Mixed BloodÂ's 2011-12 Season Begins With NEIGHBORS 9/16

Mixed Blood's 2011-12 season of Radical Hospitality and no-cost admission for all begins September 16 with the shockingly subversive and wickedly hilarious NEIGHBORS by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a member of NYC's Public Theatre's Emerging Writers Group. L.A.-based Nataki Garrett directs this take-no-prisoners comedy, which comments on race in America with fearless intelligence. Neighbors runs through October 9 at Mixed Blood's historic firehouse theatre on the West Bank, 1501 W. Fourth St., Minneapolis.

The plot may be surreal but the issues are real and damning. When a family of black entertainers moves in next door to upwardly mobile African American college professor Richard Patterson (Bruce A. Young), his white wife (Sarah Agnew) and their teenage daughter (Brittany Bradford), they're discomfited yet intrigued. The rowdy, tacky, shameless and uncouth Crows are not just invading the neighborhood-they're infiltrating Richard's family, his sanity and his entirely post-racial lifestyle. In its scathing exploration of denial and satire of black entertainment from minstrelsy to hip hop, Neighbors makes clear that we do not live in a post-race America.

Jack Reuler, Mixed Blood's Artistic Director, said, "As we unveil Radical Hospitality, it's important that we not be timid in walking our talk. Neighbors is definitive Mixed Blood: a new play that unapologetically confronts race in America today, that celebrates the traditions of live theatre while creating new styles and forms, that showcases the finest talent in the land, that has funny bones as its spine but is so much more than a comedy...and that insists that the audience think and talk about it long after leaving the theatre."

Neighbors also features the talents of Warren C. Bowles (Mammy), Thomas W. Jones II (Zip), Christian Gibbs (Sambo), Kalif Troy (Jim) and Tatiana Williams (Topsy). The creative team includes Wrara Plesoiu (set), Cana Potter (costumes), Wu Chen Khoo (lights), Katharine Horowitz (sound), Sean McArdle (properties), Ricky Thompson (choreography) and Bruce A. Young (fight choreography).

A preview of Neighbors will be held Thursday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m.; the show opens Friday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m. and continues through Sunday, October 9. Performances are Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with 3:00 p.m. matinees on Sundays. Access Night, with ASL interpreting, audio description and captioning for the hearing impaired provided, is Thursday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m. All performances are in the Alan Page Auditorium at Mixed Blood's historic firehouse theatre at 1501 S. 4th St., Minneapolis.

Neighbors marks the first no-cost admission for all mainstage play in Mixed Blood's inaugural season of Radical Hospitality. There are two ways to see a performance: 1) First come, first served no-cost admission: Mixed Blood holds a significant number of seats for no-cost admission on a first come, first served basis for each performance. To access these seats, provide your contact information by registering online at www.mixedblood.com or in the lobby (lobby opens two hours prior to the show). 2) Guaranteed admission: Audience members can guarantee entry for an individual performance by paying a $15 fee online at www.mixedblood.com or by calling the box office at (612) 338-6131. Season passes are also available. Seating begins 45 minutes before show time and there are no assigned seats for either first come, first served or guaranteed admissions.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
September 15-October 9, 2011
No cost admission for all: (612) 338-6131 or www.mixedblood.com

Thursday September 15 7:30PM Preview
Friday September 16 7:30PM Opening
Saturday September 17 7:30PM
Sunday September 18 3:00PM

Wednesday September 21 7:30PM
Thursday September 22 7:30PM
Friday September 23 7:30PM
Saturday September 24 7:30PM
Sunday September 25 3:00PM

Wednesday September 28 7:30PM
Thursday September 29 7:30PM Access Night
Friday September 30 7:30PM
Saturday October 1 7:30PM
Sunday October 2 3:00PM

Wednesday October 5 7:30PM
Thursday October 6 7:30PM
Friday October 7 7:30PM
Saturday October 8 7:30PM
Sunday October 9 3:00PM

More Articles by This Author...