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Bedlam Theatre’s Mission is to produce radical works of theatre with a focus on collaboration and a unique blend of professional and community art, presenting and producing new works of live art and support for radical artists. Bedlam Theatre was founded in 1993 by a group of artists to create original theatre with a social conscience and explore collaborative ways of working.
‘Bedlam’ the word is a slang abbreviation of Bethlehem, as in Our Lady of Bethlehem, a renowned insane asylum on the outskirts of London.
‘For more than a century, perhaps as a way to help pay the bills, Bedlam would open its doors to both high society and low brow thrill seekers who could pay a penny and walk among the inmates. Occasionally, political dissidents, rather than to be sent to prison or the gallows, would be certified insane (crazy enough at least to speak out against the powers that be). “The only place to hear the truth spoken in all of England is among the madmen of Bedlam,” .
It’s the type of entertainment Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre certainly competed with. It was posted by numerous scholars that the psychological depth of his characters was in no small part influenced by the popular attractions at Bedlam.‘ As written in StarTribune (2001).
Over the last 17 years, Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis has built a devoted following and received critical acclaim for distinct aesthetic. It was named Best Theatre for Comedy by the City Pages in 2002, and the productions, freewheeling in the Attic of Whim (2000) and TERMINUS (2002), were cited by the City Pages as Top Ten productions. In 2004 Bedlam was featured in the cover story of American Theater Magazine: 'Hot, Hip and on the Verge: A dozen young American companies you need to know.'
In 1996, They established Bedlam Studio in the West Bank neighbourhood as a factory of imagination in Minneapolis’ historic theatre district. By 2000 it had evolved into an experimental performance box that served as the centre for the invention of new work by Bedlam as well as theatre, dance, puppet and performance artists from the Twin Cities and beyond.
In 2002 Bedlam Theatre began to develop new strategies to build and focus community involvement. They opened up studio projects and set construction to regular community volunteer days and launched the annual BEDLAM COMMUNITY TEN-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL. In 2006, community involvement reached a new peak with WEST BANK STORY, which told the stories of past and present residents of Minneapolis’ West Bank neighbourhood.
The BEDLAM SOCIAL FRAMEWORK ranging from community involvement in creating new works to coffee, beer and conversation before, after, during and sometimes instead of the show, the encompassing conviviality and invitation to see, eat and be bedlam.
The annual BEDLAM COMMUNITY 10minute PLAY FESTIVAL They are strict about the 10min but wildly loose about the interpretation of 'play.' They curate for an exciting mix of projects, opportunities and ideas, then cast everyone who auditions.
The annual INFIAMMATI outdoor FIRE SPECTALE Bedlam's take on the summer block buster, flaming props and costumes, and circus glamour, in partnership with the irrepressible Infiammati artists.
Bedlam cultivated a distinctive aesthetic combining an overtly playful performance style with low-tech spectacle, bold visuals, experimental absurdism, both cuttingly-direct and nonsensically-obtuse satyric barbarism, socio-political imagination, and usually some live music. Bedlam Productions vary from 5mins to Full Length and evolve through creative processes that can last two weeks to 10 years.
2637 27th AVE
South Minneapolis 55406
USA
Phone: 612-341-1038
Email: wemakeit@bedlamtheatre.org
Here are few videos reflect some of their work.