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Euan Kerr
St. Paul, Minn.

Penumbra Theatre trims budget

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The Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul today announced it is trimming its budget by almost a quarter, and pushing a major production into next year.

Penumbra is the largest professional African American theater in the country. It recently completed a $3 million fundraising campaign.

Artistic director Lou Bellamy says the cuts are pro-active measures in the face of the economic downturn, to protect what the company has built in recent years.

"What it really means is our organization now has the tools, the things in place, a board of directors and so forth, so that we might be able to predict where we might be," Bellamy said.

Penumbra will cut more than $900,000 from its 2009 annual budget, but will not lay off staff or cut its educational programs.

As a cost-cutting measure it will move the production of August Wilson's "Radio Golf," which was scheduled to end the 2008-2009 season, and have it open the 2009-2010 season.