Since its founding, the Minnesota Fringe Festival has featured the work of hundreds of Gustavus Theatre & Dance students, alumni and faculty. This year is no exception, with a number of performances by alumni and current students across the 11-day festival. And, once again this year, the department is officially represented. One of many productions in this year’s festival is the adaptation of Keiko Kasza’s story of adoption, A Mother for Choco (& other Mother Stories). It is a Kid’s Fringe piece developed by Professor of Theatre & Dance Amy Seham and Anne Sawyer-Aitch, in collaboration with a cast of student performers.
“A Mother for Choco” is of special interest to adoptive families and offers a real public service as it focuses on the challenges which families encounter as they bring a child of different ethnic or cultural background into their new homes. In line with the theatre department’s social justice mission, Amy Seham, an adoptive mother herself, has adapted “A Mother for Choco” with Anne Sawyer-Aitch and selected the cast for the Fringe Festival performances. The students have work-shopped the play all summer and have built large puppets for several of the characters. As another well-known children’s book, “Are You My Mother?” follows a young bird as it looks for a mother who looks like him, “A Home for Choco” follows the quest of a young bird who looks for a mother like himself but, in the end, finds a loving mother who does not. Dr. Seham brings her personal insight as an adoptive parent into this search for belonging and acceptance.
“A Mother for Choco” will be presented at the The Rarig Center XPERIMENTAL SPACE (330 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis) on these dates and tickets will be available at the door.
Saturday, August 1, 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 2, 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 4, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, August 7, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 8, 2:30 p.m.
The Gustavus Department of Theatre & Dance will be celebrating this continuing connections to the festival with a reception at the Bedlam Theatre (1501 South 6th Street, Mpls) on Saturday, August 1 at 9:00 p.m. Friends of theatre & dance are invited to join in the celebration in the fireplace room after a full-day of performances across the city. For more information and to RSVP (not necessary but appreciated), please email Andrea Gross at agross@gustavus.edu.
The entire Fringe Festival Schedule can be found at www.fringefestival.org. The schedule of performances including Gustavus alumni on Saturday, August 1 is as follows:
1:00 p.m., The Three Bonnies by DA Dance
The Ritz Theater (345 13th Avenue NE, Mpls)
4:00 p.m., Keiko Kasza’s A Mother for Choco (& other Mother Stories), by Gustavus Adolphus College Dept of Theatre and Dance
The Rarig Center XPERIMENTAL SPACE (330 21st Avenue South, Mpls)
5:30 p.m., Maria, a contemporary tragedy by Christina Lein
The Theatre Garage (711 Franklin Avenue, Mpls)
5:30 p.m., The Red Tureen by Doolin & Dingle
The Rarig Center THRUST SPACE (330 21st Avenue South, Mpls)
7:00 p.m. Blue Ribbon Burlesque by Lili’s Burlseque Review
The Rarig Center PROSCENIUM SPACE (330 21st Avenue South, Mpls)
9:00 p.m., GUSTAVUS THEATRE & DANCE RECEPTION AT THE BEDLAM THEATRE
(1501 South 6th Street, Mpls 55454), join us in the back fireplace room to reconnect!
For more information or to reserve a space at Saturday evening’s reception, please email Andrea Gross at agross@gustavus.edu.
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