The Penumbra Theatre Company was founded in 1976 by Lou Bellamy, a St. Paul resident and a professor in the University of Minnesota's theater and dance department. Bellamy was prompted to found the theater in large part because of the paucity of work available in the Twin Cities area for African American performers. Perhaps best known for launching the career of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, the theater's mission is to present productions from an African American perspective and increase awareness of the contributions of African Americans to the American theater tradition. Since its inception, the theater has been located in the heart of St. Paul's Black community, the Rondo neighborhood, and has hired only Black directors, though as much as eighty percent of its audience is white.