Heart of the Beast was the subject of a minor controversy in 2009, when the group was one of the recipients of a National Endowment for the Arts stimulus (ARRA) grant. The $25,000 grant was denounced by many critics as wasteful. Typical of the coverage was this UPI report, which cites the criticism of Republican Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn, who noted "a liberal-leaning theater in
Puppet shows promoting social justice? In all fairness, theatergoers can't say that they weren't warned. On Disney's family.com website, the review reads,
"Brightly colored papier-mâché masks and huge-headed puppets make the original productions eye-popping, but don't expect mindless entertainment here: The productions have a message, sometimes political in nature."
Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre was founded in 1973 as the Powderhorn Puppet Theatre. It hosts a number of kids’ events and holiday shows, but is probably best known for its annual MayDay parade, featuring those large and colorful puppets and masks. This year's 38th edition of the Parade will march through
The group’s origins and early history are well documented in the 1999 book Theatre of Wonder: 25 Years in the Heart of the Beast[1] (“Theatre”). In the book, David O’Fallon, one of the group’s co-founders, describes the heady revolutionary climate in which the Theatre was born in 1973. The founders were “burned out by years of politically directive agit prop theater.”[2] He adds,
“To understand what brought us to this first performance, it is important to remember the bald politics of the day. Nixon was President. The war in
O’Fallon decided, “We needed to erect a shelter against the windchill of a savage capitalism—materialism.”[4]
In 1979, the group adopted its current name. In describing why the group changed its name, Heart of the Beast includes the following text, in very small print, on their website,
"The phrase, 'In the Heart of the Beast,' comes from Cuban poet Jose Marti and popularized by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. Here, in the center of a city, in the center of the country, we are In the Heart of the Beast. For us, this means the best way to make change in the world is to seek beauty and work for justice in our backyard."
In the book Theatre, the group’s current artistic director, Sandy Spieler, discusses the thinking behind the name change,
“This name was inspired by a phrase written by the Cuban poet José Martí, though often attributed to Che Guevara. Che had urged North Americans who wanted to be part of the Cuban revolution to ‘stay home and work in the place where you live, where you find your community, in the heart of the beast.’ "[5]
Needless to day, Che, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary, is not everyone’s cup of tea. Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz had to apologize for using an image of Che in promoting its brand.
A sampling of the Theatre’s work over the years shows the pattern. A 1980 production of The Hunt promised to present “the nativity story translated to the streets of an urban neighborhood, offering a biting commentary on the Reagan administration policies.”[6] (How prescient, as the Reagan administration did not take office until 1981.)
In February 1991, the Theatre honored its namesake with the production of the cleverly-named Che’s Lounge.[7]
Always up on current events, in 1997 the Theatre staged The School of the Americas, which “portrays the violence taught by this
In reviewing the Heart of the Beast's 1998 holiday, family-oriented production of Winter Dreams, the local alternative weekly newspaper City Pages wrote,
"There is, in fact, only one vignette that did not seem to resonate with the kiddies: a clunky and unimaginative bit in which a human polluter dumps toxic waste into a pristine pond and is transformed into a pink toad. (But then this company isn't named after a Che Guevara quote for nothing.)"
Che’s spirit lives on in the Theatre’s work. The 2008 edition of the MayDay parade was one of the more remarkable in the 38-year series, boasting a theme of "A New Bridge: Infrastructure for Future Beings." Playing off the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge, the 2008 parade asked the question,
"Are we building toward depletion and collapse as consumers and conquerors, or are we building a path to sustainable, reciprocal harmony with the rest of the earth?"
The parade organizers answer their own question, writing,
"The bridge we thought would lead us to prosperity turns out to be the Bridge of Debt and it is about to tip over!...Never mind that we’ve consumed to the edge of bankrupting the planet and our souls...Our Bridge of Debt represents a socio-economic system as a manifestation of this failure of spirit, now leading the world toward collapse and ruin.
"While the triumph of this system leaves many of us without livelihoods, without healthcare, without houses, and without a healthy environment, the complimentary culture of consumerism leads many away from a spiritual life as well."
In case you were missing the point, the 2008 organizers added this comment by lead artist Julian McFaul,
"Our society prioritizes allowing corporations and investment banks run profitable scams over producing useful goods and services for people. This priority pushes us closer to social, economic and environmental collapse and is leaving a wake of debt that you and I will have to pay. This debt will be used to leverage more damage to the environment, our democratic institutions, and public safety nets that are already inadequate. Fold in the billions spent on war, and we wonder why our levees fail and our bridges collapse. Alarmingly, this system—some call it neo-liberalism or “free market fundamentalism”—is exported and defended as a form of democracy. For sixty years, international development organizations have used massive lending scams to force a free market approach on developing countries that leaves them in debt, in environmental catastrophe, and with their assets sold off to corporate interests."
The 2009 stimulus funding could not have been timelier. MinnPost had reported the previous December that the theater came "up short $200,000 on a $1 million 2009 budget" as a result of the 2008 recession and, oddly enough, a reduction in corporate giving.
Also coming to the rescue was
We Minnesota Bluestem Center
Almost 40 years after its founding, thanks to the Institute on the Environment, the Heart of the Beast puppets will be sharing the stage with climate theologian and UN consultant Martin Palmer.
At the same time the Institute is hosting socialist puppetry and climate theologians, they are lobbying the state legislature for restoration of $5 million a year in funding for the Institute's program, the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE). The $5 million had been coming from Xcel Energy electric ratepayers, via the utility's Renewable Development Fund, which the state legislature tapped a few years ago to fund IREE.
Something to keep in mind the next time you pay your electric bill.
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