Upcoming events

Whittier:
A play in portraits

by TyLie Shider
New Play Reading
Friday, May 29 at 7pm
Playwrights’ Center
710 Raymond Ave, St. Paul, MN 55114
Directed + Produced by Vanessa Brooke Agnes
**RSVP HERE to reserve your free seat**

Whittier is a multimedia docudrama that chronicles 24 hours in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis during the summer of 2020. The narrative unfolds as a series of portraits and vignettes, featuring a chorus of neighbors who communicate through a “Neighborhood Watch" group chat.

The play takes place on May 30th, in the days following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Commemorating the 6th memorial anniversary, in partnership with Playwrights’ Center, our reading on Friday, May 29th will celebrate the strength of our communities.

Dark Muse Healing Arts, with generous support from Venturous Theater Fund, will bring to life a full-scale production of Whittier: A play in portraits as an experimental, site-specific work in South Minneapolis in late 2026. The interdisciplinary nature of this work organically blends theater, film, and community organizing.

RSVP HERE

“The intersection between art and current events, and cosmopolitanism and a modern civil rights movement. The play is made up of portraits of a neighborhood. Snapshots. Parts of a whole community.”

— TyLie Shider, Playwright

“The collective traumas we’ve witnessed cannot be healed in isolation, some work can only be done in community. A group of neighbors showing up & caring for each other makes this play a mirror that reflects our resilience back to us.”

— Vanessa Brooke Agnes, Director + Producer

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