Social Justice Theater to restart COVID-cancelled production

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Nearly three years since the COVID-19 pandemic first shut down public venues and entertainment, some are still working to rebuild.

Centenary Social Justice Theatre a program run by Centenary United Methodist Church in Mankato, who uses theater to spark conversations about social issues while raising donations for local programs like the Backpack Food Program and for the Connection Shelter.

The theater was one week from performing the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning drama “Shadow Box” in March of 2020 when the pandemic forced them to shut down.

Three years later, the theatre is back to finish what it started.

“I would say generally we’re just trying to move forward and finally get to production with this show,” said The Social Justice Theatre’s Doug Faust. “But at the same time we have had conversations because we’ve all gone through different experiences over the last three years with COVID and everything else, and how does that change our approach?”

The show will return with most of its original cast, and is running auditions on Sunday and Monday replacing cast members who were unable to return.

The theater said that the cast can’t wait to get back to unfinished business, both with their established castmates and new faces.

“I think the cast is excited to finally get the opportunity to produce this show,” said Faust. “Very talented folks; everybody was memorized, everybody was ready to go, and we were just in that final stage of production, so it’s finally able to get this up in front of an audience will be really gratifying for everybody.”

The show will go on the weekend of March 24, almost three years to the day from its original production schedule.

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