Have you been looking for the article about The Living Newspaper Project: Everyone Has Something, the theatre arts department’s upcoming main stage production? There isn’t one. Instead, we invite you to watch a student-made documentary about the original play, which was written and developed by Augsburg students. Why the departure from a traditional article? In many ways, The Living Newspaper Project is a departure from Augsburg’s typical approach to main stage productions. Not only was the play created by Auggies for Auggies; it was created using a wide variety of performance modes from live music to puppetry to video projections. There are plenty of surprises in store for audience members.

In November, the student ensemble chose a contemporary issue they were interested in exploring through dramatization. Their choice was the stigma attached to mental illness. As assistant director, I chose to create a documentary about The Living Newspaper Project because the project itself is, in many ways, about contemporary media. What types of media do we interact with on an everyday basis? How do they influence our perception of one another and even ourselves?

There are no easy answers. Our aim, rather, is to facilitate a dialogue about these issues on campus and in the surrounding community. I encourage you to watch the , attend a performance, and participate in our post-show discussions on February 10 and 12. We’d love to have your voice in the conversation! After all, everyone has something.

Special thanks to the Living Newspaper ensemble, Wesley Ellenwood, Taylor Kaiser-Gajeski, and Joe Funk for their help with the making of the documentary.

The Living Newspaper Project

Feb. 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 at 7 p.m.

Feb. 6 and 13 at 3 p.m.

Tjornhom-Nelson Theater

Directed by Sarah Myers

Inspired by the original Living Newspapers of the Federal Theater Project in the 1930s, this student-devised performance uses a range of nonfiction sources to explore a current social issue. Ensemble members gathered interviews, articles, and multimedia—and generated their own writing—to create and stage this unique piece of socially conscious theatre.

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“Top Girls,” by British playwright Caryl Churchill in 1982, explores

feminist themes and encourages a deeper look at socialist ideals. Marlene, “Top Girls” main character, is a businesswoman who has recently achieved a promotion within the employment agency where she works. Her sister, Joyce, is a working-class cleaning woman who

adopted Marlene’s child at birth and has raised her as her own. While the sisters are joined in caring for their daughter’s welfare, the two are quite different in their political and class views. Marlene is presented as an individualist who does whatever it takes to move ahead. She values power and success for herself at the expense of others. Her sister Joyce represents a more socialist-collective perspective that sees achievements of women happening only when all women and other oppressed groups are included.

Caryl Churchill explores themes of women’s success and survival through the context of the daughter Angie. While there might seem to be a wide chasm between success and survival, Churchill appears to look upon it as a continuum, albeit a fragile one. At any time, a circumstance or relationship can pave the way for progress or failure. In order to succeed, women negotiate time and relationships, compromise goals with motherhood, and depend on or exploit others. We see some of this in our contemporary culture and in our political

system as women gain equality with men. In “Top Girls,” Caryl Churchill asks how women negotiate in a male-dominated landscape and what they give up to participate.

Tickets for Mainstage Productions are $10 for the general public; $8 for ACTC faculty, staff, and students; and $2 for Augsburg students and children under age 12. For reservations or other information, call 612-330-1257.

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