Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater and Walker Art Center will co-present two international theatrical projects in the 2017-2018 season: Leila’s Death, choreographed and directed by Lebanese artist Ali Chahrour, and 887, a solo show by Canadian director-creator Robert Lepage.

Leila’s Death will be performed November 11 on the Guthrie’s McGuire Proscenium Stage, while 887 will play five performances April 4-7, 2018, on the Walker’s William and Nadine McGuire Theater.

Leila’s Death, an hour-long piece performed in Arabic with English subtitles, features a contemporary music trio from Beirut, incorporating vocal work by Leila—a professional mourner who is paid to sing at funerals and burials in Southern Lebanon.

887, an autobiographical solo work by Lepage, provides a comic and poignant remembrance of the artist’s boyhood home in Quebec City. “Replete with expanded dollhouse-scale buildings and painstaking miniatures, 887 combines ingenious storytelling with awe-inspiring illusions through high-tech scenic transformations,” according to the Guthrie.

“The Guthrie and the Walker Art Center have a rich history of collaboration, and we’ve been committed to finding new and meaningful ways to partner,” said Guthrie Artistic Director Joseph Haj in a statement. “I’m eager to share the work of these important artists with our audiences and to fulfill our promise of creating space in our community for an exchange of ideas.”

McGuire Director and Senior Curator Philip Bither stated, “Collaboration has long been part of the ethos of Twin Cities arts communities and has certainly helped to define the Walker’s Performing Arts program over six decades. I am thrilled to work with Joe Haj and the Guthrie to bring these two highly acclaimed global theatrical projects to the Midwest, both of which I am convinced will enrich our cultural landscape in powerful, unexpected ways.”

For ticket information visit GuthrieTheater.org.

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