North Star Workshop
June 11, 2026
In the spring of 2026, we partnered with acclaimed documentary theater artists Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen to develop a new work, currently titled NORTH STAR.
Blank and Jensen are a multihyphenate, married creative team who have spent over two decades creating theater that wrestles with the most urgent issues of our time. Their documentary work focuses on directly impacted individuals at the heart of larger social justice issues and stems from their belief that documentary theater is uniquely able to move audiences, create empathy and unmoor fixed preconceptions, creating tangible opportunities for change.
Conceived as a direct artistic response to Operation Metro Surge, which unleashed an estimated 3,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across Minnesota, North Star addresses ICE’s actions in the Twin Cities, the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and Minnesotans’ collective response — events that upended the daily lives of thousands of Minnesotans, with major repercussions for the Twin Cities and the nation as a whole.
Between mid-January and early March, Blank and Jensen spent six weeks in the Twin Cities reaching out to a wide range of communities directly impacted by Operation Metro Surge and seeking individuals who actively wanted to tell their stories. In total, they interviewed 43 people from all corners of the Twin Cities, from forward-facing leaders to individuals sheltering in place. These interviews helped shape the narrative and voices of the play, with thoughts and reflections from doctors, attorneys, clergy, teachers, house cleaners, social works and dozens of others who made up the emergent mobilization created to protect and care for one another.
Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen during rehearsal
Mahamed Salad reads a scene from North Star
North Star is a work in progress, with future productions in mind for next season and beyond. On Saturday, May 30, 2026, we hosted a reading of the play in the Dowling Studio for friends and community members to experience the piece for the first time. This collective experience was supported by Pillsbury House + Theatre and mental health group Creative Kuponya.
A Note From the Creators
"Our work accesses real human beings behind the headlines. And, if we do it right, uses theater’s innate power to spark empathy to ask audiences to engage deeply with lives that might be quite unlike their own.
The world outside Minnesota knows about ICE’s horrifying actions in the early months of this year. What they do not know is how these cities responded. The emergence of that response might provide a blueprint for hope for communities all over this country — and, we believe, across the world. We are honored to play a small part in sharing this story with the world."
