A ground-breaking production of Henrik Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” will take theater goers on a fantastic voyage that includes oversized birds and trolls, original music and simultaneous scenes, all while attendees and performers travel a quarter-mile portion of the .

The play, a 1.5-hour production condensed from Robert Bly’s 3-hour script of 2008, represents a first-time collaboration between theater departments at Augsburg and the University of Minnesota. It’s also probably a first for site-specific theater of this scale for theatergoers in the Twin Cities. “Peer Gynt” will be performed seven times from April 10-13.

Collaboration at work

“We created an accessible, site-specific production that is rich for the actors and the audience,” said Darcey Engen, associate professor and chair of Augsburg’s Theater Arts. “This adaptation demanded new partnerships between schools and with many theater artists – puppeteers, movement specialists, musicians, fight choreographers. It means audience members will be pummeled with sensory stimuli.”

Engen said the production is complex partly due to the many logistics, some that can be planned for and others that cannot. The student cast is nearly 40 people from two institutions. Original music was developed. Set pieces had to be built with consideration of the changes that occur throughout the arboretum. Then there’s the weather.

“It might be sunny or raining or breezy,” Engen said. “But as performers, that’s part of the challenge of site-specific theater. For attendees, it’s the chance to see what is – because of the variables – a once-in-a-lifetime performance and to leave having been an active traveller with the actors in the play.”

But all this makes a production such as this particularly rewarding for students.

“Students at Augsburg and the University of Minnesota are hip deep in creating this play. They are building hands-on experience in creative problem-solving with some of the Twin Cities’ finest in theater and are gaining exposure to our master puppeteers, musicians, movement professionals,” Engen said. “It’s a chance for students to explore the many ways to work in theater and to challenge them to meld these disciplines into a story that will rivet the audience.”

Engen is co-directing the play with Luverne Seifert, head of the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance. Engen and Seifert three years ago established Sod House Theater, which specializes in site-specific productions in rural communities and that partner with local theaters and actors.

Augsburg College is set in a vibrant neighborhood at the heart of the Twin Cities, and offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and nine graduate degrees to nearly 4,000 students of diverse backgrounds.  The theater department was named by Backstage magazine as among the top five U.S. institutions for theater majors who wish to continue their studies professionally.  Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.  An Augsburg education is defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values of the Lutheran church, and shaped by its urban and global settings.

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Asking big questions develops critical thinking skills

Darcey Engen, associate professor and chair of the Theater Department, said the rehearsal process raised important questions for the cast members. “1930s Germany was a time of great wealth and great poverty, and the middle class was stressed,” Engen said. “We discussed the conditions, drawing similarities to what is now happening in our country.”

Rehearsals began shortly after the proposed Minnesota Constitutional amendment to define marriage was defeated and following the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. These events helped cast members relate current issues to the circumstances in 1930s Germany and the discrimination that centered on race, class, and sexuality.

“We talked a lot about discrimination, intolerance, and violence and how all of those themes are presented in this musical,” Engen said. The cast reflected on how those issues created the conditions that made possible the rise of the Nazi party and wondered whether the current U.S. culture makes people tolerant to injustice and violence.

“The fact that we are young people doing this show and trying to understand history and the current state of our world has really expanded our minds,” said Brianna Olson-Carr ’13, an English and theater major. During a rehearsal, the cast was asked to make a list of all of the problems they believed the U.S. was facing. “It was a long list but we kept adding to it. It was overwhelming.”

Themes connect to the present day

Andrew (Kleidon) James ’16 said many lines in the play will seem meaningful to today’s audience, but the cast didn’t make any changes to the script in order to reference modern issues. “The moment that stands out to me is when Sally [a cabaret performer] says that people should just be people,” James said. “That relates in a lot of ways to the issues we are facing in the gay rights movement today, and it’s really striking.”

Olson-Carr wants theater-goers to think about an important question her character asks in the play—what would you do? She plays Fraulein Schneider, a German boarding house owner who is engaged to marry Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor. Jews were the target of intense discrimination on the part of the Nazi party. After Schneider is told that marrying a Jew could be detrimental to her business, she calls off her engagement.

“She gave up love for survival, but she could have fled or made a different choice,” Olson-Carr said. “I get a sense from this character that some people really don’t have that choice, and I feel that I have learned what it feels like not to have choices. That is why I want that question to stick,” she said.

Engen hopes that by asking questions and analyzing their current lives, students will learn to think critically and to be reflective about important issues. “I also hope they will train themselves to be allies for others so that we can live in a world of equality and non-violence. And ultimately, I want them to create art that causes others to think critically as well.”

James, a first-year student who plays Herr Schultz, said his mind has been opened and his calling has been strengthened through his involvement in this production. “My life’s goal is to create meaningful work, to make art that makes people think,” he said.

