ABOUT HOBT

Puppetry’s power lies in the act of transformation — of bringing something inanimate to life.

Receiving Gifts MayDay 2006

Receiving Gifts, MayDay, 2006
Photo by Yvonne Lai

This act in itself speaks to our lives, which rise and fall and rise again.

As we share this act of building and performing, we find that theater brings people together. It builds community.

It is with great respect and awe that we see the power and joy of this ancient art flourish in unsuspecting ways and places.

Since 1973, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre has been using water, flour, newspaper, paint, and unlimited imagination to tell stories that explore the struggles and celebrations of human existence.

Drawing inspiration from the world's traditions of puppet and mask theatre and its lively roots in transformative ritual and street theatre, HOBT creates vital, poetic theater for all ages and backgrounds.

Gotama Puppeteers
Prince Siddhata Gotama meets an old man.
from GOTAMA: A Journey to the Buddha, February, 2006
Photo by Bruce Silcox

Each year, we produce a season of original plays; tour productions and create specially commissioned pageants throughout Minnesota and beyond; and teach puppetry and pageantry through residencies and workshops to youth, students and teachers, and communities.

In addition, each spring HOBT creates and wholly produces the beloved, fantastical MayDay Parade and Pageant, celebrated by tens of thousands in Powderhorn Park.

In 2004, HOBT was named a Finalist, Best Small Theater Production by the Star Tribune for Company of Angels: The Story of Charlotte Salomon; and in 1997 it won the national UNIMA-USA Award for its stunning original production Befriending the Enemy. In 2000 HOBT was the very first American organization invited to perform inside the North/South Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). International tours include South Korea and the Dominican Republic.

ABOUT OUR FACILITIES

In the Heart of the Beast's Avalon TheaterIn the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre 300-seat theatre and administrative offices are located in the Avalon, an art deco cinema designed by architect Perry Crosier in 1937.

It screened top Hollywood movies, and later, art films, but, by the 1960’s, it had devolved into showing pornography. Neighborhood residents protested and organized and, finally, in 1984, the theater was closed. It then stood vacant until 1988 when HOBT became a tenant. Over the last 10 years, HOBT has raised more than one million dollars to purchase (in 1990) and renovate the building.

In 2004, HOBT joined with the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) and Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) to purchase and redevelop the adjacent building at 1516 E. Lake Street. A former Masonic lodge, the newly renovated Plaza Verde building re-opened in March 2005 as a neighborhood-based cultural and small business center.

 HOBT occupies the third floor which contains a large ballroom along with a large studio, rehearsal space and storage areas for our vast puppet collection.

See Rental Info for more details
about the Avalon and Plaza Verde

HOBT Staff

  • Sandy Spieler, Artistic Director
  • Kathee Foran, Executive Director
  • Katy Peters, Financial Manager, Rental Coordinator
  • Masanari Kawahara, Staff Artist
  • Melissa Koch, Community Programs Director
  • Margery Otto, Volunteer Coordinator
  • Paul Robinson, Company Manager
  • Duane Tougas, Staff Artist
  • Jamey Leonard, Office Manager & Development Associate
  • Erin Search-Wells, Office Assistant

Directions to HOBT

Click here for explicit driving directions to HOBT

Quotes
About HOBT

“Your performance yesterday touched a part of me that had lain quiet for many years. The experience in the mask/puppet residency brought wonder and creation to my heart. I felt the power of your symbols, and understood many things that could not have been communicated with words.”  ~ Karyn, July 1983

“Walking into the MayDay Workshops right from the Capitol, I saw democracy alive. All the colors, all the shapes of people, the street and university people, old and young, tall and short, all at work together. MayDay demonstrates real democracy in action. ~ Dr David O’Fallon, President, MacPhail Center for the Arts

“The annual MayDay Parade and Festival...is the best of what art should be, in a form that is accessible and inclusive of people of all incomes, ages, races and cultures.”  - Jobs and Affordable Housing Campaign Team, 2000

“HOBT has brought hope and optimism to their street corner. It is hard to imagine a community-based arts group more committed to their neighborhood.”  ~ Vincent James, in testimony to the Minneapolis City Council, 1996

Mailing List

Find out about special events and ticket discounts. Join the HOBT mailing list:
Email:

2008 Board
of Directors

  • Michael Brown, Chair
  • Dan Newman,
    Vice Chair
  • Brad Borg, Treasurer
  • Karen Cooper, Secretary
  • Angela Crandall
  • Kathee Foran
  • Shawn Hartfeldt
  • Catherine Jordan
  • Ed McFadden
  • Ann O’Neill, CSJ
  • MaryLynn Pulscher
  • Helen Pound
  • Sandy Spieler
  • Harry Waters, Jr.