“I’m an artist and at this stage of my life, I want to be doing my art,” Thompson said.
He added that it’s scary to leave now in an environment where artists feel besieged, but that “it’s the right thing to do.”
History Theatre has a record of telling Minnesota-connected stories such as “Glensheen,” about two murders at Minnesota’s most famous mansion, and “Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters,” about the pioneering Asian American entertainers who performed on Broadway.
Thompson displayed a knack for finding revelatory stories, commissioning “Secret Warriors,” R.A. Shiomi’s play about heroic Japanese Americans who attended Minnesota language camps during World War II, and “Behind the Sun,” Stanley Kipper’s and Laura Drake’s story about a Black family’s survival after integrating a Minneapolis neighborhood.
He also commissioned and directed “A Unique Assignment,” about Minnesota’s Henry Gallagher, an Army officer who helped protect James Meredith, the first Black student at the University of Mississippi.
Notable musical “I Am Betty,” which looks at a century of women’s progress through the avatar of corporate spokesmodel Betty Crocker, also premiered on his watch.
