Guthrie to host local companies, artists, in its 2019-2020 season

Star Tribune photo of Vie Boheme by Elizabeth Flores.

A new play by Twin Cities writer Kathryn Haddad will premiere at the Guthrie Theater in the fall. "Zafira and the Resistance," about a schoolteacher who becomes a victim of rising Islamophobia in the wake of a terror attack, will be part of the 2019-2020 season of local works presented by the Guthrie in its Dowling Studio.

Directed by Malek Najjar and Zeina Salame, "Zafira" grows out of another work by the author that was produced by Pangea World Theater in 2011.

American Muslims and immigrants to the country face a "dire" environment, Haddad said Wednesday, adding that she welcomes the opportunity to "rework a play that speaks to the present political situation and anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S."

"Zafira," produced under the aegis of New Arab American Theater Works, runs Oct. 11–27.

The Guthrie's upcoming studio season also includes Theater Mu's production of "Fast Company," playwright Carla Ching's comedy about a family of clever grifters and scam artists. Mu previously staged Ching's "The Two Kids That Blow Sh*t Up."

Director Brian Balcom, who works regularly between the Twin Cities and Chicago, stages "Company" (Nov. 8-24).

And "Centerplay," a new work by multi-disciplinary renaissance artist Vie Boheme, will premiere in the Dowling Studio next spring. Boheme has been a notable dancer with TU Dance and the Camille Brown & Dancers. She has acted onstage at the Guthrie in "West Side Story" and "Refugia." And she has choreographed for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. "Centerplay" combines music, dance and spoken word (March 20–28, 2020).

For the past three seasons, tickets to all events in the Dowling Studio cost $9, thanks to three years of funding from the Mellon Foundation. There will still be select $9 tickets to studio shows, but regular performances of these local presentations will cost $25 for weeknights and $32 for weekends.

Tickets go on sale July 8. 612-377-2224 or online.