50 years! Wow! Tempus Fugit when you’re having fun. Some of you have been coming regularly for years, some on special occasions-- like church. (You know who you are.)

When we first opened in New York, everyone said “Satire is what closes on Saturday night.” It did not. In 1958 when the Brave New Workshop opened in Minneapolis the idea of presenting “social and political satire, based on real life issues in a comedy revue format” seemed crazy. To open any kind of theater in Minneapolis in 1958 was considered crazy. To make it an all comedy theater, presenting original ensemble-created productions year round without a dime of grant money seemed foolhardy. Well, here we are, fifty years later, and the flag is still flying the motto of “Positive Neutrality and Promiscuous Hostility.” Some of America’s greatest comedic writers and actors, having made their start here, have gone on to fame (and much greater) fortune. To all the great funny alumni, I give thanks.

And thank you for being our audience. YOU are the main reason for the success of this theater. You have given us intelligent responses, loving laughter, and an occasional standing ovation. More importantly, you have given us license to say things that aren’t usually said in this Minnesota-Nice Metropolis.

The theater is now in the hands of some bright, young alumni who understand its mission, are passionate about its form and style, and are committed to pushing the edge as the theater travels on into the new millennium. Today the workshop provides keynote speakers and improvisational training, bringing the message of “Innovation at the speed of Laughter” to corporate clients from coast to coast. The Brave New Institute, once just a wish-full notion, now has hundreds of actors in training to become the satirists of the future. I wish John, Jenni and the entire Brave New Workshop family continued success, and hope that in the year 2058 there will still be irreverent satirical comedy being performed on colorful, culture-conscious Hennepin Avenue.

-Dudley Riggs, Founder of the Brave New Workshop