2006 Minneapolis, MN- THE FALLS

Written by Jeffrey Hatcher

Directed by Bill Rauch & Michael John Garcés

Commissioned by Guthrie Theater 

Synopsis

Cornerstone Artistic Director Michael John Garcés and Cornerstone Founding Artistic Director Bill Rauch co-directed this new community-based play, written by Jeffrey Hatcher and inspired by Thornton Wilder's The Long Christmas Dinner. Performed during the inaugural season of the new Dowling Studio at The Guthrie Theater. Set along the banks of the Mississippi River near St. Anthony Falls, Jeffrey Hatcher’s bittersweet comedy interweaves a half dozen storylines that follow a current of time that “flows forwards, backwards, and sometimes sideways.” Each of the stories was inspired by the people and histories of the six communities partnering on this project with the Guthrie and Cornerstone Theater Company. There are stories of students and families from Marcy Open School and Cedar-Riverside Community School; tales of business, tradition and change emerge from Nicollet Island, Kramarczuk’s Sausage Company and Our Lady of Lourdes Church; and the pleasure of tailgating parties for Vikings fans and picnics for everyone else through the centuries draw all the characters to the riverbanks where personal dramas unfold. Inspired by Thornton Wilder’s melancholic one-act, The Long Christmas Dinner, The Falls depicts the ongoing struggles of life in Minnesota as the play follows a course of life predicted by a Dakota chief at the signing of the first treaty at the falls: “People will come, people will go, bad will be replaced by good, good will be replaced by bad. Things will rise, and fall, and rise, and fall…and rise again". 

Artistic Staff

Director - Bill Rauch

Co-Director - Michael John Garcés 

Assistant Director - Vincent Tyser

Director's Rehearsal Assistant 

Playwright - Jeffrey Hatcher

Mr. Hatcher's Assistant - Leigh Hvser

Dramaturg - Michael Bigelow Dixon

Set Designer - Christopher Acebo 

Lighting Designer - Geoff Korf 

Lighting Design Assistant - Ray Steveson

Costume Designer - Lynn Jeffries

Costume Design Assistant - Rebecca Ballas

Music Director - Andrew Cook

Sound Designer - Andrew Mayer

Sound Associate - Reid Rejsa

Voice and Dialect Coach - Lucinda Holshue

Movement - Marcela Lorca 

Guthrie Artistic/Producing Staff 

Artistic Director - Joe Dowling

Press Representative - Melodie Bahan

Production Services Manager - Mitch Baird

Production Director - Frank Butler

Artistic Administrator - Louise Chalfant

Stage Crwe Supervisor - Brian Crow

Costume Design Assistant - Amelia Cheever

Technical Director - Jeff Dennstaedt

Literary Director - Mihcael Bigellow Dixon 

Sound Supervisor - Scott W. Edwards

House Management - Barbara Hesse

Production Office Coordinator - Sara L'Heureux 

Costume Crew Supervisor - Susan Fick 

Associate Prop Manager - Sarah Gullickson 

Assistant Technical Director - Adriane Heflin 

Literary Specialist/Librarian - Jo Holcomb 

Scenic Artist - Michael Hoover 

Production Stage Manager - Russell Johnson

Company Development Assistant - Jennifer LeGrand Reiter

Artistic Administrative Coordinator - Jennifer Liestman 

Senior Dramaturg - Michael Lupu 

Associate Artistic Director - John Miller-Stephany 

Costume Design Assistant - Lynda Myers

Props Supervisor - Patricia Olive

Assistant Technical Director - Craig Pettigrew 

Managing Director - Tom Proehl 

Lighting Supervisor - Matt Reinert

Sound Associate - Reid Rejsa

Director of Theater Operations - David Russell 

Costume Manager - Amy Schmidt 

Assistant Production Director - James Scott

Director of Building Services - Dan Soltys 

Publications Manager - Carla Steen

Director of Co-Development - Ken Washington 

Stage Management, Company Management, Child Supervisors

Stage Manager - Christine Nelson

Assistant Stage Manager - Jody Gavin

Stage Management Intern - Julia Gallagher

Company Manager - Cindy Berg

Assistant Company Manager - Ben Olson

Company Management Intern - Jenna Bolland

Child Supervisor - Christine Webber

Cast 

Community Partners & Organizations

Guthrie Theater

Marcy Open School

Cedar Riverside Community School

Kramarczuk's Sausage Company

Our Ladies of Lourdes Church

Nicollet Island

Minnesota Viking's Fans

Press & Articles