The more you know, the more you heal.
You can unite people across their differences by activating imaginations and illuminating community stories through Wonderlust Productions.
Your donation today will be used to continue these conversations:
Amplify the stories of the caregivers who keep our communities together.
We’ll be connecting to the people that look out for and connect neighbors; the paramedics who tend to every corner of our city; the unsung heroes in the hospitals; the hospice workers; the parents and children who tenaciously advocate and care for loved ones living with illness, injury, and disability.
Inspire real conversations about our toxic incarceration system and how to reform it.
We will transform footage of our play about the incarceration system, The Labyrinth and the Minotaur, into an episodic video series that can be used to facilitate dialogue inside prisons, in law firms, synagogues, churches, and with judges to create new understanding among people directly impacted by this system and who have direct impact on how the system is implemented.
Deliver more books about adoption into the hands of people across the country.
Conferences, support groups, and book clubs across the country bring together adoptees, adoptive parents, birth parents, and social workers to better understand the complex journey of adoption for all involved. Our graphic novel, In My Heart: The Adoption Story Project will be an entertaining and catalytic tool for better seeing each other’s perspectives and finding healthier ways forward together.
Educate more people about the true inner workings of government and how real people create change
In collaboration with former MPR reporter Marianne Combs (2020 Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists Journalist of the Year), a podcast adaptation of Our House: The Capitol Play Project will combine clever drama with honest conversation to puncture the myths about political action and change that discourage so many people. Real change is hard but possible, and this podcast will show how.
Your dollars being put to work
"I viewed it as a healing experience."
-Bill Bednarczyk, donor and participant
Hear more about what your impact can do to bring our community together:
"If real change is going to happen, people need to be changed and art is one of the ways to do that."
-Andy Kiorpes, donor
Proven Impact:
Even though the pandemic closed theaters all across the country, Wonderlust continued to build bridges across difficult divides. Through innovation and tenacity, more than 2,000 people connected, engaged and participated in:
The Labyrinth and the Minotaur: The Incarceration Play Project wove together the stories of people who have been incarcerated with corrections officers, administrators, nurses, probation officers, and more to present a uniquely comprehensive picture of how the system impacts society as a whole. The May 2022 production with a cast of 30+ performed five times for full houses each night.
Lost & Found was a unique combination of personal ritual and high-quality storytelling that brought people together on Raspberry Island in St. Paul for an experience that moved each individual differently. Five years in the making, the event was a response to all the difficult grief the communities we encounter face as well as a play for people to process the difficulties of the last few years.
Hopscotch: Short Plays about the Future inspired artists and audiences to look beyond the immediate challenges during Covid lockdowns and the struggle for racial justice and imagine the future when we learn from this moment right now. 50-80 people a night were able to come together in various St. Paul parks for a thought-provoking, life-affirming artistic experience wen few other theaters were producing any work at all.
The graphic novel In My Heart: The Adoption Story Project, illustrated by Becca Hart based on the play by Alan Berks and Leah Cooper was completed and released in the summer of 2021 and has reached more than 750 readers so far, earning 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
Wonderlust makes a difference by doing it differently
Is it really necessary?
"There’s a lot of things I could give my money to, but there’s not a bigger cause right now that’s more deserving."
-Nancy Baldrica, donor