Wonderlust cofounder Leah Cooper, right, recently received a $35,000 Arts Challenge award from the Knight Foundation's Dennis Scholl, at left. That money will be used to stage a play about the State Capitol. The theater company is also in the early stages of crafting a play about adoption in Minnesota and invites the public to share their stories.
Launched last year by the husband-and-wife creative team of Alan Berks and Leah Cooper, Wonderlust Productions creates and stages live theater that adds non-professional community members into the mix. Their first play, put on last fall at Fort Snelling, was themed around the experiences of military veterans, with a cast including both actual vets and actors. Written by a playwright, the show was based on soldiers' anecdotes and memories of war and its aftermath.
This time around, Wonderlust is soliciting the stories of people affected by adoption, including adoptees, adoptive parents, birth parents and siblings. Several story circles are being hosted at various locations in Minneapolis and St. Paul over the next month to gather and weave these the recollections into a cohesive fictional play. The next one is 2-4 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 8 at Nautilus Music-Theater Studio, 308 Prince St. in Lowertown St. Paul. See wonderlustproductions.org for the schedule and more information.
