Daily Planet Originals

THEATER PREVIEW | Sibyl Kempson, living female playwright of Elevator Repair Service

By Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet

Sibyl Kempson. Photo by Sheila Regan.

Last week, I met Sibyl Kempson on the day of her arrival from Brooklyn as she began final rehearsals for the preview performance of Fondly, Collette Richland at the Walker Art Center. She's a petite, exuberant firecracker of a woman, and we immediately dished about arts education policy, the economy, sexism, and a number of other political, artistic, and social topics as we walked across Loring Park to have a drink.

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Something's missing at the New Bohemia Wurst & Bier Haus in Northeast Minneapolis

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

I stopped by recently for a brat and a beer at the New Bohemia Wurst & Bier Haus, 233 E. Hennepin. It's a popular place, with more than 30 different local, regional, and foreign beers on draft and another nearly 50 different beers in bottles and cans.

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Minneapolis school superintendent Bernadeia Johnson plans to implement autonomous zones, modeled after charters, at 20-30 percent of schools

By Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet

A standing-room-only crowd listened as Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson announced her plans for changes in the district, including a new “innovative partnership zone” which would include 20-30 percent of schools. She said school teams in these zones would “exchange autonomy for accountability,” and would be governed by performance based contracts and  freed up from what she characterized as outdated rules. The announcement came at 8:00 on Monday morning (May 13) at Pohlad Hall, the meeting room on the second floor the downtown library.

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Minneapolis Public School's summer program opens to more students

By Robin Sauerwein, TC Daily Planet

These 4th grade students are looking at the variations and adaptations in nature at Eloise Butler Garden. (From last year’s program, courtesy of MPS)

I was surprised when I received a letter encouraging my son to attend summer school. It didn't make sense to me — he made the honor roll and his test scores were good. Why would I send him to summer school?

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Brooklyn Park African and African-American communities convene 350 leaders for civic engagement

By Ibrahim Hirsi, TC Daily Planet

Abdullah Kiatamba, executive director of AIS, speaks to a crowd of people during a recent civic engagement conversation at Brooklyn Park’s City Council Chambers (Photo by Ibrahim Hirsi).

“This is not a talk show,” said Abdullah Kiatamba, executive director of the African Immigrant Services, at the May 9 civic engagement forum. “It is not a conference for resolution. It’s about shifting people from being observers to active leaders.”

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Golden Karen Grocery in St. Paul: Veggies, rice, fish paste, and community

By Stephanie Fox, Global Groceries

Kyu Nan

I was searching for a certain Chinese grocery store near Rice Street in St. Paul when I spotted the sign: "Golden Karen Grocery." I thought I might have read it wrong, so I did a U-turn and pulled into the parking lot. I’d read it correctly. I hadn’t known that there was a Karen grocery in the Twin Cities. As it turns out, there are two of them. I’ll visit the second one in the future.

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Frogtown Farm plans move forward in St. Paul

By Sana Naz, TC Daily Planet

The Frogtown Farm site. (TC Daily Planet photo)

Sana Naz

Frogtown Park, the 12-acre space in the 900 block of Lafond Avenue is now one step closer to completion.

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Hop on over to Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis for seared top loin of australus—a.k.a. kangaroo

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

Hell's Kitchen kangarooKangaroo: Bui

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Theatre in the Round's "Treasure Island" and the power of imagination

By Jay Gabler, Front Row Seat

A 1911 Treasure Island illustration by N.C. Wyeth

I try not to let commenters bug me, but one who did succeed in getting my dander up was an anonymous (of course) commenter on my negative review of the Jungle Theater's Noises Off. In the review I said that people would be better off watching the 1992 film adaptation, and this commenter condescendingly sneered that comparing a theatrical production to a movie was patent evidence of my incompentence as a critic. "No critic worth anything would compare stage to screen. They're completely different mediums and completely different techniques are used to accomplish them. I'm amazed that someone with two masters degrees doesn't know that."

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The Guthrie Theater at 50: A legacy of artistic excellence, if not always diversity

By Sheila Regan, Behind the Story

Photos, top to bottom: Nancy Wickwire and Robert Jackson in the Guthrie's 1966 production of The Dance of Death; the Guthrie's original building as photographed that same year; the Guthrie's opening night audience in 1963 (all from the collection of the Minnesota Historical Society); the Guthrie today (photo by Mark Vancleave, courtesy Guthrie Theater).

This week marked the 50th anniversary of the first play staged at the Guthrie Theater. On May 7, 1963, Sir Tyrone Guthrie’s bold new experiment opened its production of Hamlet, directed by the Guthrie at their brand new theater adjacent to the Walker Art Center. Whether you love Minnesota’s largest theater or hate it—or, like me, have intensely mixed feelings about it—there’s no denying the impact that the institution has had on the Twin Cities' cultural life.

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