our upcoming Roundtables create spaces to cultivate compassion and engage in candid conversations essential for racial healing. Each Roundtable includes a meal, community building, and dialogue. Registration is required for these free events.
Reserve your space at penumbratheatre.org/wellness
Thursday November 7, 2024
Thursday March 13, 2025
Thursday June 19, 2025
Racial Healing Circles for Organizations
Through facilitated group wellness experiences, Penumbra offers companies and non-profits new ways to support racial healing, inclusion, and belonging in their organizations. Designed for affinity groups or inter-racial teams, our circles build fellowship and spark important conversations in a nurturing space that supports collective transformation.
For information email wellness@penumbratheatre.org.
Penumbra’s mission is one of unflinching resolve toward addressing the needs of any community”
PHOTO CREDIT (ABOVE AND TOP RIGHT): CAROLINE YANG
Equity
Penumbra has been on the leading edge of innovative and transformative solutions for equity work for over twenty years. We offer a holistic, integrated approach to racial healing that supports discovery, belonging, and reciprocity, while offering practical tools to support organizational and communal wellbeing
Foundations of Racial Healing
Penumbra is the only organization licensed to train clients in The 4A’s Equity Framework™ developed by Penumbra’s president, Sarah Bellamy, to make the work of racial healing clear, practical, and possible.
Our team of artists, equity leaders, and wellness experts guide participants through racial healing work in an integrated, holistic way that will benefit not just our clients’ lives, but the lives of those around them, too. This workshop covers:
• The 4A’s Equity Framework™, a process to build confidence, competence, and dexterity in racial equity and racial healing work
A primer on how racial trauma affects the body, mind, and spirit, as well as methods to restore and repair
• Trauma-informed practices that can empower individuals and organizations to begin or advance their racial healing
The Psychology of Race Race is complicated.
While race is a social construct without biological meaning, racism has made the experience of race very real. This training invites participants to explore the complexity of race and how humans have found both profound belonging and encountered extreme terror due to how race is made real in society. This workshop covers:
• Connection through racial identity
Racism, trauma, and effects on mental and physical well-being
Trauma-informed practices that can increase psychological safety
Powerful storytelling and expert facilitation
Belonging
Belonging is a fundamental human need and lifelong work. As social creatures, human beings are biologically driven to create groups held together through attachment and identity. While this creates a sense of security for some, others may experience ostracization, prejudice, even exile. This training invites participants to contemplate how we can learn to belong to ourselves first, creating spaciousness and energy to help others belong, too. This workshop covers:
• The biological importance of belonging; primal and contemporary practices of reciprocity
Connection through identity; empathy, and the construction of in-groups and out-groups
• Trauma-informed practices that can increase belonging
• Powerful storytelling and expert facilitation
Allyship
Penumbra’s practice of allyship is rooted in compassion. True compassion urges us toward action when others are suffering. It is an orientation, a frame of mind that influences behaviors, rather than a series of finite actions. This training focuses on strategies to support besieged communities and vulnerable individuals by deepening our historical analysis and leveraging our privilege to interrupt oppression. Everyone can be an ally for someone else. This workshop covers:
• Identity and social location work
• Understanding privilege and strategies to leverage it for social impact
• Trauma-informed practices that can increase resiliency and regulation
• Powerful storytelling and expert facilitation
Book Your Training
For more information, or to book an equity training workshop, visit us online at penumbratheatre.org/equity or contact us at:
Phone: 651.224.3180
Email: equity@penumbratheatre.org
Web: penumbratheatre.org/equity
PHOTO CREDIT (ABOVE AND RIGHT): ALLEN WEEKS
Youth
For decades, Penumbra has used the arts and equity training to help young people cultivate a positive sense of self and see themselves represented authentically and lovingly. Now we’re opening more space for youth to learn, grow, lead, and feel at home.
(Positive Racial Identity Development and Empowerment)
Our Positive Racial Identity Development and Empowerment (PRIDE) curriculum is designed to support youth of all races as they learn about concepts and experiences of race, identity, and social justice at a critical time in their lives. Now in development, the program will prioritize racial identity and racial healing alongside issues of gender, social class, disability, and other social differences for children ages 2 to 22.
