“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
Even in our darkest hours, there are glimmers of light. Stories of resistance. Wisdom handed down from ancestors. Wells of strength we don’t realize we have until we need them most. Each hopeful flicker reminds us that we are not the first to pass this way — and that the future, uncertain as it may be, is worth fighting for.
This season, we conjure light in the darkness. Be captivated by brilliant storytellers from across the decades. Join conversations that spark courage, understanding, and connection. And tap into rituals that help us protect what is precious.
Our flame is lit. Tend your own, and pass it along.
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
When I was a child, I was afraid of the dark. I couldn’t control my imagination, which lobbed fantastically detailed and fearsome phantoms up from the depths to taunt me. The more I tried to shut them out, the bigger they seemed to get. Then my parents bought me a nightlight. While it still got dark every night, the warm glow from that little light comforted me, and I was able to allow my small body to turn toward rest.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that nightlight lately. I’ve been thinking about how we might all need a bit of light, a bit of soft comfort in these dark times. Our 49th season, Luminaria, tries to do just that.
We know that many of you feel like rest is out of reach. Our minds are preoccupied with either trying to engage with or filter out the chaos around us. We worry for our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones, ourselves. We worry for our planet and for our vulnerable relatives, human and nonhuman. Many of us find that our worries become amplified in the quiet hours of the night.
This season, we hope to bring some light to your life. We hope to illuminate difficult truths so that they don’t grow in our imaginations and become intractable. We hope to light up your spirit with music and fellowship. We hope to stoke the small embers inside you to offer warmth, to bolster resilience, and to welcome you into belonging.
We may not be able to eliminate the darkness, but we can light it up. We can offer respite and encouragement for each other. We can nourish ourselves with powerful, purposeful art that fires our hearts and stokes our courage.
Join us this season at Penumbra — we’ll keep the light on for you.
Sarah
Enrich Your Journey
This season we welcome you into immersive and interconnected programming for diverse ages, backgrounds, and areas of interest. Look for these prompts to see what’s happening and visit PenumbraCenter.org to start your journey.
WITNESS
Immersive experiences that provoke emotion, thought, and action.
LEARN
Workshops and knowledge-sharing that fosters understanding and connections
RESTORE
Healing practices and rituals for individual and collective well-being
EXPLORE
Opportunities to deepen and extend your journey beyond Penumbra’s walls
A Penumbra production presented in partnership with Teatro del Pueblo
by José Rivera
Directed by Sarah Bellamy
OCTOBER 9 – NOVEMBER 2, 2025
What if you woke up to a world you didn’t recognize? What if humanity’s worst tendencies and deepest fears had become your new reality? What if an angel told you it was time to fight? In this stunning surrealist play, Marisol Perez journeys through an apocalyptic landscape trying to survive the vestiges of her lost city. No one is coming to save Marisol. She must leap into the unknown, armed only with what she can carry, her hope a whisper against the storm.
Searching for the light at the end of the nightmare.
“[Rivera’s] apocalypse is flecked with bizarre creations that glint like knife blades.”
— New York Times
“Mixing absurdist conventions with magical realism, Rivera’s 1993 play makes for a viscerally vibrant experience.”
— Backstage
“An apocalyptic and uproarious world that’s at once tragic, goofy and scarily real.”
— Willamette Week
by Langston Hughes
Directed by Lou Bellamy
Musical Direction by Sanford Moore
Choreography by Marciano Silva dos Santos
DECEMBER 4 – DECEMBER 24, 2025 * * includes Tuesday performance before Christmas Eve
Generations of Twin Cities families have made Black Nativity part of their holiday ritual. Hughes’ classic retelling of the Christmas story is back for its 33rd year, lighting up our stage with incredible music and breathtaking choreography. Whether it’s your first time or your twenty-first, this soul-stirring celebration will remind you of the reason for the season.
“A spirit-loosing ode to joy and exultation.”
— Star
Feel the joy. Be the light.
by Micki Grant
Directed and Choreographed by Patdro Harris
Musical Direction by Sanford Moore
MARCH 12 – APRIL 5, 2026
This history-making musical opened on Broadway in 1972 and continues to provoke and inspire more than five decades later. In Micki Grant’s uproarious revue, nine singer-dancers perform 20 numbers in a kaleidoscope of musical genres, from rock to jazz to gospel to funk. Veering from block party to revival meeting to pointed social critique, Don’t Bother Me is a tour de force of Black joy, resilience, and resistance.
