There's usually plenty of drama inside Minnesota's Capitol, but this January its interiors will become an actual theater stage as a local performing arts group mounts a production in the newly restored building.
"Our House: The Capitol Play Project" is based on interviews with more than 100 Capitol regulars. The play is an effort of St. Paul-based Wonderlust Productions, whose mission is "to forge new ways of seeing our common experiences by creating new plays that transform the past into a better future."
The original production concerns the election of a "wild card new governor" who leaves the Capitol "thrown into chaos," according to a press release from Wonderlust. "While a chorus of activists, legislators, lobbyists, civil servants and tour guides attempt to get their way, an idealistic new employee finds herself at the center of an unexpected controversy."
The play also promises "misunderstandings and mistaken identities," but it has a larger goal of illustrating "the realities that both constrain and inspire the men and women who have devoted themselves to public service," a Wonderlust news release says.
Alan Berks and Leah Cooper co-wrote and will co-direct the play, which is drawn straight from the true-life workers' stories.
The play will be shown six times in various locations around the Capitol building. The preview performance is on Jan. 19, followed by shows on Jan. 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28. Ticket information can be found at the Wonderlust Productions website, wonderlustproductions.org.
Patrick Condon
