Magic and Monsters Documentary, Exposing Minneapolis’s Children’s Theatre Company’s Dark History and Illuminating Survivors’ Search for Justice, Receives Nomination for Prestigious Award
Magic and Monsters, a documentary film from Minneapolis director Norah Shapiro, exposes the long-buried truth of decades of widespread sexual abuse at the preeminent children’s theater. It also chronicles former student survivors in the aftermath of litigation as they continued to seek healing and accountability from the institution that harmed them as children and protected their predators.
In a testament to its powerful storytelling, Magic and Monsters has been named a finalist for the 2024 Library of Congress/Lavine Ken Burns Prize for Film. This prestigious national prize honors exemplary documentaries that compellingly portray American history.
From 2015 to 2019, Seventeen plaintiffs stepped forward to hold the children’s theater accountable and seek justice for sexual abuse they endured when they were students and children at the theater during the 1970s and 1980s. The lawsuits, brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, further exposed the decades-long abuse of children at the theater by the founder and director John Clark Donahue. But the lawsuits also exposed numerous additional perpetrators who were former teachers and actors at the theater and the theater’s culture that allowed so many children to be harmed over decades, all while the esteemed theater received national attention and accolades.
The theater’s storied history and the survivors’ courage in seeking accountability garnered the attention of Ms. Shapiro, and a documentary took shape. Magic and Monsters captures the resilience and bravery of the survivors as they confront their past and forge a new narrative. The documentary not only looks back, unearthing a vast history that had been brushed under the rug by the esteemed theater, but it also follows the survivors as they embark on an unprecedented journey of personal and collective restoration.
Concerning the Library of Congress/Lavine Ken Burns Prize for Film, the awards ceremony will be held on September 17, 2024. Currently in the final stages of post-production, Magic and Monsters is set to premiere in 2025.