Picture a sweltering 1980s New York summer, and a white grandmother from the Midwest on a mission miles out of her element. 

This is the heartbeat of a new play premiering at the Capri in Minneapolis, where a woman is determined to reconnect her grandson with his Puerto Rican heritage. 

Across the Twin Cities this weekend, poets, filmmakers and playwrights are circling a similar question: How do we find our way back to ourselves?

Mary Gant playing Davia wraps their arm around King Jackson playing Jesús during a rehearsal for the play “Abuelita.” Credit: Courtesy PRIME Productions

A search for belonging

In “Abuelita,” a woman named Davia (played by Mary Gant) takes it upon herself to reconnect her grandson, Jesús (King Jackson), with his Puerto Rican roots through the help of three women from Spanish Harlem.

“I think one of the closest connections I have to Jesús is that he’s from Iowa but that’s pretty much it,” said Brooklyn-based playwright Nathan Yungerberg. “In many ways, Jesús’ journey and story was one that I wish someone would have given me.”

As a transracial adoptee raised by white parents in 1980s Wisconsin, Yungerberg spent his youth dreaming of a similar push toward his own Bahamian heritage. He’d imagine his birth father finding him and taking him to this place “where there are people who look like you, so that you can figure out who you are and feel normal,” he said. 

Centering the play on Davia was a choice Yungerberg wrestled with. At first, he worried that putting a white character at the center might divert from his mission to amplify Black and brown voices on stage. But ultimately, he chose to honor the complexity of his own history, naming the character after his biological maternal grandmother.

While Davia’s quest mirrors Yungerberg’s childhood dreams, the play’s portrayal of Puerto Rican culture was inspired by his move to New York 20 years ago. 

“The first relationship I got into was with a New Yorker, and he brought me into the fold with his family and his friends. They immediately just embraced me as one of their own,” he said. “Just seeing how they integrated their culture, food, music and dance into everyday life was really exciting for me.”

Now, the production comes to the Twin Cities for its world premiere at a time when local arts are actively celebrating multicultural roots and neighborhood solidarity.

“In my time in New York, I’ve had to defend Minneapolis left and right because people, especially native New Yorkers, just didn’t really have an idea of what the Twin Cities is all about,” Yungerberg said. “People are finally seeing and understanding because the people of the Twin Cities are showing the rest of the country how a community comes together.”

Date: Saturday, March 14 through Sunday, March 29

Time: Various times for different shows.

Location: The Capri, 2027 W. Broadway, Minneapolis

Cost: Pay-as-you-can tickets start at $15. 

For more information: Visit primeprods.org/abuelita 

Minneapolis poet laureate Junauda Petrus on March 21, 2025. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal

Junauda Petrus leads afternoon of poetry

Some of the most essential literary voices in the Twin Cities — including Minneapolis Poet Laureate Junauda Petrus, writer Michael Kleber-Diggs and emerging Somali poet Ifrah Mansour — will gather at Pangea World Theater for “We All, Everyone of Us.” 

The show raises funds for two nonprofits supporting Minnesota’s Latine and Native communities. For folks feeling inspired to make something of their own, north Minneapolis visual artist Keegan Xavi will lead a collage workshop. 

Date: Saturday, March 14

Time: 3 to 5:30 p.m.

Location: Pangea World Theater, 3020 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis

Cost: Free

For more information: Visit zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/we-all-everyone-of-us 

A still from the film “The Worlds of Bernice Bing” by Madeleine Lim. “The Worlds of Bernice Bing” will play at Indigenous Roots pop-up cinema Credit: Madeleine Lim

Queer AAPI stories on screen

Indigenous Roots is turning into a pop-up cinema on Saturday to spotlight queer Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history. 

“Belonging & Resistance: Queer AAPI Documentaries” will take you to the communities formed across the West Coast — from the lives of Singaporean lesbian immigrants in San Francisco to the solidarity between Black and Vietnamese women inside an East Oakland nail salon. 

After the screening, stick around for a Q&A with filmmaker Madeleine Lim, whose documentary “The Worlds of Bernice Bing” digs into the art and activism of a Chinese American lesbian painter from San Francisco’s 1960s art scene. 

The band Nunnabove poses for a photo. From left to right, Mattie Nunn, Bennett Nunn, Cadence Nunn and Wisdom Nunn. Credit: Nunnabove

Coming Tuesday: Nunnabove and Xina at the Dakota

If you’ve wandered through a Twin Cities music festival or stopped by venues like Icehouse or the Green Room in the past few years, chances are you’ve crossed paths with Nunnabove. The sibling band isn’t interested in staying in one lane. They blend funk, soul and rock into a new take on the Minneapolis sound. 

The group will bring that genre-bending sound to the Dakota on Tuesday for a concert with emerging singer-songwriter Xina. Listen to Xina’s Sampha-inspired track “Individuality” for a preview of her experimental art pop sound.