Collaborative theater teaches teamwork

Giving students opportunities to create in collaboration with faculty and artists-in-residence is central to the Augsburg Theater Department’s mission. Being involved in Augsburg productions gives students skills and knowledge that they can bring into their careers, whether they work in the theater or in a corporate job. This and other aspects of the program led to it being named by Backstage magazine as one of five top theater programs outside of New York.

For Cabaret, Olson-Carr said the cast explored possibilities of songs and scenes and “got to the bounds of the imagination.” She said that experience was valuable even if the cast members’ ideas were not used in the final version of the production because students learned to utilize their creativity and to be open to others’ ideas.

James noted that being involved in Cabaret, his first production at Augsburg, has been very different than his previous acting experiences. “Darcey spent the first weeks of rehearsal letting us play with ideas and shape the show in different ways. Our production stays true to the script but it’s a different entity in itself,” he said. James said he feels that he has a personal stake in the show because he helped design it with the rest of the cast.

James has used his theater learning experience in other classes to be more open to different perspectives and to incorporate new ideas. “It was exciting to me to learn that everything was fair game. Now I realize that if you don’t try things, you’ll never know what could be,” he said.

“The critical thinking that comes with creating collaborative work, the teamwork building and deep analysis, can be applied to almost any job,” said Olson-Carr, who wrote a paper on collaborative theater for her summa cum laude examination. She believes the skills she has learned in Augsburg’s Theater Department will make her marketable as she searches for a career after graduation. “I would prefer to work in a creative environment because I’m so used to it, and I think I’ve gotten good at it,” she said.

Cabaret

By Joe Masteroff

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Directed by Darcey Engen

Music Direction by Sonja Thompson

Reserve tickets

Preview performance, April 11, 7p.m. Reduced prices: $2 students and $4 non-students

Added performance, Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m.

Additional performances April 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 at 7 p.m.; April 14, 21 at 3 p.m.

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Backstage magazine’s 2012 Fall College Guide listed among the top five U.S. institutions for theater majors who wish to continue their studies professionally.

“In our , students connect with professional artists in the city while they delve into their theater courses,” said Darcey Engen, Augsburg College associate professor and chair of Theater Arts.

“We find that the combination of the department’s rigorous curriculum, exposure to outstanding professionals in the field, and mentorship with theater faculty prepare our students to graduate as complex, deeply committed artists who can apply their insights and skills to any occupation.”

In the article “On the Boards & Chalkboards” —released October 25, 2012—Backstage recommended an Augsburg education for “enterprising, driven students looking to climb the [professional] ladder in double time.”

The article described the three the College offers theater majors, highlighted Augsburg’s course offerings, and emphasized the theater program’s proximity to the renowned, Minneapolis-based Guthrie Theater.

“Augsburg gives students the chance to listen to arts professionals ranging from stage managers to casting directors” who speak at the College’s Theatre Artist Series, according to the article. Augsburg students also have the chance to intern at the Guthrie Theater, and “most of the Guthrie’s casting is done locally, so students already have a leg up.”

See the Backstage magazine slideshow that lists Augsburg under the

serves actors, singers, and dancers by connecting them to the greater performing arts community, and has existed as a theater industry publication for more than 50 years.

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Debt, a student-led production exploring the topic of student debt, began last week with a series of site-specific performances. The production continues Nov. 1-4 with town-hall style meetings that use popular theater techniques and facilitation methods to generate dialogue among audience and cast members.

“This production is about community organizing and engagement,” said Sarah Myers, assistant professor of theater at Augsburg and Debt director. “We are learning about civic practice, using theater to encourage social engagement and to create social change.”

Myers introduced the topic of student debt for this production because she said it had been coming up in conversations she had with students, staff, and faculty at Augsburg, and it is currently an important issue across higher education.

While she chose the topic for Debt, she said nearly every part of the project has been “devised, discussed, structured, and executed by students.”

Myers and the student performers and facilitators began work on Debt this fall with three weeks of research, brainstorming sessions, scene creation, story-telling, power mapping, improvisation, and workshops on deliberative dialogue and social positioning. Their initial work generated ideas for the site-specific performances and the town hall meetings, which are led by student facilitators.

“By combining the performances and the town halls, we are essentially using the whole campus as a performance venue,” Myers said. Town hall topics are:

Nov. 1, 7 p.m.: The State of Debt

Nov. 2, 7 p.m.: Faces of Debt

Nov. 3, 7 p.m.: You Have a Voice

Nov. 4, 3 p.m.: It Doesn’t End Here

Before and after the town halls, staff and students will have information tables in the lobby outside Tjornhom-Nelson Theatre. A group of students from the cast will provide information for other students interested joining a student-led action team. Staff from Academic Affairs and Student Financial Services will also be on hand to answer questions about debt and student financial issues.

