THE WHY, THE WHO AND THE HOW

– Our first seven years –

PRIME Productions was founded in 2016 by Alison Edwards, Elena Giannetti and Shelli Place, in response to the lack of substantive roles for mature female actors in the Twin Cities.

68% of tickets to live theater are purchased by women over 50 (PRIME’s audience is 65% over 50) and the average theatergoer is 52, but only 30% of the roles for women on stage are women of any age.

In 2016 there were only 5 substantial female characters over 50 in company listings here in the Twin Cities. And those that existed are frequently controlling matriarchs or the butt of a joke (infirm, forgetful, incontinent, etc). Mature women rarely see themselves reflected on stage as the vibrant, multi-dimensional people that they are.

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PRIME’s inaugural production of LITTLE WARS by Steven Carl McCasland brought to life an imagined meeting of mature, iconic, female writers and was received with enthusiastic reviews. We ended our first production in the black! In the cast we had the extraordinary talents of SUE SCOTT (Prairie Home Companion), CANDACE BARRETT BIRK and VANESSA GAMBLE.

Following LITTLE WARS, we launched PRIME Voices: A Staged Reading Series (3 plays, in 3 months, at 3 venues!) offered free of charge.

Subsequently, we were invited to submit proposals to both Park Square Theatre’s Residency Program and the Guthrie’s Ninth Floor Initiative.

And we were selected for both!

TWO DEGREES by Tira Palmquist followed at The Guthrie.

It featured the talented NORA LONG and JOEL LIESTMAN, allowing us to tackle the issue of climate change as explored by two mature professional women, a paleoclimatologist and the head of a Senate committee.

And then the COVID pandemic hit!

We emerged from the pandemic slowly, first with THE ROOMMATE by Jen Silverman in 2022 at Mixed Blood Theater featuring GRETA OGLESBY, directed by GRETA GROSCH which received standing ovations nightly.

In 2024, we produced ANN by Holland Taylor, a one-woman show, about the colorful Texas Governor, Ann Richards, starring the incomparable ANGELA TIMBERMAN. Audience response was off the charts…

“You HAVE to do this again!”

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Since the pandemic, our attendance has increased threefold from THE ROOMMATE (926) to THE REVOLUTIONISTS (2905), a year later. Clearly, our audience values our productions and our mission. Our 2023 staged readings were sold out before the performances happened and our donors and donations made major increases from 2022 to 2024. This shows us that we are providing arts that our community wants. The number of donors increased by 30% and donations were up 90%.

Curently PRIME is producing the new PRIME Voices: The Playwright Series Staged readings of new plays by mature women. (2 plays, in 2 months, by 2 playwrights!)

The cast of LITTLE WARS. Photo Credit; Joseph Giannetti

First we produced MARJORIE PRIME the Pulitzer nominated play by Jordan Harrison as PST, featuring, once again, the extrordinary CANDACE BARRETT BIRK and JAMES RODRUIGEZ. Again, we received positive reviews and enthusiastic response.

MARJORIE PRIME was the production where our Stage Manager documented that the audience response was much stronger on the nights with open captioning. Further research revealed that hearing loss is an issue for many of our patrons (older theatergoers). In 2021 we applied for, and received, an MSAB grant to purchase open captioning equipment and train operators (mature women!) to provide captioning for every performance!

It was during this time of hiatus that we confronted two issues: George Floyd’s murder and the knowlede that our mission needed to reach beyond simply hiring local mature female artists. We realized that although our track record of nontraditional casting was laudable, we needed to expand our storytelling to embrace other cultures and to be part of a larger cultural conversation that remains stubbornly ageist. We want to appeal to all generations so all mature women finally see themselves onstage in a meaningful roles, and their partners and children see the mature women in their lives in a new way and grandchildren get to see their ‘Nana’ as a bad ass!

During COVID we developed our online series, PRIME Voices: The Interview Series where we interviewed a diverse group of women whose stories reflect journeys of strength, tenacity and compassion.

In 2023 we partnered again with Park Square for THE REVOLUTIONISTS by Lauren Gunderson on their main stage which culminated in a sold-out weekend!

Our third PRIME Voices series followed, employing the talents of MS OGLESBY & GROSCH again as well as MICHELLE BRINDISI and LORI DOKKEN.

Angela Timberman as ANN. Photo Credit; Dan Norman

A recent survey returned responses including: “The quality of the scripts that are selected for reading(s) and productions is what keeps me coming...”, “I'm...delighted...there's a company focusing on the oft-overlooked woman of a certain age.", “PRIME fills a great niche in our rich theater community..."

Now, championing mature women seems more important than ever! When we attempt to understand new ideas, to relate to different lifestyles and cultures, we need to see it presented in an accessible way. Our audiences want to see mature women as fully dimensional people so the culture can change.

The future of PRIME….

……to be continued!