St. Paul's History Theatre serves plays 'Raw' in four-day festival

January 4, 2018 at 9:06PM
Minnesota's answer to Mata Hari, Betty Pack goes from socialite to secret agent in "The Spy Musical" at History Theatre.
Minnesota’s answer to Mata Hari, Betty Pack goes from socialite to secret agent in “The Spy Musical.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Raw Stages: New Works Festival

As the title suggests, "Raw Stages" presents works that are not fully cooked. The playwrights are generally hearing their in-development plays with an audience for the first time, potentially on the way to full productions (two of last year's plays are part of History Theatre's current season). This year's lineup includes Star Tribune writer Richard Chin's "Starved," about a shocking University of Minnesota starvation experiment during World War II (7:30 p.m. Jan. 11); Laurie Flanigan Hegge and Robert Elhai's "The Spy Musical," about Minnesota socialite-turned-secret-agent Betty Pack (7:30 p.m. Jan. 12); Kim Hines and Barbara Teed's "Not for Sale," about a 1960s Realtor trying to sell people of color houses in all-white neighborhoods (2 p.m., Jan. 13); and Doris Baizley's "Sisters of Peace," in which four nuns — who also happen to be sisters — campaign for social justice (2 p.m., Jan. 14, History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St., St. Paul, $15 per show or $30 for all four, 651-292-4323 or historytheatre.com.

CHRIS HEWITT

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