“Folks who practice theater…have skills that translate really well toward community building. I mean, this is what we train to do. We figure out communication in different ways. We figure out collaboration. We figure out consensus building. We figure out how to navigate hierarchies…not around a product, but around a story, around a piece of art, around emotions, around people's varying needs and how to figure out how to prioritize those.”  — Alejandro Tey

Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mixed Blood Theatre was founded in 1976 by Jack Reuler, who approached the organization from a community organizer's perspective. Motivated by the quest for racial equity and universal civil rights, Reuler used theater to foster representation and empathy by showcasing diverse stories. Almost 50 years later, Mixed Blood has remained committed to color-conscious casting and commissioning new works to represent people from all backgrounds. For the new issue of American Artscape, we spoke with Associate Artistic Director Alejandro Tey and others about the opportunities performing in a community space like a school supports increased audience engagement.