Minnesota

by Tom Nieboer

A combat veteran returns home for the holidays, only to be pursued by a forbidding specter of her time overseas.
A junk trader haggles over a chair weighted with history.
A custody battle grows in acrimony as each parent grows more desperate.
A terrible secret, long withheld, comes to light.
An earth-worshipping family struggles to reconcile their spirituality with the toll the earth has taken on them.
A...

A combat veteran returns home for the holidays, only to be pursued by a forbidding specter of her time overseas.
A junk trader haggles over a chair weighted with history.
A custody battle grows in acrimony as each parent grows more desperate.
A terrible secret, long withheld, comes to light.
An earth-worshipping family struggles to reconcile their spirituality with the toll the earth has taken on them.
A Lutheran pastor loses her faith and her spouse, and struggles in vain to win both back.
Six stories. One state. Magic intertwines with mundanity in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.

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Minnesota

Recommended by

  • Jessica Moss: Minnesota

    Oh my goodness me, this is special. A group of people all in different stages of being haunted. The past lives, consequences are made flesh, and the regrets we carry, even the threat of future regrets, are heavy and terrifying enough to ruin everything we have. I think many scenes stand alone if you're looking for scenework. But there's an accumulative power of the whole piece and an amazing moment of purgation at the end, so I hope it gets produced in its entirety: I think the evening would feel like the breath you take after you've been drowning.

    Oh my goodness me, this is special. A group of people all in different stages of being haunted. The past lives, consequences are made flesh, and the regrets we carry, even the threat of future regrets, are heavy and terrifying enough to ruin everything we have. I think many scenes stand alone if you're looking for scenework. But there's an accumulative power of the whole piece and an amazing moment of purgation at the end, so I hope it gets produced in its entirety: I think the evening would feel like the breath you take after you've been drowning.

  • Eugene O'Neill Theater Center: Minnesota

    It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Tom Nieboer and their play Minnesota as a finalist for our 2020 National Playwrights Conference. This particular work emerged from a highly competitive, anonymous, and multi-tiered selection process to become one of 63 finalists out of more than 1,500 submissions. This enthralling piece galvanized the hearts and theatrical imaginations of our reading teams and is fully championed by our offices. We are honored to put our enthusiastic support behind this writer and their ongoing contributions to the American Theater.

    It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Tom Nieboer and their play Minnesota as a finalist for our 2020 National Playwrights Conference. This particular work emerged from a highly competitive, anonymous, and multi-tiered selection process to become one of 63 finalists out of more than 1,500 submissions. This enthralling piece galvanized the hearts and theatrical imaginations of our reading teams and is fully championed by our offices. We are honored to put our enthusiastic support behind this writer and their ongoing contributions to the American Theater.

  • Nick Malakhow: Minnesota

    A beautifully-rendered mosaic of humanity that explores universal truths and mines the everyday for the profound in the tradition of classics like "Our Town" and modern analogues like "Reykjavik." Nieboer has such an excellent grasp on the irregularities and peculiarities of natural speech, and here he gives us 15 very distinct and compelling characters. I loved the fantastical eccentricities that helped to underscore how both normal and bizarre daily life is. The stories come together in a poignant, theatrical moment at the end. I'd love to see this on its feet!

    A beautifully-rendered mosaic of humanity that explores universal truths and mines the everyday for the profound in the tradition of classics like "Our Town" and modern analogues like "Reykjavik." Nieboer has such an excellent grasp on the irregularities and peculiarities of natural speech, and here he gives us 15 very distinct and compelling characters. I loved the fantastical eccentricities that helped to underscore how both normal and bizarre daily life is. The stories come together in a poignant, theatrical moment at the end. I'd love to see this on its feet!

Awards

  • Landing Theatre Company's 2020 New American Voices Playwriting Festival
    Semi-Finalist