Theatre de la Jeune Lune

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

May 20, 2005

THEATER

Behind the Scenes
Theatre de la Jeune Lune
May 20, 2005; Page W6

When the American Theatre Wing honors the Broadway stage at its 59th annual Tony Awards on June 5, at least one recipient will be from far beyond the Great White Way. Minneapolis's Theater de la Jeune Lune (or "Jeune Lune" as the locals call it) is set to take home the Regional Theatre Tony Award.

Jeune Lune (French for "new moon") takes its name from a phrase in a Bertolt Brecht poem: "The new moon holds for one night long, The old moon in its arms." That mix of the old and new has characterized the company's style since it was founded in 1978. Its productions employ elements of such time-honored theatrical forms as circus, classic farce and vaudeville.

"We try to respect traditional theater while creating new works," says Dominique Serrand, who along with fellow Frenchman Vincent Gracieux and Minneapolis native Barbra Berlovitz started the company in France. The three were soon joined by Robert Rosen, also from the Minneapolis area. These four share the duties of artistic director with Steven Epp, who joined the company in 1983.

The company initially alternated between Minneapolis and Paris. But the difficulty of procuring funds in Paris, and the Minneapolis ties of Ms. Berlovitz and Mr. Rosen, prompted a permanent move to Minneapolis in the mid-1980s.

The bare-bones company has a staff of about 15, including the artistic directors (who also do duty as performers, stage designers and lighting technicians). It has no endowment, covering its approximately $1.7 million in annual operating costs with grants, corporate funding and box-office sales. "We never know if there'll be a next season," Mr. Serrand says, "which is part of the thrill of our kind of theater."

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--Robert J. Hughes

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