Mixed Blood Theatre presents the World Premiere of SAFE AT HOME

Mixed Blood Theatre today announced the cast for SAFE AT HOME-a site specific theatrical event performed at CHS Field in St. Paul. Directed by Mixed Blood Artistic Director Jack Reuler and featuring 18 actors, this 9-scene thriller uses baseball to examine flawed US immigration policies, racial politics, America's obsession with celebrity, and the collision of personal ethics with massive entertainment and media dollars.

For 90 minutes, audience members will travel in small groups throughout the St. Paul Saints' stadium, encountering scenes in a locker room, press box, luxury suite, men's room, and more. They will be voyeurs into the intimate conversations of umpires, managers, mascots, politicians, fans, vendors, and players-performed by a multi-national cast-all while venturing into stadium spaces rarely visited by the public.

Artistic Director/Director Jack Reuler: "SAFE AT HOME embodies the aspirations of Mixed Blood: stretching style and form of theater creation via world premieres; melding racial politics, immigration reform, and class; and entertaining. It also hits my brain's pleasure centers as it uses baseball as a metaphor, aimed simultaneously at the diamond neophyte or the scholar of America's past time." He continues, "Its cast of 18 and stadium venue are harbingers of tomorrow's theatrical norms, in which relationships between audiences and performances will often be far more than seats and a stage. And having a St. Paul home allows Mixed Blood to be the Twin Cities resource it hopes to be."

Playwrights Alex Levy & Gabriel Greene: "Baseball has long been linked to the mythology of the American experiment. It touches the lives of so many: the titans of business who own the teams, the media empires that cover it, the fans who obsess over it, right down to the immigrants who play the game in an attempt to live the American dream and provide a better future for their families. The American Dream and the history of baseball share some of our greatest American values, as well as uncomfortable truths about how power is established and maintained. We wanted to explore what happens when those paradoxes collide on the field and ripple outward.

For four decades, Mixed Blood has courageously wrestled with stories that intersect the political and the personal. We're honored that Jack and Mixed Blood have embraced this outrageous idea to produce an 18-actor play about sports and the American experience, staged throughout the beautiful CHS Field. Play ball!"

SAFE AT HOME is a treat for theater lovers, baseball aficionados, thrill seekers, and the simply curious. SAFE AT HOME marks Mixed Blood's 17th sports play (including Ali, The History of Bowling, Take Me Out, Colossal, and The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity) demonstrating the truth of Sports Illustrated's feature of Mixed Blood as the most sports-oriented theater in America. As is the case with all of Mixed Blood's work, SAFE AT HOME is accessible for all patrons.

Director Jack Reuler leads an 18-actor cast which includes Ansa Akyea, Pedro R. Bayon, Brian Bose, Warren C. Bowles, Fernando Collado, Mike Fotis, Thomas W. Jones II, Michael Lee, Regan Linton, Rodolfo Nieto, Pat O'Brien, Raúl Ramos, Christopher Rivas, Don Shelby, Mark Sieve, Harry Waters Jr., and Bruce Young. Designers include 2016 Ivey Award winner Trevor Bowen (costumes), Abbee Warmboe (properties), and Michel Bateman (media design).

SAFE AT HOME runs one week only.

This production made possible in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through a grant as part of its Knight Arts Challenge and with the support of the Cultural STAR Program.

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