Frank Theater presents Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children
Friday, Oct. 20 to Sunday, Nov. 12
Pillsbury A Mill Machine Shop, 300 2nd St. SE, Minneapolis

Show Times: 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays; 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Tickets: $18 on Thurdays and Sundays; $20 on Fridays and Saturdays. $2 discount for students, seniors and low-income. Pay-what-you-can performance (minimum $10) on Sunday, Oct. 22. Call 612-724-3760 for reservations.

Frank Theater’s presentation of Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children features acting by Ariel Dumas ’05, Taous Khazem ’03 and Heather Bunch ’04; set design by John Bueche ’92; dramaturgy by Associate Professor Beth Cleary, Theater and Dance; and research by History Professor Paul Solon and former Macalester professor and Frank Theater’s artistic director Wendy Knox. What is often hailed as Brecht’s best work, Mother Courage and Her Children uses the Thirty Years War as a backdrop for the cautionary tale that was written in 1939, as WWII was beginning to erupt in Europe. Anna Fierling, also known as Mother Courage, hauls her canteen across and around the European continent, following the battles, selling the soldiers necessities for their lives while she supports herself and her family of three children. As the war goes on and on, Courage switches from one side to the next—first the Protestants, then the Catholics—in her efforts to keep business alive. Even as the war claims the lives of three of her children, she persists her struggle to make a profit—at the expense of her humanity. In this bitingly funny, ironic translation by David Hare, with music by Jonathan Dove (and live accompaniment by Michael Croswell and Marya Hart), it’s clear that war is just an extension of business as usual.
Details at Frank Theatre's website »

Book Launch for Outsiders Within: Writing on Trans-racial Adoption
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18
Barbara Barker Center for Dance, U. of Minn., 500 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis

Tickets: Free

Local contributors, including Kim Gregg Park Nelson ’93, read from the new anthology, Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption (South End Press, October 2006), edited by acclaimed authors Jane Jeong Trenka, Julia Chinyere Oparah, and Sun Yung Shin ’95 (Claire Schwaller). In a time of high-profile celebrity adoptions and a widespread increase in inter-country adoption, the voices of adult adoptees are more important than ever. Through compelling essays, fiction, poetry, and art, the contributors to this landmark publication carefully explore this most intimate aspect of globalization. Special guests include Ananya Dance Theatre and the First Nations Orphans Association Wiping of Tears Ceremony.
More about the book at outsiderswithin.com »

"As Long As We Both Shall Live: Long-Married Couples in America" photo exhibit
Monday, Nov. 20 – Sunday, Dec. 31
Katholische Hochschulgemeinde Graz, Leechgasse 24, 8010 Graz, Austria

Tickets: Free.

Since 1997, actor, author and photographer Robert Fass ’81 has been traveling the United States with a 30-year-old Nikon and a tape recorder, interviewing and photographing American couples who have been married for 40 years or longer. The resulting study, As Long As We Both Shall Live, received international media attention when it was exhibited recently at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Fass gave a well-received lecture at Macalester this summer during reunion weekend and the exhibition is now gathering even more acclaim as it travels through Germany and Austria. Fass will be at the exhibit’s opening reception 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20.
Further details and gallery hours »