Jungle Theater
March 14, 2024
Amount Requested$25,000.00
2951 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55408
Kelly Turpin
Development Director
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- Broaden Perspectives Through Art, Culture, Literature or Extracurricular Experiences
General Operating
The Jungle Theater creates courageous, resonant theater that challenges, entertains, and sparks expansive conversation. The Jungle’s vision is to be a neighborhood theater with national impact, indispensable to our community and aspirational to the field.
$25,000.00
$1,448,910.00
Yes
The Jungle Theater requests $25,000 in General Operating Support from the Olseth Family Foundation, ensuring that the theater can continue serving its mission to create courageous, resonant theater that challenges, entertains, and sparks expansive conversation. The funding will support the theater’s artistic and organizational goals, which align with the Olseth Family Foundation’s goal of seeking a more inclusive society.
Jungle Theater remains committed to inclusive programming, casting and artistic teams, providing equitable opportunities for BIPOC artists, women artists, and LBGTQIAS2+ artists. We have programmed our seasons with compelling works that represent diverse perspectives and written by playwrights of different backgrounds.
Last season, our productions engaged an audience that was 13% BIPOC (4% Asian American, 5% Black/African American, 2% Indigenous/Native American, 3% Latinx). We continue to build momentum towards engaging more equitably representative audiences going forward. For each Jungle production, we offer American Sign Language interpretation and audio description, each for one performance. Last season, we received a generous individual donation to support open captioning for one performance of each production as well. The captioning service was well-received and will continue for future seasons. We have relocated wheelchair seating to improve sightlines and more easily facilitate walk-up purchases of accessible seats when necessary.
Our artist lineup reflects our efforts to highlight female and BIPOC representation. Last season half of the playwrights represented were BIPOC and 70% were women. Season artists were 60% female-identifying and 36% BIPOC. The current board of thirteen individuals (not including the ex-officio Artistic Director and Managing Director) includes eight women and five men, three who identify as BIPOC, and one identifying as LBGTQIAS2+.
The funding will also partially be used to support the Artistic Cohort at the Jungle. These funds will be essential to our next season and the continued development of this still-new model. Past support from the Olseth Family Foundation has been integral in helping to launch this initiative and we have seen great success from this leadership model.
The Artist Cohort supports the diversity of our staff in addition to bringing inclusion to decision-making processes. Isabella Star LeBlanc, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota tribal nation, has appeared in multiple shows at the Jungle, including THE WOLVES (2018), LITTLE WOMEN (2018), and IS EDWARD SNOWDEN SINGLE? (2020). Other credits include The Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC; Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; Mixed Blood Theater; and Children’s Theater Company. Her recent film work includes a lead role in the fourth season of True Detective on HBO.
Katie Ka Vang is a Hmong American performance artist, poet, and playwright. Vang’s work has been developed and presented at East West Players, Mixed Blood Theater, Pangea World Theater, Pillsbury House Theatre, Theater Mu, Leviathan Lab, Bushwick Starr, Brown University, The Royal Court Theatre, The Walker Art Center, Civic Ensemble, Out North Art House, and more. She received the 22/23 McKnight and 19/20 Many Voices fellowship at the Playwrights' Center. They hold an MFA in Playwriting from Brown University.
We welcome between 4,200-5,400 individuals to each one of our productions and dozens of artists every year. Last season, our productions engaged an audience that was 13% BIPOC (4% Asian American, 5% Black/African American, 2% Indigenous/Native American, 3% Latinx), 45% age 55 or older, 58% female, 37% male, and 5% non-binary, as well as 22% who self-identified as LGBTQIA2S+. Our artists we served were were 60% female-identifying and 36% BIPOC and half of the playwrights represented were BIPOC and 70% were women.
Twin Cities metro-based (96%), with 2% from Greater Minnesota and 2% from other states.
1. Continue producing ambitious, high-quality theater
2. Continue building diverse, engaged, and loyal audiences
3. Continue supporting our Artistic Cohort and their artistic visions, projects, and influence on the Jungle Theater.
1. To produce ambitious, high-quality theater, the Jungle will continue to nurture new talent, pay artists fairly, and partner with other theaters and arts organizations to enable our entire community to be uplifted – artistically and financially.
2. To build diverse, engaged, and loyal audiences, the Jungle will continue use of our still-new Pay As You Are ticketing model, which allows patrons to select a ticket price as low as $15. We will also continue to survey our audiences with post-show surveys. These surveys have given us great insight into what our patrons are responding to and how they feel about our productions. We are continuously fine-tuning our messaging and communication strategies with our audience. We aim to be helpful, succinct, and meaningful with our marketing and outreach.
3. To continue supporting our Artistic Cohort and their artistic visions, projects, and influence on the Jungle, we will get feedback from our inaugural cohort’s experience. We will continue to devote resources to the cohort’s personal artistic development, their salaries, and their individual projects.
These goals will be measured by ticket sales, audience and artist surveys, critical response, and anecdotal feedback.
04/01/2024
08/31/2024
In the local theater ecosystem, there are many more theater companies than theater venues. We make intentional rental partnerships as part of our commitment to being a valuable community asset. In the 2023-24 season, we are renting to three local theaters:
St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists educates aspiring pre-professional students in the areas of instrumental and vocal music, theatre and dance, visual arts and creative writing, preparing students for college and conservatory by partnering with professional Twin Cities artists.
Theater Mu is the largest Asian American theater companies in the Midwest. Theater Mu produces great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the Asian American experience.
Ten Thousand Things awakens the creative spirit of audiences and artists by bringing essential and exceptional theater to people from all backgrounds and life experiences.
In addition, the Jungle works closely with local education organizations to magnify our impact on youth. The Jungle has long collaborated with Project SUCCESS, who works with diverse students through their partnerships with Minneapolis Public Schools. Each season, we provide free tickets for high school and middle school students.
In 2023, the Jungle began a partnership with On Stage, a theater outreach program that brings actors and theater educators into classrooms and community settings around the Twin Cities. Actors and students read scenes from the play currently being produced at the Jungle, followed by a lively discussion of the themes tying in current events, personal values and narratives, and stimulating critical thinking. Afterwards, attendees are encouraged to see the full play.
The Jungle also partners with Stages Theatre Company and their Pizza & Playwrights program. Teenagers observe a show rehearsal at the Jungle, then join the cast and creative team for pizza and discussion. The group then returns to see the completed show.
The Jungle has been at the forefront of redevelopment and revitalization of our LynLake neighborhood since its founding in 1991, well before the term “creative placemaking” was coined. The Jungle served as an early example of how the arts can impact the social, cultural, and economic vitality of neighborhoods. The theater has maintained that connection, including continuing sponsorship of the annual LynLake Street Art Series (LLSAS), a culturally rich arts experience celebrating murals and graffiti art that unifies the neighborhood, uplifts marginalized voices, and encourages community connections. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the event encourages collaboration between local property owners, business associations, neighborhood groups, nonprofits, artists, skilled workers, and business owners.
These activities will be going on throughout the rest of our season. Upcoming performances include A Jumping Off Point by Inda Craig-Galván with rehearsals beginning March 18, running April 20-May 17 ; and Jungle’s New Works Showcase curated and presented by Cohort artists Isabella Star LaBlanc and Katie Ka Vang July 25-July 28.
Unapproved