Our Mission

Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company ignites the hearts and minds of people of all cultural backgrounds by producing theater of the highest artistic standards. Rooted in Jewish content, our work explores differences, illuminates commonalities, and fosters greater understanding among all people.

Barbara Brooks, Founder & producing artistic director

Barbara Brooks, Founder & producing artistic director

Our Story

Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company (MJTC) was born in July 1994, shortly after Founder & Producing Artistic Director Barbara Brooks gave birth to her son. Through his infancy, she thought about her identity and how she could continue her Jewish heritage into the next generation. Beyond that, she wondered how her son and his future friends — Jew and non-Jew alike —  would learn to share and find richness in each other’s diversity.

A native New Yorker, Barbara came to Minnesota to pursue a graduate degree in music therapy at the University of Minnesota after receiving a B.A. in Music from Vassar College. Schooling was followed by appearances in musicals and plays in the east and Midwest, and teaching in the St. Paul Public Schools. As she became more familiar with the Twin Cities, she sensed that there were fewer opportunities here for people of every heritage to learn about each others' culture than there were in New York, and that many local Jewish people felt as disengaged from their roots as she did. Barbara decided that if other major cities had theaters devoted to Jewish culture, Minnesota should have one, too. She gathered together a diverse group of like-minded community leaders and formed the non-profit, professional Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company.

Video: 25 Years of Thought-Provoking Theater

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Our Accomplishments

Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company is nationally recognized as the preeminent independent professional theater in the United States rooted in Jewish history and culture. 

Since 1995, MJTC has produced over 90 plays and musicals. These have included 9 world premieres— 3 of which have been commissioned by MJTC (see Wellsprings New Play Program). Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company work has garnered 5 Ivey Awards, 2 Broadway World Awards (2018), and MJTC is the recipient of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Arts Achievement Award (2010).

The Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company audience is as diverse as our world today; approximately 50% of our patrons identify as Jewish, and 50% other. Audience members hail from the Twin Cities, surrounding suburbs, all areas of Minnesota, throughout Wisconsin, and other states from coast to coast. MJTC’s theater home is the 143-seat Highland Park Community Center Theater where the intimate space enables a special connection between the audience and artist, and our consistently acclaimed work mesmerizes the youngest child through the oldest adult.

Financial support has come from hundreds of individuals and prestigious institutional sources. Groups have attended from community organizations, public and private schools, and synagogues and churches. 

Our Programs

MJTC has four programming arms: