The Client: Bedlam creates some of the most interesting and original theater in Minneapolis. They run their own production and, in addition, rent their space to other groups. This means they have a large number of events to keep track of and promote,  and they needed a site that could accommodate them all.

My Role: Having designed, built and maintained their version 1 site, I was keenly aware of the workflow issues and front-end pros and cons that they were experiencing. I worked with them to find the new look and feel of the site and to expand the functionality. In the end, the new site was built on WordPress, with collaborative design and unique plugins.

The Technology: One of the initial hurdles of this site was importing the existing years of data into WordPress, including media and event dates. I created a unique plugin for them called TheatreEvents and wrote a custom import script that inserted the new posts and attachments and populated the data. The plugin features direct hooking into the admin interface so that event data entry is in the same form as post entry.  On the front-end, the plugin allows for sorting by the event dates and custom week and month views. The plugin will be released publicly soon.

The Highlights: Weekly calendar in the sidebar of most pages with Ajax navigation. Monthly calendar of events.

The evening consists of six or seven short plays in promenade style (the audience moves from piece to piece) based on the work of playwright Harold Pinter. It is a fascinating and powerful set of performances. For my part, I play Oedipus’ uncle in a work written and directed by Blake Bolan.

Because it is a promenade, the seating is limited, so be sure to reserve in advance by calling 612.619.2112