MACT

Applause Community Theatre (ACT) has been bringing affordable, thought-provoking, and community-focused productions to the Twin Cities for over 50 years. As a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit, we rely on generous support from individuals and organizations to keep the spotlight shining on new voices and underperformed works.

​When was the last time you were deeply moved by a live performance, up close and personal? At Applause Community Theatre (ACT), we believe that intimate, thought-provoking theater can ignite change and foster community. And making it affordable is even better!

Last year, ACT partnered with the national organization ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence, Mixed Blood Theater, Perpich School for the Arts and Save Our Sons Executive Director, Melvin Carter Jr., to be the first organization in Minnesota to bring new works of theater written and performed by teens to the Twin Cities. Our November 06, 2023, production at Mixed Blood Theater was one of over 50 nationwide performances that day. The plays sparked critical conversations and inspired youth to create other thought-provoking forms of art on the subject such as music. All proceeds from the production were donated to Save Our Sons to help fund the creation of more art, in this case film, to spark critical conservations and inspire action on preventing gun violence. We presented a workshop on this program at MACT*Fest 2025 in Duluth. We will be presenting the 2025 shows of ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence on October 6th at the Landmark Center in St Paul.

ACT’s script workshop program guides emerging writers through feedback, table reads, and staged readings—with the potential for full production. To support ACT’s mission of spotlighting new voices and rarely performed works, we are brought a one act by a local playwright, paired with A Woman Over Forty by New Zealand playwright Lindsey Brown.   Excerpts from A Woman Over Forty were performed in the 2024 FastFest festival in Cloquet, MN.

In March, 2025 we presented Done to Death by Fred Carmichael at The Hive Collaborative in Saint Paul and presenting one act of it at the Minnesota Association of Community Theaters MACTFest competition.  We believe this is a Minnesota premier.

Next spring, we are also producing the first showing in the last 10 years in Minnesota of Red, by John Logan.  Red won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play  along with 5 other awards.

We keep our ticket prices low as we want our shows to be accessible.  Ticket sales cover about 53% of expenses. Your donation, whether one-time or recurring, will directly support our productions, keeping ticket prices low and ensuring that our shows remain accessible to all.