Secret Circus of Puppets and More

Twin Cities arts coverage can get flattened into “here are some events.” But this week’s MPR shortlist is more interesting than that. It picks three very d(mprnews.org)ight now — scrappy, funny, politically aware, and not especially interested in staying inside one lane. The headline grabber is “The Secret Circus(mprnews.org)also points people toward a fake-history musical and a museum show about Native treaties and their afterlives. (mprnews.org)cret circus” part? It’s an all-ages musical staged with local puppets and circus performers at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre in Minneapolis. The setup is delightfully blunt — feelings have been outlawed, so a rock-and-roll ringleader and circus friends build an underground Big Top where expression is allowed again. That gives the show a kid-friendly fantasy shell, but the emotional point is broader than that. It’s framed as family-friendly and LGBTQ-friendly, which tells you exactly what kind of room it wants to be. (hobt.org)oofy on purpose, but not empty. MPR’s writeup notes a king who has outlawed feelings and “feelings police” who pop up to enforce the rules. That’s a cartoon version of repression, basically, and the circus answers it with puppets, clowning, music, hoops, stilts, juggling, and local choreography. The fun is the argument. Instead of making a speech about belonging, the show turns belonging into the form of the night. (mprnews.org) ### Who’s actually behind it? Chanel Samson created The Secret C(hobt.org)s a collaboration with Heart of the Beast. Samson and one other cast member clown and sing, while much of the rest of the performance is built by Twin Cities artists shaping their own pieces into the larger story. That matters because this is not a touring package dropped into town fully sealed. It’s a local hybrid. (mprnews.org) ### What else is on the shortlist? One pick is “Gutenberg! The Musica(mprnews.org) as a parody of musical theater presented as a staged reading of a wildly inaccurate show about Johannes Gutenberg. Two performers play the creators, pitching their bargain-bin masterpiece straight to the audience in hopes of impressing imaginary Broadway producers. Think theater-kid chaos with a very online sense of humor. (mprnews.org) ### Why include that next to the circus? Beca(mprnews.org) into fake earnestness, improv energy, and sketch-comedy rhythm. “The Secret Circus” leans into puppetry, queerness, and communal spectacle. Different tone, same instinct — let the audience see the seams, and make the seams part of the joke or the invitation. (mprnews.org) ### And what’s the museum show doing here? The third highlighted event shifts the mood hard. “Wiwahokichiyapi: They Promised Things to (mprnews.org)treaty documents tied to Native nations and the U.S. government in the Midwest, alongside historical and contemporary artworks and images. It’s a collaboration involving the Smithsonian, the Giiwedinong Treaty Rights & Culture Museum, and Lakota archaeologist Tyrel Iron Eyes, among others. So the shortlist is not just chasing novelty — it’s also pointing at history that still structures the present. (mprnews.org) ### Why does this roundup feel coherent? Because all three picks are about stories and who gets to tell them. One mocks the grand authority of historical musicals. One builds a queer puppet circus where emotion itself becomes resistance. One puts treaties back in view and asks what promises still mean. Different formats, same pressure point. (mprnews.org) ### Bottom line? This is less a random events list than a snapshot of a region’s arts brain on one week in May — playful, collaborative, and very aware that culture can entertain people while also arguing with power. (mprnews.org)