Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Innovative Tony-Winning Regional Troupe, to Shut Down

By Kenneth Jones
June 23, 2008

In the great wilderness of non-traditional theatre in the United States, a tree has fallen. The board of directors of the ambitious, Tony Award-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis, MN, voted to list the theatre’s headquarters for sale and to shut down the arts group as currently organized.

The announcement was made June 22. Included in the decision is a planned significant reduction in artistic and administrative staff, effective July 31, 2008.

“We have reached these decisions with great regret,” stated board president Bruce Neary. “However, our fiduciary responsibilities to our artists, our staff, our donors and our creditors dictate this action. We are listing the building for sale in order to fully satisfy our creditors.”

Neary added, “The board is committed to an orderly shutdown, including satisfying all existing rental obligations through Sept. 30, 2008.”

Jeune Lune has provided Minneapolis-St. Paul audiences with visually stunning, mind-stirring work — often movement-oriented, projection-kissed and theatrically multi-disciplinary — since 1978. Among popular or lauded titles were its early comedy hit Yang Zen Froggs and the nationally acclaimed Children of Paradise: Shooting a Dream, plus popular re-imaginings of operas, including The Magic Flute, Carmen, Maria de Buenos Aires, Don Juan Giovanni and Figaro.
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Melissa Bailey’s May breakdown of all the bids the city received in response to its Request for Qualification (RFQ): here. Enjoy…

The artist’s statement:

In my current work in kinetic sculpture, I am trying to concentrate on the movement, rather than the object. I take it as an article of faith that the air around us moves in ways which are organic, whimsical, and unpredictable. I therefore assume that if I were to abdicate the design to the wind, the work would take on these same qualities.

The engineer in me wants to minimize friction and inertia to make the air visible. The architect studies matters of scale and proportion. The navigator and sailor want to know the strength and direction of the wind. The artist wants to understand its changing shape.

Meanwhile, the child wants to play.

Who is Tim Prentice, you may ask. Well, if you don’t know, merely look outside of Long Wharf’s mainstage lobby at the kinetic sculpture carving shape and light against the wind. Click on for a bio, or just go straight to Tim’s website. (Thanks to Keith Hyatt for the heads up on this one…)

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