When Jordan Peele came out with “Get Out” in 2017, the film opened the floodgates for a whole new kind of horror narrative, one that took a keen eye toward race and American society in new and interesting ways. Keiko Green’s “Hells Canyon” follows in this trend, unearthing (literally and figuratively) histories of violence and power all while relishing in a deliciously scary story. Theater Mu’s production of the show opens this week. In other theater happenings, “Wine in the Wilderness,” at Penumbra, revives a piece by 20th Century American Black playwright Alice Childress. An actor with the American Negro Theater, Childress went on to earn acclaim as a playwright, young adult novelist, and newspaper columnist, and was an early mentor to Lorraine Hansberry.
Also this week, Jon Batiste, up for an Oscar award for his song “It Never Went Away,” comes to First Avenue, while memoirist Savita Harjani stops by Comma, a Bookshop. Over at Pillsbury House +Theatre, Leslie Parker offers a sneak peak of her latest dance work, and on Sunday, Vie Boheme and Greg Grease team up at the Icehouse.
Hells Canyon
Theater Mu ventures into the realm of horror with the world premiere of Keiko Green’s “Hells Canyon.” 5 friends travel to a cabin in the woods, which turns out to be a massacre site where 34 Chinese gold miners were ambushed and murdered in Western United States. A ghost story meets Eastern philosophy in Green’s tale of magic, racialized violence, generational trauma, white privilege, and righteous rage. The playwright previously worked with Mu as part of the company’s playwright incubator program, Mu Tang Clan, in 2021/2022, developing a different piece. “Hells Canyon” is directed by Mu regular Katie Bradley.
Previews are Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.. Opening night Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m., with additional performances, Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m., through March 17 at The Jungle ($45 or pay as you are $10+). More information here.
Wine in the Wilderness by Alice Childress
First performed as a teleplay on WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the series “On Being Black,” in 1969, Alice Childress’ “Wine in the Wilderness” addresses themes of gender, power, race, and intersectionality, with a story set during the race riot in Harlem uprising in 1964. Lou Bellamy, former artistic director of Penumbra, returns to direct the production, with longtime collaborators James Craven and Seitu Jones joining the team as actor and set designer, respectively. La’Tevin Alexander, meanwhile, plays the central role of Bill Jameson, a painter working on a triptych about Black womanhood. Nubia Monks makes her debut as Tommy, a woman Jameson hopes to paint.
Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m., Wed., Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m., through March 17 at Penumbra ($20-$45). More information here.
Jon Batiste
Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste, also known as the former bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, brings his talents to First Avenue as part of his “Uneasy” tour. Batiste is currently up for another Academy Award, this time for “It Never Went Away,” which he co-wrote with Minnesota’s own Dan Wilson. The documentary follows Batiste during a period where his career is thriving, but he and his wife grapple with the return of her Leukemia diagnosis.
Thursday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. ($49.50). More information here.
Reading: Postcards From Within with Savita Harjani
In “Postcards from Within,” author Savita Harjani details her journey of caregiving as she moves back to India to care for her mother at the end of her life. Organized as a series of letters to the reader and other people in her life, the book also incorporates Harjani’s poetry and drawings. It’s a raw work, where Harjani lays her own vulnerabilities bare in her documentation of her experience.
She’ll be reading from the book at this event on Thursday, Feb. 22 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Comma, a bookshop (free). More information here.
Makers Series: Leslie Parker LoverRoot
In Pillsbury House + Theater’s new “Makers Series,” Twin Cities artists of various disciplines are creating new work at the center, supporting a process-oriented approach. For the month of February, dancer and choreographer Leslie Parker has been cooking up a new solo piece that investigates Hoodoo, Black femme revolutionary poetry, and other aspects of Black culture. Parker teams up with DJ Rico Mendez and video artist Meena Mangalvedhekar for the piece, which they’ll be showing as a work in progress this weekend.
Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. ($30 or $5-$25 pick your price). More information here.
Vie Boheme and Greg Grease
Whether she’s performing a one-woman show, acting in a traditional musical, or letting her luscious voice bewitch a roomful of eager listeners, singer, actor and dancer Vie Boheme sparkles on stage She’ll be teaming up with South Minneapolis craftsman of beats, groove and poetry Greg Grease. They’ll perform Sunday, Feb. 25 at Icehouse ($21-$35). More information here.
Sheila Regan
Sheila Regan is a Twin Cities-based arts journalist. She writes MinnPost’s twice-weekly Artscape column. She can be reached at sregan@minnpost.com.
