Children’s Theatre Company Announces New Exciting Digital Season for 2021
Includes a Full Slate of New Digital Productions and All Access Pass
and Changes to Previously Announced Live Season
Minneapolis, Minn.—Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) announced an exciting new season of digital productions (including two from overseas), Virtual Academy classes, and a new All Access Pass for patrons and families to continue to engage with the theatre and build social-emotional development of young people. Due to the ongoing pandemic, CTC also announced it was important for the safety of families, artists, and staff to not produce the planned, in person productions of Seedfolks and Annie this spring. Instead, Seedfolks will be offered digitally and Annie will be produced live at CTC for the holidays in 2021, with specific dates to be announced in early 2021.
In 2014, CTC worked with Twin Cities Public Television on a professionally produced taping of Seedfolks that the Theatre will provide for streaming March 8—21, 2021. In this stunningly-captured digital production of the play that The New York Times terms “a tour de force,” acclaimed actor Sonja Parks plays 11 different characters, including Ana, the nosey neighbor; Curtis, the weightlifter; and Kim, a young girl who plants six very special lima beans. As the garden grows, so does the community, blooming into something bigger, better, and beyond all expectations. Don’t miss this groundbreaking show that toured across Minnesota, the United States, and to Cape Town, South Africa! This production is on sale February 15, 2021.
CTC is presenting Anansi the Spider: Re-Spun created by the UK’s leading theatre for young people, Unicorn Theatre free of cost January 11—31, 2021. Inspired by their hit show, Anansi the Spider, about the infamous mischief-maker and master spinner of yarns (whose schemes don’t always go as planned!), these classic West African and Caribbean tales have been adapted into an exciting online experience. This energetic and engaging online performance takes three classic Anansi stories and uses music, song, dance and humor to create an exciting new adventure.
Come together for an immersive, off-screen theatrical adventure with Mountain Goat Mountain, from Australia’s Threshold theatre. This delightful, audio-led theatre experience for families to share in their home together features guided activities that help families create their characters, setting, props, and costumes before stepping into their own imaginative world. Mountain Goat Mountain will take you on a journey that bumps you out of the ordinary and into a world where you work together to uncover its secrets—exploring the forest and rivers of Mountain Goat Mountain and the depths of a mysterious cave. Take this time to make an adventure together that the Sunday Business Post called “An immersive online experience...perfectly pitched.” Mountain Goat Mountain will go on sale January 15, 2021 at https://childrenstheatre.org/.
Our streaming season ends with the world premiere of Audrey Saves the Universe, created and acted by CTC Acting Company member Autumn Ness and directed by CTC Acting Company member Reed Sigmund. Audrey is a 9-year-old girl who happens to be the greatest filmmaker in the world! Possessed by her ambitions and high standards, Audrey is egocentric, demanding, and hilariously extreme. Part Ed Wood, part classic Gilda Radner character, Judy Miller, Audrey creates whole planets, grand stories, music, and special effects...with no budget and no crew. As Audrey shoots her masterpiece, she struggles with school bullies and constant creative setbacks (like getting grounded!). As she stages the climactic final battle, she uncovers the superpowers she holds within her. Dates for this virtual production will be announced at a later date.
CTC is launching a new digital All Access Pass that includes these digital productions plus a monthly digest of at-home activities for the entire family. This digest will include creative play activities, mindfulness videos, recipes, theatre games, bite-sized lessons and activities to create theatre at home, and much more. This pass is now available for $50 and will provide content January through June of 2021.
Additionally, CTC announced in November that Virtual Academy classes for the winter season are now on sale. Classes are either nine weeks or four weeks long, running January 26 through March 27, 2021. Classes will include a mix of theatre, music, dance, film, and technical theatre for ages 4 through 18, beginner through pre-professional. This winter also includes a new offering designed for parents providing fun ways to bring imagination and creativity into the home paired with weekday daytime classes to give students an artistic break in their virtual school day. Also included are classes specifically designed for young people with sensory sensitivities including those with ASD, Sensory Processing Disorder, anxiety, PTSD, and other disabilities and mental illnesses for ages 4 through 12. Classes can be purchased at https://childrenstheatre.org/virtual-academy/.
Children’s Theatre Company’s Digital 2021 Season
Anansi the Spider: Re-spun
Created and directed by Justin Audibert for Unicorn Theatre
Best enjoyed by ages 3 and up
Streaming January 11 – 31
Free
Mountain Goat Mountain
A Threshold experience, created by Zoë Barry, Liz Francis, Nikita Hederics, Tahli Corin and Sarah Lockwood.
These artists live and work on the land of the Taungurung people.
Best enjoyed by ages
February 8 – 21 (purchase enables 30 days of access!)
On Sale: January 15, 2021
Seedfolks
Adapted from the book by Paul Fleischman
Directed for the stage by Peter C. Brosius
Filmed by TPT – Twin Cities PBS in October 2014
Best enjoyed by ages 8 and up
Streaming March 8 –21
On Sale: February 15, 2021
Audrey Saves the Universe
A CTC World Premiere
Created by Autumn Ness
Directed by Reed Sigmund
Best enjoyed by all ages
Run dates to be announced.
Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is the nation’s largest and most acclaimed theatre for young people and serves a multigenerational audience. It creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire for more than 250,000 people annually. CTC is the only theatre focused on young audiences to win the coveted Tony Award® for regional theatre and is the only theatre in Minnesota to receive three Tony® nominations (for its production of A Year with Frog and Toad). CTC is committed to creating world-class productions at the highest level and to developing new works, more than 200 to date, dramatically changing the canon of work for young audiences.
CTC’s engagement and learning programs annually serve more than 93,000 young people and their communities through Theatre Arts Training, student matinees, Neighborhood Bridges, and early childhood arts education programs. ACT One is CTC’s comprehensive platform for access, diversity, and inclusion in our audiences, programs, staff, and board that strives to ensure the theatre is a home for all people, all families, reflective of our community. childrenstheatre.org
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