A song-and-dance extravaganza that pulses with the culture.
“All heaven breaks loose onstage!”
— TIME Magazine
“Fiercely, proudly political theater on a scale rarely seen these days.”
— DC Theatre Arts
“Micki was inserting hip-hop and spoken-word into musical theater decades before many other people were.”
— Jeanine Tesori, theatre composer and arranger
Directed by Lou Bellamy
A
journey of illumination and salvation.
MAY 28 – JUNE 21, 2026
Harold Loomis has finally gained his freedom, but has lost his song. His search for spiritual and emotional healing brings him to a Pittsburgh boarding house that’s a refuge for fellow travelers rebuilding their lives in the Great Migration. Staged with the intimacy and power that Penumbra is known for, this lyrical play by acclaimed playwright August Wilson blends realism and mysticism to capture a solemn crossroads of Black identity and American history.
“A drama of indisputable greatness.”
— The New York Times
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.”
— Toni Morrison
Defend free expression of ideas and identities.
Across the U.S., “challenging” literature is disappearing from schools and libraries, with stories about diverse identities and vulnerable groups in the crosshairs. In our new Banned Book Club, we’re spending a year with a few of these books, which represent American history and our nation’s diverse people and communities with love, humor, and honesty. This fall we’ll announce a selection of children’s and adult titles for the 2025-2026 season. At live and virtual gatherings, readers will convene to discuss the stories with help from our actors and facilitators.
Look for Banned Book selections on September 1st, then join us to celebrate stories that need to be told — now more than ever. Learn more at PenumbraCenter.org/books.
Positive Racial Identity Development and Empowerment (PRIDE)
Curriculum
Centering race and identity in the classroom.
At Penumbra, we know how important it is for children to see themselves reflected lovingly and authentically both in school and out. As diverse cultural programming is challenged in classrooms across the country, Penumbra is supporting students in joyful expressions of identity through a new initiative focusing on positive racial identity development.
Penumbra created PRIDE to extend our nearly 50-year artistic legacy to the youth of Minnesota. Our PRIDE curriculum leverages the tools of creative practice to build community, foster belonging, deepen cultural awareness, and help students develop a strong, responsive sense of self. Created with extensive input from educators and aligned with Minnesota educational standards, PRIDE weaves concepts of race, identity, and social justice into the classroom for students ages 2 to 22.
This fall PRIDE pilots in schools across the Twin Cities with a five-pillar approach.
2
Anti-Racist and Social Justice Education
Learning accurate histories of different racial and cultural groups and exploring concepts of social justice, equity, and activism.
4
Emotional and Physical Wellbeing
Sharing embodied practices for mental health, self-regulation and resilience, from mindfulness to creative expression.
Take PRIDE over MEA!
October 16 through 18, 2025
1
Positive Racial and Cultural Identity
Understanding and celebrating all racial and cultural backgrounds, building pride in one’s identity, and fostering respect for others.
3
Community Building and Belonging
Creating inclusive spaces where everyone feels valued and connected and finds support within and beyond peer groups.
5
Creative Visioning and Artistic Exploration
Using movement, writing, and storytelling to process experiences, imagine positive futures, and promote personal and social empowerment.
During this year’s MEA conference, Penumbra will host students, parents, and caregivers for three days of educational and engaging programming designed to support self esteem and healthy identity development.. Look for registration details in August and sign up to claim your spot.
Bring PRIDE to your school or
organization.
Penumbra is seeking educational partners to collaborate in this uniquely art-based, somatic, and play-driven learning approach. Learn more at PenumbraCenter.org/PRIDE
Community in conversation.
For more than a decade, Penumbra’s Let’s Talk Series has created space for compassionate and challenging conversations about wide-ranging topics that affect our community, from racial healing to community health. Hosted by Sarah Bellamy, each event begins at 7:00pm with a 90-minute presentation and discussion.
Cross-Racial Coalition, Past, Present, and Future
Novemebr 24, 2025
The federal administration’s immigration strategy is built upon one goal: stop the “browning of America.” As national resources are directed toward targeting Black and Brown immigrants, the administration is simultaneously incentivizing immigration from white South Africans. The success of this strategy relies on the disintegration and polarization of communities of color and white allies. Join us for a conversation about cross racial solidarity in the past, strategies for our present, and visions for our future.
