Penumbra Theatre’s arts director Chris Berry is beside himself.
When he selected the female hoop dreams play “Flex” a year ago for the St. Paul company — a play that requires a basketball court and some real hoops skills onstage — he had no idea how perfectly that drama would align with this breakthrough moment for women’s sports.
“Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined where the ecosystem would be with Caitlin [Clark], Angel [Reese], Paige [Bueckers], Kamilla [Cardoso] and all these superstars,” said Berry, who is also a sports fanatic. “Wow, just wow.”
Berry and his team at Penumbra hope that “Flex,” which previews April 30 and opens May 2, will draw some crossover court talent to the theater. They’ve reached out to some of Minnesota’s collegiate and professional basketball stars to come see Candrice Jones’ drama about high school teammates in rural Arkansas confronting teen pregnancy and career dreams just as the WNBA is about to begin.
The theater also has tapped Tommy Franklin, a 14-season member of the Lynx practice squad (2009-22) during the time Minnesota’s winningest professional team notched four WNBA titles, to help coach the actors. He has been drilling them in X’s and O’s, suicides and layups.
“We’re turning these [actors] into players,” Franklin said. “We’re getting the dialogue in their bodies. These actors are extremely hungry to learn and improve their basketball skills, and that kind of hunger is not something that can be taught.”
“Flex” is not the only show to showcase complications around female physical virtuosity. “The Wolves,” which played at the Jungle Theater several seasons ago, centered on a fierce soccer team.
Berry chose “Flex” on the strength of its dramaturgy. Last summer, the New York Times heralded the Lincoln Center production of the show as hitting “the right rhythms on the court and off.” Penumbra asked Tiffany Nichole Greene, who was the resident director of “Hamilton” for four-plus years, to stage the Minnesota production.
