2018-2019 Season
The Arsonists
By Max Frisch in a new translation by Alistair Beaton
Directed by Barbra Berlovitz
A man with convictions finds an answer for everything. Convictions are the best form of protection against the living truth.
– Max Frisch
In an unspecified town, houses are set ablaze and arsonists are enjoying the destruction. At Beidermann’s house, two such people are offered shelter from the rain. They are given a place to sleep, wined and dined until they finally leave. The house, of course, burns to the ground.
This topical dark comedy is funny, musical and outrageous. The “hero” is a business owner who has just ruthlessly fired a longtime employee. He lives with his wife and maid who are powerless to make this self-centered man see the truth. There are two arsonists, one a trickster who deceives others to get what he wants, the other is his sidekick, an ex-wrestler. Both are dangerous. There is an academic who has ideas but doesn’t act on them and a policeman who could save the day but doesn’t. Finally, there is the chorus of firemen. And like the Greek chorus of ancient Greece, they sing their way through the story but, alas, effect no change.
Mud
By María Irene Fornés
Directed by Lauren Syme
In Maria Irene Fornes’ play Mud, Mae, a strong-willed and fiery woman, struggles to free herself from the abusive men who tether her to a dirty and impoverished farm. Her courage and quick wit are her only tools, but will they be enough?
Ghost Sonata
By August Strindberg
A Workshop Experiment with Sod House Theater
Sod House Theater is working with students on an experimental and immersive theater event. Using Strindberg’s play Ghost Sonata and research on the journey of Swedish immigrants to St. Paul in the mid-1800s, students are devising original performances and movement sequences. Audience members will promenade through the studio, hallway and greenroom of Foss and encounter intimate performances, historical references of Swedish immigration and character artifacts. The material generated will inform a larger production in fall of 2019 in St. Paul.
Pluma and the Tempest
By Arístides Vargas
Translation by Beliza Torres Narváez
Directed by Beliza Torres Narváez
This is a dystopian play in the Latin American tradition of magical realism that tells the story of a youngster of unspecified gender who runs away after being born to a hostile world. They find themselves living in the inner city streets, meeting all kinds of people and facing all kinds of dangers. The kid fights to learn from these experiences and to assert their personhood. Despite being adrift like a feather in a storm, Pluma attempts to preserve their hope and survive.
ZERO-INFINITY FLIGHT PATH
By Jessica Huang
Directed by Ricardo Vázquez
Created by Other Tiger Productions
March 6th through March 8th
Tjornhom-Nelson Theater
ZERO-INFINITY FLIGHT PATH begins at the end of a journey to the top of a mysterious mountain. A girl, her mother, and a guide climb up in order for the girl to enact a sacrifice for the salvation of those at the base. But the closer she gets to completing her journey, the more she begins to question its validity causing the entire party to contend with crises of doubt and questions of free will.
THE MISUNDERSTANDING
(LE MALENTENDU)
By Albert Camus
Directed by Del Logeais
January 25 through January 28, 2018
Tjornhom-Nelson Theater
A prodigal son returns home unrecognized, having been abroad for twenty years, to an inn run by his mother and sister—who have been killing lodgers in order to make a living for themselves. In an immersive re-imagining of this rarely performed play, described by Camus as the theatrical piece that “resembles him the most,” The Misunderstanding explores concepts of grief, guilt, and the absurdity of existence in a world that is equally cruel to the innocent and the criminal.
THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI
By Bertolt Brecht
Directed by Warren Bowles
November 9 through November 19, 2017
Tjornhom-Nelson Theater, Foss Center
Brecht sets his satirical tale in Chicago during the turbulent times of Depression and Prohibition. Things are not going well for the Cauliflower Trust and so Arturo Ui seizes the opportunity to grasp power. Brecht directly references the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich though his parable is perfect for our modern times.
TAKE CARE
Led by Janaki Ranpura
Showing September 27
Ross Studio Theater 8pm
See something. Say nothing.
Are these phrases an encouragement to mistrust? Perhaps we could take them as instructions for play. A group of students create care packages to leave in public. The results of what happens transform into performance for the showing of “Take Care.”
Janaki Ranpura
THE WORLD OF PUPPETRY & MASK
Led by Masanari Kawahara
Showing Wednesday, October 18 at 7:00pm
Green Room in the Foss Center
Giving life to inanimate objects made from cardboard, masking tape, newspapers and papier-mâché, we will create small and intimately-scaled puppet theater. Different forms introduced may include object theater, hand puppets, figure puppets, and doll/bunraku puppets and masks. We will explore creating an intimate theater from scratch inspired by poems, obituaries, or a love letter.
