With all-female 'Two Gentlemen,' Rasmussen opens her Jungle run

Sarah Rasmussen first fell in love with theater at a student matinee of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" at the Guthrie Theater. Her mom drove her from her hometown of Sisseton, S.D., and they stood in the rush line to get cheaper tickets.

"It wasn't looking good," she recalled recently. "There were a lot of people in the rush line that day, and a woman approached us — I was the only kid in the rush line — and she said, 'Two students didn't get on the bus today, so if you two would like these tickets, I'm just giving them to you.'

"And I always think back — I don't know who that woman was, but I'm so grateful."

Two decades later, as she begins her tenure as the Jungle Theater's artistic director, Rasmussen feels it's only fitting that she open with a nod to Shakespeare. "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" centers around two youths — Proteus and Valentine — just as their childhood is coming to an end.

"It's sort of like we've graduated from high school, it's summer vacation, Valentine is sort of headed off to college — which back in the day was going to court and learning about how to be a gentleman — but Proteus has fallen really hard for his hometown sweetheart," Rasmussen explained. "The way I like to think of it, Proteus is kind of like hanging out at the bleachers, going to Dairy Queen, and really doesn't want to leave town yet."

She said the play explores new love, old love, friendship and romance. Who are you when you're no longer surrounded by your friends? What happens to love once the initial spark of passion fades?

Under ordinary circumstances, "Two Gentlemen" might seem like a safe, even cautious choice for Rasmussen's first show as the Jungle's artistic director. But this production has some surprises in store.

All the parts — including those of Proteus and Valentine — are played by women.

Performing Shakespeare with an all-female cast, Rasmussen said, is like performing a new cover to a classic song. You hear the lyrics and tune in a whole new way.

"By making it more about gender, it ironically becomes less about gender," she said. "Gender seems to kind of fall away, and it allows the play to become just about these characters."

Michelle Hensley, artistic director of Ten Thousand Things Theater Company, has worked with Rasmussen on numerous occasions and is thrilled to have another female artistic director join the Twin Cities ranks. She says an all-female Shakespeare production is just one of the many exciting things audiences can expect from her.

"There's going to be all kinds of new stories being told, and new ways of telling old stories that will be utterly refreshing," she said.

Hensley said she's confident Rasmussen will continue the Jungle's tradition of creating great opportunities for actors, and exquisite stage design. But she also expects Rasmussen will broaden the worlds that Jungle audiences are exposed to.

"Inclusivity is just part of her DNA," she said. "It's just natural and effortless to find stories, and ways of telling those stories that include everyone who makes up our world."

Accordingly, while the cast of "Two Gentlemen" is all female, the women are racially diverse and span several generations.

Rasmussen comes to the Twin Cities most recently from Texas, where she headed up the University of Texas at Austin MFA program in directing. Kevin Moriarty, artistic director of the Dallas Theater Center, said Rasmussen brings a fresh perspective to Shakespeare that's grounded in a deep knowledge and love of the work. But she's equally at home with cutting-edge new work.

"She has this love for ideas and language and art and people that is diverse and expansive," he said. "So that kind of breadth and depth, I think, is typical of Sarah."

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona" opens Friday night at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis, and runs through March 27.