Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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For 40 years, Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul has produced plays that speak to Black American life and culture. Normally, the seats would be filled at this time of year for performances of “Black Nativity,” the annual holiday show featuring gospel music, dance and some of the best singing in the Twin Cities. The pandemic has forced the theater to move the annual event to a shortened 

Lou Bellamy started Penumbra Theatre in 1976, and it became one of the largest African American theaters in the country. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson started his career there. Just before the pandemic, Penumbra staged Claudia Rankine’s “The White Card” — a play about race, power and privilege in the art world.

Now behind its closed doors, this beloved Minnesota institution is embarking on a transformation.

Sarah Bellamy, Lou’s daughter, took over as sole artistic director three years ago.

Under her leadership, the theater recently opened the 

This fall, after years of struggling financially, it 

Angela Davis spoke with Sarah Bellamy about taking on this broader mission and about her own journey as a producer, writer and mother.

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Host Angela Davis talks with Penumbra Theatre’s artistic director Sarah Bellamy about her artistic journey and her expanded vision for Penumbra as a place where theater, wellness and social justice converge.

MPR News with Angela Davis - Penumbra Theatre's Sarah Bellamy on motherhood, theater and racial healing

Penumbra Theatre's Sarah Bellamy on motherhood, theater and racial healing

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