The four candidates running for Minneapolis' two citywide school board seats will bring their ideas to a very different kind of forum: theater improvisation.
The Theater of Public Policy will host a candidate forum on Oct. 13, where Tane Danger, co-creator and director, will ask the candidates questions. Then a team of improvisers will act it all out on stage.
The candidates for the November election are Don Samuels, incumbent Rebecca Gagnon, Iris Altamirano and Ira Jourdain.
This forum will be much different than the ones where candidates go around answering questions in less than 90 seconds.
"Forums like that are valuable to getting people a base level of knowledge for where the candidates stands," Danger said. "But there is also a lot of room for having another style of conversation where we can follow up and push back and have the candidates interact with one another in a natural conversation."
Danger said the actors don't mock or make light of the issues that the candidates discuss.
"Our philosophy with the whole show is that people learn better with humor or comedy. These people have not signed up for a firing squad where we are just going to destroy them."
If you want to get an idea for what the forum will look like you or want to buy tickets for the Oct. 13 show, visit The Theater of Public Policy's website at t2p2.net.
