About

Founded in 1976 by award winning director Lou Bellamy, Penumbra is a nationally recognized organization housing Minnesota’s only Black professional theatre company. We have earned tremendous accolades, producing nearly 200 plays, over 30 premieres, and have cultivated generations of artists of color. Through our powerful art, we open hearts, rehearse strategies for change, and dispel dehumanizing narratives of people of color.

Today, under the leadership of Sarah Bellamy, Penumbra is evolving into its next life cycle: a performing arts campus and center for racial healing that nurtures Black artists, advances equity, and facilitates wellness for individuals and community. Our space centers the Black experience, learns from and supports people of color who are not Black, and welcomes white individuals interested in building resiliency and competency for racial equity and racial healing work. Penumbra stands in solidarity with and supports Indigenous communities upon whose land the work is located.

“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”
—Angela Davis, Activist, professor, and author

“We tend to think of healing as something binary. But healing and growth take place on a continuum, with innumerable points between utter brokenness and total health.”
—Dr. Resmaa Menakem, Therapist, author, and trauma specialist

“I believe that one of the most beautiful things about theater is that no one artist can do it alone.”
—Harrison David Rivers, Playwright and Penumbra company member

“You cannot use someone else’s fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it.”
—Audre Lorde, Black feminist, lesbian, poet, mother, warrior

“You cannot give energy if you’re not on fire on the inside.”
—Rev. Jesse Jackson, American civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and political activist

“Within Penumbra's walls, a genuine spirit of care breathes and thrives, weaving a rich and tender atmosphere where creative courage is not just invited, but deeply embraced.”
—Lester Purry, Actor and Penumbra company member