SHRINK / we all need one is an original rock musical by Sophia Pimsler featuring the music of local music legend, Venus de Mars!
September 17–20, 2026
Luminary Arts Center, 700 N 1st St, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Performance Schedule
Thursday, September 17 — 7:00 PM (Community & Industry Night)
Friday, September 18 — 7:00 PM
Saturday, September 19 — 2:00 PM (Community Matinee)
Saturday, September 19 — 7:00 PM
Sunday, September 20 — 2:00 PM (Community Matinee)
SHRINK / we all need one is an original rock musical created by therapist and artist Sophia Pimsler, featuring the music of legendary Minneapolis punk-rock artist and transgender activist Venus de Mars.
Set inside a counseling clinic, SHRINK follows a therapist and her clients as they navigate mental health, relationships, identity, family, and the beautiful mess of everyday life. But this isn’t a musical about diagnoses or easy answers. It’s about the complicated humans underneath them.
Venus de Mars brings her unmistakable punk-rock voice to the production as composer and live performer, with her original music forming the foundation of the show’s score. For this expanded 2026 production, Venus has further developed her musical contribution, while Pimsler has written additional original music, creating a deeper integration of rock, movement, and theatrical storytelling.
At the center of the show is SHRINK herself—a therapist who spends her days helping others make sense of their lives while confronting the reality that she is just as complicated, vulnerable, and unfinished as the people sitting across from her. The result is a theatrical rock experience that asks what happens when we stop reducing people to diagnoses, identities, roles, or assumptions—and start looking at the whole person.
The 2026 production expands significantly on the show’s 2024 Minneapolis premiere, with new music, expanded stories, deeper character development, and a larger-scale production at the Luminary Arts Center.
Community Matinees: The Saturday and Sunday 2:00 PM performances are designated Community Matinees with sliding-scale seating starting at $10 per ticket, making the production more accessible to audiences regardless of their financial circumstances.
No quick fixes. No perfect people. Just song, dance, bad coffee, and the messy work of being human.
Tickets: https://my.luminaryartscenter.com/overview/3341
Donate: https://givebutter.com/untitled-campaign-dzhaod
Hope to see you there!
