Dreams and hopes for the Guthrie as it enters its next stage

Joe Haj's appointment as Guthrie Theater artistic director has been hailed not just for its significance to one of the nation's top regional theaters.

Haj is seen as a game changer because he comes from a background of artistic excellence that is twinned to deep inclusion, said Jack Reuler, founding artistic director of Mixed Blood Theatre.

While the Guthrie has served a broad swath of the community, its umbrella will now get bigger, Reuler said.

As Haj prepares for the transition this spring from Joe Dowling, whose achievements over 20 years include reinventing the Guthrie's physical plant and broadening its reach and mission, the incoming leader has been meeting with key stakeholders to hear their perspectives and views. The Star Tribune has done the same, interviewing theater leaders across the spectrum.

To a person, they emphasized that their hopes for the Guthrie should be framed as a positive affirmation of Haj and his vision, and not a put-down of Dowling.

"The Guthrie is the big cheese in town, and whatever it does affects everyone else," Raymond said. "I hope that the Guthrie will want to mine the resources that exist here, and foster connections and excellence."

Raymond is big on the idea of creative placemaking, which uses the arts and artists as central building blocks for vibrant communities, and she would like to see the Guthrie take a lead on that.

She would also like to see the Guthrie support new works, especially works that break the creative mold. Lately, some smaller companies have been doing long-form devised pieces, which are created over periods as long as years.

"In the field, audiences have been trained a certain way to consume plays," Raymond said. "But we see the work as a catalyst for a larger community conversation."

Finally, said Raymond, "I want them to be our proud standard-bearer, to put work out there that everyone wants to go to because it's innovative and mind-blowing and because they're doing it with 100 percent of their heart and groin and guts. This community wouldn't be what it is without the Guthrie."

"I'm pretty sure he's already deeply committed to this idea that they need to bring people of color into major decisionmaking power within the organization, especially around how money is spent. And I stress inclusion of and equity for people in the community who have traditionally been left out, not only for reasons of social justice, but, as we have experienced so clearly at Ten Thousand Things, it makes the artistic work better."

Yoakam, currently in Dowling's production of "The Crucible," said he would like to see more of Shakespeare's works that haven't been done recently, including "Pericles" and "Titus Andronicus."

"I know they're considered unwieldy problem plays, but let everybody have a rip at them."

Yoakam would also like to see more commissioned plays and new works. "And not just the same established playwrights, but newer voices, more plays by and about people of color. "

He thinks the theater could find synergies. When the Guthrie staged "Clybourne Park," for example, it could also have staged Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," which inspired the Bruce Norris play, plus Kwame Kwei-Armah's "Beneatha's Place," also inspired by "Raisin."

"You create a dynamic cultural moment that way," he said.

Yoakam also suggests that the Guthrie's three stages — the 1,100-seat Wurtele Thrust, the 700-seat McGuire Proscenium and the 200-seat flexible Dowling Studio — have taken hard identities with respect to the type of works that can be produced in them.

"Who says that Shakespeare should only be done in the thrust, contemporary American plays in the proscenium and experimental work in the Dowling Studio?"

"I would love to see the Guthrie more embedded in different kinds of communities around the Twin Cities so that their audience diversifies in ways other than age. If they're going to be presenting shows, I would love to see work by more American theaters. Thirdly, I would love for them to expand out of their building with their programming. That may sound crazy, because that building is hard enough to manage. But that building is intimidating for some people, and the theater would have more reach it if goes out there."

"Good Lord, I'm not sure what I would tell Joe Haj. Blow the building up, actually. But seriously, I'd like to have a sense of occasion when you walk into the building, a sense of welcome. So, they could change the architecture or do something to make it not feel like an airport or bus station or something out of Beckett."

Knox would also like to see the Guthrie deepen its investment in its ecology. She likened it to the movement to eat and buy locally.

"Theater should have distinctive regional flavors, like food and language. I wish to see the Guthrie truly restored to its flagship role while reflecting the cultural riches that we have here."

"First of all, I hope that Mr. Haj will mingle and get to know his colleagues in the other theaters and see other work. I know that will be hard because the Guthrie is its own, all-consuming biosphere, but it will be important for his success and ours. A season of well-written plays by mostly white men is a season of the past. We live in a complex, dynamic, messy world with lots of hybrids and a wide variety of human stories. The Guthrie is the mother ship. Its success elevates the whole community, and this is an incredible moment of rebirth."

"Joe Haj is someone who understands global leadership. As an audience member, I want to continue to be challenged, to learn new things and go to new places, in the plays. As an artist, I want to learn and see new forms. As a dramaturge, I want to have and hear new stories. The Guthrie can stand to do more new work, and not just in the old mold. Joe will reinvent the theater, and he's doing so as part of a bigger conversation. A theater of the size and with those resources will have a profound impact at this critical moment."

"My advice to Joe Haj is that I would tell him to steer clear of doing musicals," Brindisi said with a laugh. "That is not self-serving in any way. But besides that, I would tell him to not underestimate the quality of the local talent pool. He has top-drawer designers, actors, directors to draw from. I would want him to know that this is a great theater community that he can help make greater."

"What I love about the current regime is that they seem to honor the community of people," said Rice, who is in this summer's "Stage Kiss" at the Guthrie. "They make things accessible, from audio description to props and costumes. I would want him to continue to honor the community in that way, and hire me a lot." She laughed.

"I remember a time when the joke was you had to go out to New York to get hired at the Guthrie. But that's not true anymore. My hope is that the new Joe will continue to do that by hiring the people here, and not just for roles onstage."

"Ultimately, he has to lead with his own aesthetic sensibility," Brown said. "He has a vision that's inclusive and big, and I hope that he'll take us along with him. I also hope that the community is open to him and supports him with all our energies and hopes."

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390