Minnesota's Guthrie Theater has revealed its 2023-2024 season, which will include the world premiere of Ty Defoe and Larissa FastHorse's For the People, running October 7–November 12 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage. Defoe and FastHorse, both Native American, looked to Minneapolis' Dakota and Ojibwe heritage for the new work, which follows a 20-something fighting for grant money to create a wellness center for Minneapolis' Indigenous community.
The play is the latest in the Guthrie's collaborations with Defoe and FastHorse, which saw the production of Water is Sacred in 2017 and Stories From the Drum in 2019. Defoe, whose heritage includes the Oneida and Ojibwe Nations, wrote the book and lyrics for Clouds Are Pillows for the Moon, In the Cards, and Tick, Tick, along with co-writing Ajijaak on Turtle Island. FastHorse, who is Sicangu Lakota, will be represented on Broadway later this season with The Thanksgiving Play, coming to the Main Stem via Second Stage. Her works also include Native Nation, What Would Crazy Horse Do?, and Urban Rez.
Later in the season, Bill Irwin will bring his Samuel Beckett solo show On Beckett to the McGuire Proscenium Stage, running February 17-March 24, 2024. The performer draws on his experience as a clown and actor to explore a performer's relationship to Beckett, referencing such works as Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and Texts for Nothing. Irwin, who conceived and directs the production along with starring, previously developed the work at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, Vineyard Theatre, and Cornish College of Arts, with a world premiere via the Strand Theatre in 2017. The Guthrie is presenting Irish Repertory Theatre's 2018 Off-Broadway production of the work, produced by Octopus Theatricals.
The Guthrie's 2023-2024 season also includes Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by David Ivers and running September 9–October 15 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage; the 49th annual production of A Christmas Carol, adapted from the Charles Dickens story by Lavinia Jadhwani and directed by Addie Gorlin-Han from Joseph Haj's original direction, running November 11–December 28 on the Wurtele Thurst Stage; Yasmina Reza's Art, translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by Lisa Portes, running December 16–January 28, 2024, on the McGuire Proscenium Stage; Frederick Knott and Jeffrey Hatcher's Dial M for Murder, directed by Tracy Bridgen and running January 20–February 25 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage; A Brittle Glory (combining Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V), directed by Joseph Haj and running March 23-May 25 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage, Dominique Moriseau's Skeleton Crew, directed by Austene Van and running May 4–June 9 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage; Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's Little Shop of Horrors, running June 22–August 18 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage; and Sanaz Toossi's English, running July 13–August 18 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.
Season tickets are currently on sale. Visit GuthrieTheater.org.
