MN Shortlist July 24-30: Witchy Duluth, a new northside festival and Shakespeare’s bloodiest
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The Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona celebrates 20 years, the inaugural Northside Jazz & Heritage Festival, Jukebox the Ghost and more in this week’s MN Shortlist.
‘Titus Andronicus (in 90 minutes)’ by the Birth Play Project in Minneapolis — through Aug. 1
Shakespeare’s bloodiest play is not often produced today, despite it being quite popular in his lifetime. It’s now being produced by the Birth Play Project, a theater company that focuses primarily on issues connected to reproductive justice and body sovereignty.
It’s a good fit for the company, since the show deals with issues of sexual violence and familial bonds — plus, “Titus Andronicus” is the first tragedy Shakespeare ever wrote, so the play is the “birthplace” of themes the Bard would explore in later works.
“The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus” tells the story of the titular Titus, a Roman soldier returning home from his most recent campaign against the Goths. He has returned to Rome with a captured Queen of the Goths and forced her and her sons into slavery. After Titus kills the Queen’s oldest child as a sacrifice to honor his men killed in the recent war, the play’s plot of grief and revenge kicks off.
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It is grim, dark and at times absurd, but the Birth Play Project also says that in modern times it “reads as a wake-up call,” asking the question “Does anyone win the dangerous tug-of-war between grief and grievance?” (Jacob Aloi)
Minnesota Marine Art Museum 20th Anniversary celebration in Winona — July 24-26
The Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, one of the most interesting museums in the state, is hosting a weekend-long 20th anniversary celebration July 24-26.
Borne from the Maritime Heritage Society and its members' passion for life on the river, the MMAM opened upon the banks of the Mississippi in 2006 and has grown to be an art institution inspired by water and our relationships to it.
The result is bodies of water explored from every angle — historical, environmental, political, cultural and for just plain beauty — which has produced a fascinating range of exhibitions, from whimsical papier-mâché animals and a wild historical artwork to the challenging and heartbreaking, like “A Nation Takes Place: Navigating Race and Water in Contemporary Art” and “Re/Framing The View: 19th-century American Landscapes.
For the celebration, there will be live music, a puppet show, a performance by the Winona Symphony Orchestra, a scavenger hunt, comments from Mayor Scott Sherman, snow cones and $6 admission to museum exhibitions.
Current exhibitions include an exploration of traditional crafts as juxtaposed with environmental concerns about water and a solo show from Minneapolis-based Ojibwe artist Gordon Coons, who works in the Woodland style, inspired by “regional Ojibwa rock paintings, petroglyphs, historic birch bark drawings, and oral traditions.”
And for those who missed the 61-foot-tall World’s Largest Rubber Duck at Twin Cities Pride last month, you can find her on the museum grounds all weekend. (Alex V. Cipolle)
Red Wing Area Studio Tour — July 24-26
There’s something about the southeastern Minnesota River Bluff Country that spawns so much art and creativity. Likely it has something to do with the sprawling vistas, the abundance of good clay and a history of arts patronage, like at the Anderson Center at Tower View on the outskirts of Red Wing.
You can see this appreciation for craft and fine art during the free fifth annual Red Wing Studio Tour, hosted by the Anderson Center and Red Wing Arts, with the work of 28 artists on view across 10 studios. Look for the swirling geometric abstractions of painter and printmaker Steven Sorman, the delightfully curious kinetic wood clock sculptures of James Borden and the horsehair raku pottery of ceramic duo Alexis Zaccariello and Azalea Heintz. Use the interactive map for a self-guided tour. (Alex V. Cipolle)
Northside Jazz & Heritage Festival in Minneapolis — July 26
The inaugural North Minneapolis festival is a free outdoor celebration 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday of jazz, soul, R&B, gospel, art, dance and Black cultural heritage along the riverfront at West Broadway Avenue and West River Parkway.
More than a dozen Minnesota-based musical acts will perform, including Grammy-winning singer Jamecia Bennett, neo-soul pianist and composer Wenso Ashby and singer-songwriter Ashley DuBose (who appeared on season 5 of “The Voice”).
The fest will also feature a marketplace for local food vendors, artisans and small businesses. (Alex V. Cipolle)
An Evening with Jukebox the Ghost at the Fine Line — July 28
The band “Jukebox the Ghost” has shades of musical theater and 2000s pop in their work, with tight lyrics and catchy hooks that rattle around in your brain long after you’ve listened to one of their songs.
The music trio formed in 2006 in Washington, D.C., and has passed through Minnesota several times for solo shows and opening for musicians like Ingrid Michaelson and Motion City Soundtrack.
This time around, they are bringing what is billed as a “variety show spectacular,” that will feature special guests and songs from an upcoming concept album. Given their funky and visually engaging music videos, the variety show should be a great evening. (Jacob Aloi)
‘Witch’ at Zeitgeist Arts in Duluth — July 30-Aug. 8
If you’re anything like me, you’re holding tight to the second half of summer while also counting down the days to Halloween (less than 100!). In that vein, the dark comedy “Witch,” arrives at the perfect time at the Zeitgeist Arts theater in downtown Duluth.
With “Witch,” playwright Jen Silverman reimagines the 17th-century Jacobean play “The Witch of Edmonton.” The play follows the very real Elizabeth Sawyer, who bore 11 children and who was subsequently executed on charges of witchcraft and murder. Sawyer allegedly confessed to engaging in a long-term relationship with the devil, who came to her in the form of a dog named Tom (the Wikipedia read on this is wild).
In Silverman’s telling, the devil does come to town, but the unjustly ostracized and defiant Sawyer is not such an easy target for his charms as her fellow villagers. The Duluth production is directed by Anika Thompson, director of development for the Duluth Playhouse. (Alex V. Cipolle)
