A solo play written and performed by Obie Award Winner Renata Hinrichs

Directed by Jessi D. Hill

RANDOM ACTS is a love story that shifts through time. The play begins in 1978, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Renata’s senior year in high school when she meets, Willie Helmes, in a chemistry class where they have to sit in alphabetical order. He is the quarterback of the football team, the editor of the school newspaper– and he happens to be Black. Then in 1966 on the South Side of Chicago, scenes depict her parents’ experiences being a young couple at their first Lutheran parish and their challenges to unite this racially divided community, aligning with the principles of the Civil Rights Movement and the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. through their faith and church, told mostly through the perspective of Renata’s 5 and 6 year old selves. Thirty years of life shaping experience unfolds as ultimately, Random Acts is about the power of forgiveness, choosing love and how far-reaching the impact of one simple act of kindness can go.

This profoundly moving memory play is based on the author’s transformative experiences as the child of a minister on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, but an salient story ripe for our present times.

“A one-person Our Town” _{Tommy Tune— Broadway director and choreographer}

“This is a story about kindness, acceptance, bullying, peer pressure, friendship, and the breaking down of stereotypes–all of it told through the sublime, heart-lifting performance of Hinrichs.” _{thefrontrowcenter.com}

“This story is both timeless and prescient for our times, and Renata Hinrichs’ skillful performance is a masterful personal account that beautifully exposes the undeniable and essential connections that we all share.” _{Monica Callan— Grange Hall Cultural Center}

Click below to view performance

Thank you for joining us today!