Though Debt is not traditional theater, students learned theater and performance technique through their work in the production. In addition, they gained skills for facilitating and focusing conversation and developed community organizing skills. “This is a time when we really need active dialogue in our society,” Myers said. “These facilitation capabilities are good skills for students to have in the work world and beyond.”

Cast and director are clear that the issue of student debt “doesn’t end here,” as the fourth town hall suggests. Quinci Bachman ’15 said, “We’re giving the audience more questions than answers. This is a topic that needs to be actively pursued because there is not just one solution.”

“This project is the beginning of a student-driven, campus-wide conversation,” Myers said.

“We want to educate students and provide resources so that they know what they can do to help themselves,” concluded Brianna Olson-Carr ’13.

Admission is free for the Debt town halls. Attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items that will be used for a food shelf that the Fighting Poverty at Augsburg group plans to open on campus in the spring semester.

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my dear Lewis will be part of SEEDS, presented by Open Eye Figure Theatre. SEEDS features the work of emerging artists who are supported by the Henson Foundation. Performances are Mar. 19, 20, and 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Mar. 21 at 4 p.m. 

ABOUT THE SHOW:

my dear Lewis

Created and Performed by Kyle Loven

Music Composed by George Maurer

Video Assistance by Andrea Steudel and Elise Langer

The show is about both personal history and our memory of history. my dear Lewis explores the various means of documentation and objects we all keep that help us preserve these memories.

Lewis is at the end of his journey. His final task is to look back over a life lived. What unfolds is a pilgrimage made by his mind and body into the dark and dusty corners of memory. By looking through his accumulation of boxes, Lewis encounters significant relationships and events that have made him who he is. Objects, video, music and puppets unexpectedly combine in this one-man show.

ABOUT MY LIFE SINCE �鶹ԭ��:

While still attending Augsburg, I interned with a remarkable theatre company, Michael Sommers and Susan Haas’ Open Eye Figure Theatre. I spent two and a half additional years in Minneapolis after graduating continuing to work with Open Eye and also performing with Theatre de la Jeune Lune and The Children’s Theatre Company. The majority of my time, however, was spent learning from the important work being made by Michael and Sue. Many of the skills and sensibilities I have as an artist were born and nourished with them, after the groundwork had been set by the Augsburg Theater Department.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with and learn from numerous accomplished and amazing artists in the past few years. While the majority of this time has focused on working on the art of other companies, I am balancing my current time between creating my own work and continuing to learn from more experienced creators.

ABOUT COMING BACK TO MINNEAPOLIS:

It means a lot for me to bring my work back to Minneapolis. It means even more to be performing my work at Open Eye. my dear Lewis actually developed out of Open Eye’s Toy Theatre After Dark series. To bring the piece back to its home and a home of mine is such an honor.

The production has had two runs in Seattle (Nov. 2009, Feb. 2010) and I’m thrilled to be taking it on the road. I hope to continue to bring my work back to Minneapolis and work with Minneapolis theatre companies in the future. It has and will always be a home of mine.

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Here Kat Lutze [right], a sophomore majoring in arts administration with a specialization in theatre, discusses her experience playing Olga, the oldest of the three sisters. Lutze is joined by junior Shannon O’Brien [left] who plays Maria and sophomore Abbey Ehling [center] who plays Irina.

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Probably the most enjoyable and most challenging part of The Three Sisters has been learning and interpreting Chekhov’s realism and humor. We are supposed to play as realistically as possible. This means we don’t play humorous lines for laughs and we don’t play tragic lines for sympathy. We try to represent the situations as realistically and as straightforward as possible. The challenge here is in choosing very specifically where to focus a scene and where to really drive the scene. I truly enjoyed working with Martha to find and interpret these moments.

I have never portrayed a more realistic period character. In other shows I have played characters with over-the-top accents, old ladies, animals and other creatures, and even as numerous Shakespearian men. Martha (Johnson) constantly had to remind me that Olga is a strong woman with integrity. She may have tragedy in here life and she may be tired, but I should never act as such. I should always act the strong woman with integrity and let the words, not my “acted emotion,” display her tiredness and her tragedy.

The Three Sisters is a classic that any scholar should certainly be encouraged to see, but it also includes philosophy by which we can all live. Though many characters say “What difference does it make?” these sisters stand by each other through times both happy and sad and encourage each other to keep on working and living so that in the end people can learn from their suffering. Olga looks to a future where “suffering will turn to joy for the people who come after us. Their lives will be happy and peaceful and they’ll remember us kindly and bless us!”

We are the people who come after these three sisters. It leads us to question whether our lives really are as bright as these characters believed they would be. But even those who do not see plays for philosophy can be entertained by both the comedic and tragic elements in the main plot. It is a thoughtful play full of love, deception, yearning, philosophy, and redemption. I do hope you’ll enjoy it.

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The Three Sisters is directed by Martha Johnson. Remaining performances are November 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. and November 15 at 3 p.m. Call 612-330-1257 for tickets.

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