Two university professors of theater from Minneapolis will be in Grand Forks on Monday and Tuesday to present excerpts from a play they plan to bring to East Grand Forks in August, and to audition local actors for parts in the production.
Rehearsal and performances for the play -- a black comedy called "The Visit" by Friedrich Durrenmatt -- will be during the week of Aug. 5-12 at East Grand Forks Heritage Village.
Luverne Seifert, head of theater performance at the University of Minnesota, and Darcy Engen, associate professor and chair of the theater arts department at Augsburg College, will be in Grand Forks.
Seifert and Engen will read excerpts from "The Visit" at 7 p.m. Monday at Fire Hall Theatre, 412 Second Ave. N. They will present a theater workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday followed by auditions for local actors interested in performing in "The Visit" in August in East Grand Forks.
Kathy Coudle-King, executive director of Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre, said Seifert contacted her last fall about his interest in bringing a professional group to East Grand Forks to produce and perform "The Visit." He invited her and other local actors to be in the show's cast, Coudle-King said in a news release.
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Seifert and Engen have performed at The Guthrie in Minneapolis, and at Ten Thousand Things, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Red Eye, Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop, Illusion Theater, Open Eye and others.
Historical settings
During summers, they perform plays in historical settings to lend another layer of reality to their productions, Coudle-King said. In 2012, for example, they toured Anton Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard" to historical homes in Minnesota.
This year, Seifert and Engen received a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to bring a production of "The Visit" to East Grand Forks. In "The Visit," an older woman who became rich returns to the town of her youth with a dreadful bargain. She wants the townspeople to kill the man who jilted her, in exchange for which she will give them enough money to revitalize their struggling small town.
"The Visit" explores the values, choices and consequences of the citizens of a town trying to survive as they face a very hard question: How far will they go to save themselves?
Anyone interested in reading parts in the play Monday should contact Coudle-King at info@ggfct.com or (701) 746-0847. After the reading, there will be a discussion about the project.
The free theater workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Fire Hall will be for as many as 20 people. After the workshop, Seifert and Engen will hold auditions for roles in "The Visit." They will be looking for performers 16 and older to play 10 to 12 roles in the production.
Tickets for the August performance in East Grand Forks will be $15 and will be available beginning in June at www.brownpapertickets.com , and in locations in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks to be announced later.
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If you go
• What: Readings of excerpts from the play, "The Visit," by Friedrich Durrenmatt.
• When: 7 p.m. Monday, Fire Hall Theatre, 412 Second Ave. N., Grand Forks.
• Workshop: Darcy Engen and Luverne Seifert of Minneapolis will conduct a free theater workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Fire Hall Theatre for those interested in performing in "The Visit" in August in East Grand Forks, or who simply are interested in acting.
• To take part in the Tuesday event: Contact Kathy Coudle-King, (701) 746-0846 or info@ggfct.com .
Reach Tobin at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or send e-mail to ptobin@gfherald.com .
