MANKATO —
The Minneapolis-based Ten Thousand Things Theater -- isn’t your typical theater.
They shun conventional adornments like stages and curtains, preferring instead to stage their shows in the round. That is, in and among the crowd.
They are close enough that audience members can hear the actors’ breaths, feel the emotion in their deliveries and see the subtle expressions and mannerisms that are often lost when viewing in a distant gallery.
“It’s a different kind of performance style,” said Kathy Graves, a spokeswoman for the theater company. “We have to bring in the best actors because this kind of acting is very difficult.”
Ten Thousand Things will be performing in Mankato on Monday and Wednesday. Both events are free to the public, but reservations are required.
The group will perform “As You Like It,” one of Shakespeare’s most performed comedies about one of his greatest heroines: Rosalind. In the play, Rosalind flees persecution at home by seeking refuge in the forest, where she eventually finds hope and comfort.
The play was selected particularly for its applications as a play that can be performed in an intimate setting.
Michelle Hensley, award-winning artistic director, said: “This tale of people exiled into the forest who miraculously find redemption in the power of love will resonate with so many who have experienced exile themselves.”
In the past, the theater company has performed their shows at the Open Book in Minneapolis, as well as low-income centers, shelters and prisons. The group recently received a Legacy grant to perform a series of shows in outstate Minnesota. Thus, the group is making its first-ever stop in Mankato this year.
“It’s an amazing experience,” Graves said of attending a Ten Thousand Things production.
The play is directed by Lear deBessonet, a New York director who founded Stillpoint Productions as well as a program called Tickets for the People that distributed 20,000 tickets to non-traditional theater-goers.
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