Mad River Theater Works is bringing The Living Newspaper to Harmony School for a performance Sunday evening.
"The Mad River Theater Works is based in Ohio. We've been doing theater for thirty years," says company member and former Bloomingtonian Bob Lucas. "We base our shows around famous and less than famous people and what they actually had to say."
"For this show, we've been able to do a collaboration that I've wanted for quite some time. We're working with [traditional music and dance performers] Fiddlin' Feet—Tamara Loewenthal, Jamie Gans and Chris Westhoff—and that's been great."
"The concept of Living Newspaper came from Europe at about the time that the WPA writers were working. In Germany, the theater companies would go into an area and collect stories from the past and present, and then put them on stage for the community and other communities as well. We've used this model for our production about the Depression. Audiences really enjoy it, and it's been fun for us to do as well."
Here's a footnote: Following the performance at the school Tamara Loewenthal will call a dance.