Masanari Kawahara
THE CRUCIBLE
BY ARTHUR MILLER
Directed by Darcey Engen
April 4 through April 7 at 7pm
April 8 at 3pm
Bethany Lutheran Church
This contemporary site-specific revision of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible will perform at Bethany Lutheran Church on Franklin Avenue close to the Augsburg campus. Audiences will experience the play in close proximity to the actors as they move through the sanctuary and surrounding spaces. In a time of fake news and alternative facts, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trails in colonial Massachusetts 1692, seems more significant then ever. Written by Miller in 1953 in response to McCarthyism, the play examines the dangers of extremism, fabricated accusations, and shattered trust.
Reserve Tickets
Cymbeline
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Darcey Engen
October 28th, 29th and November 3rd, 4th, 5th at 7:00 P.M.
October 30th and November 6th at 3:00 P.M.
Cymbeline, one of William Shakespeare’s final plays, is a fantastical fairy tale that swings from comedic heights to tragic despair with an added touch of romance. Taking place during King Cymbeline’s reign in Britain, the play tells the story of Princess Imogen’s romance with the courteous but poor Posthumus, their secret marriage and his consequent banishment. The couple’s journey back to each other involves wagers and poison, hidden identities, long-lost brothers, deceitful villains, a lost bracelet, evil stepmothers, ineffectual fathers, and an invasion by the Roman army.
Tjornhom-Nelson Theater, Foss Center
Silence is Health/Silencio es Salud
By Karina Casiano
Directed by Beliza Torres Narvaez
November 17th, 18th, and 19th at 7 P.M.
November 20th at 3 P.M.
Sara is a prominent TV reporter eager to do anything to get high ratings. She is getting married to a well-known intellectual writer, but her picture perfect wedding –which is not as perfect as it seems – is about to take an unexpected turn captured by the cameras. As Sara tries to make sense of what just happened, we get a glimpse of the past events that might have led to her loved ones being targeted. We also get to go forward in time and witness what happened after the wedding. Thus, we learn some of the answers that Sara will most likely never find.
Casiano’s site-specific play Silence is Health/Silencio es Salud is based on official documents, testimonies, historical research and analyses of similar periods of political crisis and the consequent state of surveillance in Argentina, Guatemala, Chile, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Israel and the United States. How much of your civil and human rights are you willing to give up in the name of “national security”? What if things that only happen “to other people,” or “in other countries” happen to you?
Don’t say you didn’t know…
Various Locations, Foss Center
Betrayal
By Harold Pinter
Student-Directed by Jack Morton
February 2nd, 3rd and 4th at 7 P.M.
Betrayal circles around the complicated relationship of married couple Emma and Robert, and Emma’s affair with Robert’s best friend Jerry. Pinter’s innovative use of reverse chronological order challenges the audience to explore broken trust between partners and friends and the consequences to life’s decisions.
Foss Studio Theater, Foss Center
BEYOND THE SILENCE
In collaboration with E.G. Bailey and Shá Cage
February 2nd, 3rd, 4th at 8:30 P.M.
“Beyond the Silence is a spoken word piece that is themed around the value of voices in various contexts. This ensemble-created piece will be an exploration of what it means for voices to be silenced, underrepresented, or neglected in spaces that are valued and found as important for change. Through poetry and performance, hear the experiences of this group and the power they carry through their voices.”
Tjornhom-Nelson Theater, Foss Center
Passing Strange
Book and Lyrics by STEW
Music by STEW and Heidi Rodewald
Directed by Jamil Jude
Thursday, March 30th at 7:00 P.M.
Friday March 31st at 7:00 P.M.
Saturday, April 1st at 7:00 P.M.
Sunday, April 2nd at 3:00 P.M.
Saturday April 8th at 3:00 P.M.
Saturday April 8th at 7:00 P.M.
Sunday April 9th at 3:00 P.M.
Part comedy. Part coming-of-age story. Full-out rock concert! PASSING STRANGE, a Tony award-winning musical, is a genre-bending exploration of an artist’s journey to find life’s truths. The story follows Youth, a young Black man raised in the idyllic hills of California, as he passes through life, learning about himself and the world around him, through music and the people he meets because of it. Throughout his journey for “the real,” he gains so much, but is what he gives up too much? Will the ends justify the means? Will everything be alright?
“Call it a rock concert with a story to tell, trimmed with a lot of great jokes. Or call it a sprawling work of performance art, complete with angry rants and drag queens… I’ll just call it wonderful” – New York Times
Tjornhom-Nelson Theater, Foss Center