School Residencies
For schools and youth organizations that want to infuse racial healing into their work, Penumbra offers two residences—designed to engage students, staff, or both. Our Identity Workshop uses selfreflection, DEI language exploration, and artistic components to help nurture mutual understanding across identity groups. In our Theatre Workshop, our resident artists use the tools and skills of theatre to explore racial healing in an engaging group experience.
Student Matinees
Bring your students to see a show and stay afterwards for a postplay discussion. Educators will also be provided with a study guide, standard-based curriculum, and contextual essay. Tickets for students, teachers, and chaperones can be reserved by calling 651.224.3180 or emailing boxoffice@penumbratheatre.org.
To learn more about Penumbra’s PRIDE curriculum, our residencies, or to bring these powerful experiences to your organization, email us at youth@penumbratheatre.org.
You said that I should be ready to have my life changed—you were right! Penumbra opened me up to new ideas and the possibilities of social change”
2024-25 Season Packages
Advance Sale
Discounts based on full price tickets. No further discounts on Senior or Student pricing on tickets to Penumbra events. For more information, contact our Patron Services team at 651.224.3180 or boxoffice@penumbratheatre.org.
4-Play Package
Get a 20% discount on these four great presentations: Basquiat, Black Nativity, Paradise Blue, and Donja Love’s Untitled Fable. Pick your favorite day of the week and performance time.
3-Play Package
Get a 15% discount on these three great presentations: Basquiat, Paradise Blue, and Donja Love’s Untitled Fable. Pick your favorite day of the week and performance time.
Penumbra Wellness Center
Opening Winter 2025!
PHOTO CREDIT: CAROLINE YANG
At Penumbra, we believe that each person’s healing journey is unique, self-determined, and constantly evolving. By resourcing our hearts, our minds, and our bodies, we create more space to be in right relationship with ourselves, and each other.
Designed by Locus Architecture, our newly re-imagined wellness space includes dedicated practice rooms with features inspired by African textiles, Black visual art, and nature. Join us in the new year for individual and collective healing opportunities including massage, acupuncture, yoga, sound baths, African dance, community events, and more. Consider reserving your space or booking a treatment before or after you join us in the theatre or for an equity workshop.
Details at: penumbratheatre.org/wellness
Penumbra Wellness Center
Architectural Sketches
Communal Room
Lobby
BASKET WOVEN LIGHT FIXTURE
BASKET WOVEN LIGHT FIXTURE
CEILING DRAPED FABRIC
PENDANT LIGHT BULB
WALL PATTERN
WALL PATTERN
WOOD FLOOR
BASKET WOVEN LIGHT FIXTURE
BASKET WOVEN LIGHT FIXTURE
Support Penumbra
As part of the Penumbra family of supporters, your commitment contributes to a more just and compassionate world. Go deeper into our work, make new connections, and add to community and individual wellness through art, joy, and education. We’re so grateful to have you on the journey.
Give Deeply
Build a philanthropic legacy that includes racial healing as you contribute to the future of Penumbra and your community. Whether it’s a one-time gift, a donation of stock or securities, or a legacy fund as part of a will or bequest, your generosity makes everything we do possible. To learn more about individual giving, visit penumbratheatre.org/support or contact us at development@penumbratheatre.org
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Ways to Give
One-time Donation: Make your gift online, in-person, or by mail.
Gifts of Securities, Stock, and IRAs: When you donate securities, you not only avoid capital gains tax, you can claim a charitable deduction for the full, appreciated value of the securities. Securities and IRAs are easy to transfer electronically — ask your tax advisor for details.
Consider Planned Giving: You can strengthen your community for generations to come by naming Penumbra (EIN 41-1563764) as a beneficiary of your will, donor advised fund, trust, retirement plan, IRA, or life insurance policy.
Questions? Contact our development team at development@penumbratheatre.org
