MN Shortlist, Jan. 23-29: Risk-taking theater, winter festivals and poetry with purpose
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This week’s picks share a quiet insistence on possibility — on what happens when artists make room for risk, play and collective meaning.
Across stages, bookstores and winter streets, these events test how culture can hold joy and rigor at the same time, whether through reinvention, representation or the simple act of gathering in the cold and paying attention together.
New Eye Festival at Theater Mu in Minneapolis — through Jan. 25
The annual “New Eye Festival” is less interested in polish than in possibility, creating space for playwrights of Asian descent to test ideas in public and see what resonates.
Built around the prompt “What does freedom mean to you?”, this year’s showcase pairs several sharp 10-minute plays with an excerpt from “Kung Fu Zombies vs. Southeast Asian Girl Scouts,” the latest chapter in an ongoing cult saga.
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The final day widens the lens with an in-progress reading of “Hmong Futures,” a new work centered on the Hmong American experience in Minneapolis.
Hamilton de Holanda at The Dakota in Minneapolis — Jan. 26
Brazilian virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda brings global stature to The Dakota with his ten-string mandolin, played with the freedom of a jazz improviser and the grounding of choro.
His sound is shaped by childhood street jams and formal conservatory training in Brazil. A Latin Grammy winner, he connects cultures, stretches genre boundaries and demonstrates how much musical possibility can live inside a small instrument.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at Northrop in Minneapolis — Jan. 29
This marks a rare Minnesota return for a company that has spent decades demonstrating that virtuosity and humor are not opposites. Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo bring world-class classical technique and precise comic timing to a one-night-only performance that skewers ballet tradition while fully honoring it.
In the current cultural moment, their long-standing drag-inflected practice reads not as provocation but as continuity, reminding Minneapolis audiences that rigor, camp and pleasure have always occupied the same stage.
Poetry Night With Dralandra Larkins and Friends at Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis — Jan. 28
This reading brings together four poets whose work reflects different approaches to performance, community engagement and literary craft. Minneapolis-based spoken-word poet and educator Dralandra Larkins anchors the evening with work shaped by rhythm, personal narrative and her background in social work.
She’s joined by Rosetta Peters, author of “Blue Hummingbird Dance,” Minnesota Book Award finalist Ben Westlie and Black Muslim poet Sagirah Shahid, offering audiences a rare chance to hear how four distinct voices address questions of identity, faith and public life in contemporary Minnesota poetry.
The Great Northern winter festival across Minneapolis and St. Paul — Through Feb. 1
Minnesota’s signature winter festival returns with the confidence of an event that understands cold is part of the point. The Great Northern spans more than 50 programs across Minneapolis and St. Paul, blending outdoor art, performances, talks and food into a region-wide reflection on climate, wellness and collective resilience.
New features like the Sauna Village and the Climate Solutions series push the festival beyond spectacle, framing winter as a shared civic resource and a site for sustained cultural thinking, not just endurance.
‘Go, Dog. Go!/Ve Perro ¡Ve!’ at Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis — through Feb. 22
This buoyant adaptation understands that for many kids, this will be their very first time in a theater, and it treats that moment with care and joy. Based on the beloved book by P.D. Eastman, the show leans heavily on movement and visual storytelling while weaving English and Spanish together in a way that feels natural, playful and genuinely inclusive.
Adapted by Steven Dietz — better known for darker fare like his take on “Dracula” — this version meets young audiences exactly where they are, inviting first-time theatergoers in without talking down to them in Minneapolis.
Taken together, these aren’t just things to do. They’re reminders of how art functions in public life. They welcome first-timers, stretch long traditions and insist that culture can be both generous and demanding. In a moment that often feels fractured or rushed, each offers a different way to slow down, show up and consider what becomes possible when communities share space, sound and stories.
