08/31/2026
Dear friends of the theater,
This letter is an update on where the Jungle Theater stands and what happens next.
Building sale closes in September
The Jungle has signed an agreement to sell our building on Lyndale Avenue. We expect the sale to close in mid-September. The costs of owning the building have outpaced revenue for years. We could keep the building or keep the Jungle. We chose the Jungle.
The sale removes our largest fixed cost and puts us on a strong financial footing. It gives us the means to build the Jungle’s next phase. Now our hard-earned resources can go where they belong: to the artistic work and to the people who make it.
Supporting other theaters
As we prepare the building for sale, we have donated equipment, costumes, tools, and materials to other Twin Cities theaters, arts organizations, and community non-profits, including: Pillsbury House + Theatre, The Costume Collective, Mixed Blood, Playwrights’ Center, Theater Mu, Yellow Tree Theatre, Lyric Arts, Minnehaha Academy, Open Eye Theatre, The Moving Company, The Gremlin, The Crane Theater, Red Eye Theater, Walking Shadow Theatre, University of Minnesota Theatre, Cretin-Derham Hall High School, Theater Latté Da, Theatre in the Round, and History Theatre. We are delighted that so many of the elements that went into our productions will feature in future productions across the community.
Auction
Grafe Auctions is running an online-only auction of the remaining contents through September 1st. The auction is a direct way to support the Jungle. Proceeds support the organization and help fund the transition ahead. If you would like a piece of the Jungle, place a bid. Our archives are not part of the auction. We are preserving them. The auction link can be found in comments below.
Planning our next act
The sale of the building is a major milestone in the disciplined reset that we began at the start of the year. While our communications channels have been quiet these past months, behind the scenes the work has been ongoing and immense.
This fall, the board will begin a strategic planning process. The goal is an artistic and operating model with lower fixed costs and a revenue base built on realistic assumptions, with the mission protected at the center. Writing the next chapter won’t be a solo act. It will be built with our community, not just announced to it.
We will be reaching out and keeping you updated as this work advances.
In January, we said we would step back and plan responsibly rather than spend money we did not have. We did exactly that. We know how important it is to earn your confidence. Thank you for standing with the Jungle for more than 35 years. The Jungle was never just the building. It was the people in it, on both sides of the stage. That has not changed.
With gratitude,
Rich Thompson
Board Chair