Coming Home to Ourselves: Embodied
Identity Practices
March 23, 2026
Modernity is leaving people increasingly alienated, disconnecting us from our bodies, from our feelings, and from our own internal and ancestral
wisdom. Over time, these ruptures can have a profound impact on our individual and collective wellbeing. But there are strategies and philosophies that can help reunite us, inside and out. Join us to discuss embodied regulatory practices that return us to a fuller sense of self, rooting our core identities safely within.
Afrofuturism and the Ethics of Generative AI
May 4, 2026
Afrofuturism has long been a space for Black artists to dream of alternative futures where Black life and culture thrive, using technology as a means to leap across time, shed vestiges of the past, and realize a liberated future. As generative AI makes powerful advancements, join us as we contemplate the implications of this nascent technology on our future, both mystical and mathematical.
Racial Healing Workshops
Penumbra’s racial healing workshops unite lifelong learners and community leaders for immersive experiences that foster deep reflection, connection, and personal and collective growth. Look for dates and registration information this fall.
LEARN and RESTORE
A Sacred and Communal Practice In Rest
Facilitated by Rebecca Benstead
Healing from racial trauma requires intentional care—especially for BIPOC women and gender-expansive individuals whose bodies are often marginalized. This workshop series offers a restorative space to gather in community, free from the pressures of societal expectations around race and gender. Through breathwork, journaling, art therapy, sound baths, and other healing modalities, participants will cultivate presence, reconnect with their authentic selves, and move toward wholeness. Together, we’ll nurture safety, reduce fear and despair, and regenerate our capacity to dream and imagine.
This program is created specifically for BIPOC women and gender-expansive community members. If you’re unsure whether this space is right for you, or if you’re looking for programs designed for other affinity groups, please contact us at boxoffice@penumbratheatre.org.
Fostering White Allyship
Facilitated by Sara Wernick Schonwald and Sam Blackwell
At Penumbra, we believe racial healing benefits everyone. This three-session workshop is designed to support white-identified individuals in developing a meaningful and sustained allyship practice. Participants committed to dismantling white supremacy will engage in somatic exercises, reflective writing, and group discussions to deepen their understanding of race as a social construct and its real-world impacts. Together, we’ll explore how to navigate discomfort, examine identity through an embodied lens, and align everyday actions with anti-racist values.
This space is intended for white allies. If you’re unsure whether this program is right for you, or if you’re seeking opportunities for other affinity groups, please reach out to us at boxoffice@penumbratheatre.org
Reserve Your Seats
Advance Sale
Discounts based on full price tickets. No further discounts on Senior or Student pricing on tickets to Penumbra events. For more information, contact our Patron Services team at 651.224.3180 or boxoffice@penumbratheatre.org
4-Play Package
Get a 20% discount on these four great presentations: Marisol, Black Nativity, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Pick your favorite day of the week and performance time.
3-Play Package
Get a 15% discount on these three great presentations: Marisol, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Pick your favorite day of the week and performance time.
Support
Contribute to a more just, compassionate world.
As part of Penumbra’s family of supporters, you can go deeper into our work and make new connections as you help fuel community and individual wellbeing through art, joy, and education. We’re so grateful to have you on the journey.
Ways to Give
1. One-time Donation
Make your gift online, in-person, or by mail.
2. Gifts of Securities, Stock, and IRAs
When you donate securities, you not only avoid capital gains tax, you can claim a charitable deduction for the full, appreciated value of the securities. Securities and IRAs are easy to transfer electronically — ask your tax advisor for details.
3. Consider Planned Giving
You can strengthen your community for generations to come by naming Penumbra (EIN 41-1563764) as a beneficiary of your will, donor advised fund, trust, retirement plan, IRA, or life insurance policy.
Questions? Contact our development team at development@penumbratheatre.org
Staff & Contact
270 North Kent Street
Saint Paul MN 55102
Box Office: 651.224.3180
Fax: 651.288.6789
Email: info@penumbratheatre.org
Our Staff
Lou Bellamy, Founder & Artistic Director Emeritus
Sarah Bellamy, President
Amy Thomas, Chief Operating Officer
Anita Baccus Robinson, Guest Services & Support Director
