42nd Season Beyond Belief

Since the dawn of humanity, rituals have connected us, healed our hearts and bodies, and helped us celebrate the cosmic order of our universe. Powerful, lasting rituals help us practice our humanity and remind us of our obligation to care for our earth and for one another.

In theatre, we build the muscle needed to create something together, something precious and ephemeral, to love it deeply, and to let go when it is time. At its purest distillation, making theatre helps us rehearse the perennial cycles of life and death. Theatre is a space where we can face the most daunting existential questions, and in that space of communion we find the divine in ourselves.

This season at Penumbra we highlight artists who mine our collective past to imagine a future beyond belief. We celebrate the customs that have kept African Americans connected though flung far from our ancestral origins. We honor what has sustained us through the darkest days of American history. We lift up the creative forces that enliven us. We let go of what no longer serves us. And through the rituals conjured by intrepid artists, we invite you to join our circle as we move toward higher, healing ground.

Sarah Bellamy
Artistic Director