Art Hounds: New SWANA plays, 5-minute films and art meets healthcare

Art Hounds: New SWANA plays, 5-minute films and art meets healthcare

From Art Hounds by Minnesota Public Radio

June 4, 2026 · 4 min

About this episode

This episode features recommendations for new SWANA plays and a 5-minute film festival in Duluth.

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here . Six new plays from Arab American Theaterworks Deborah Copperud of Minneapolis hosts the podcast “ Read Minnesota Books .” She’s looking forward to a new event, the Festival of New SWANA Plays , this weekend. SWANA stands for Southwest Asian and North African, and it's a culmination of the New Arab American Theater Works Playwright Incubator Program. Open Book in Minneapolis will host staged readings of six new plays by Midwestern SWANA playwrights. Three play readings happen each day at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. with a moderated audience talkback following each show. Tickets are $15 per day. Deborah says the plays are all different: There's a psychological thriller, a fairy tale adaptation, a domestic drama and a travel quest. Sana Wazwaz is a playwright from Minneapolis, and she is presenting “Birthright Palestine” [Saturday at 7 p.m.]. The play was inspired by her experience organizing for Palestinian liberation as a college…

People in this episode

Host: Deborah Copperud

Topics covered

  • SWANA plays
  • 5-minute films
  • art and healthcare
  • local art recommendations
  • theater events

Keywords

  • SWANA
  • theater
  • film festival
  • local art
  • Minnesota arts

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Arab American Theaterworks, Open Book, Prøve Collective

Books & works: Birthright Palestine

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