Arboreal metaphors abound at St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre — a company that adopted Africa's durable baobab tree as an emblem — as Sarah Bellamy takes over from her father, company founder Lou Bellamy.
The obvious question for observers of the nation's most esteemed black theater company: How far will the apple fall from the tree?
More appropriate, to Penumbra officials at least, is this: How many branches will the theater sprout as it tries to expand its community reach?
That is the goal of its just announced 40th anniversary season, the final year of a three-year succession plan in which the Bellamys are serving as co-artistic directors.
"We take seriously our role of doing art for social change, but we're doing much more than that," Sarah Bellamy said. She hopes to broaden the theater's stakeholders, and to build coalitions. "It's really about providing a deep exploration for our audiences and using our ability to connect the work we're producing onstage to the issues that really matter now."
To that end, Penumbra is bringing back its popular Let's Talk panel discussions, now in their fifth year. Last month the theater drew an overflow crowd to the University of Minnesota for a discussion with Black Panther Party members Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins in connection with season finale "Sunset Baby," a play about idealistic revolutionaries.
Next season will include panels on "Voting Rights – Then and Now" (Oct. 24); "Celebrating Rondo," about the neighborhood where the theater grew up (Dec. 12); "Divas," from Josephine Baker and Lena Horne to Diana Ross and RuPaul (March 13, 2017), and "Sustaining Theaters of Color," a joint discussion with local troupes Mu Performing Arts, New Native Theatre, Pangea World Theater and Teatro del Pueblo (May 15).
The theater is also adding public performances by youngsters July 30 and Aug. 6 to its highly regarded Summer Institute training program, as well as film screenings and a reading series of classic plays, aimed in part at families.
