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Stories from Montevideo
by Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio
by Mark Steil, Minnesota Public Radio
January 31, 2003

"Stories from Montevideo" is part of the CTC's Land Bridge Project which is designed to connect urban and rural residents in Minnesota. (Image Courtesy of the Children's Theatre Company)

The Children's Theatre Company and residents of Montevideo have joined forces to produce a play which taps local history and questions the future. "Stories from Montevideo" began when CTC artists talked with Montevideo residents about their lives. The stories they heard became the foundation of the play. Stories of hard times mixed with hope. The result will be perfomed both in Minneapolis and in the country, at an old town hall near Montevideo.

Montevideo, Minn. —

It's no secret that rural Minnesota has had a rough 20 or so years. Some would say longer. A trend to ever larger farms has left a host of problems. Declining population. Smaller schools. Fewer businesses. John Handeen of Montevideo has been through it all.

	John Handeen

"I do see the demise of the rural structure," says Handeen. "There's many vacant farm places now."

Handeen is one of the Montevideo residents who spoke with the Children's Theatre Company. The retired farmer says the play is a good idea because it links the region's history with events today. He says farm problems are nothing new. During the 1930's Handeen says farmers became so desperate to keep their land they took radical steps, like blocking foreclosure auctions. When he was about 12 years old, he watched a group of farmers do that on the local courthouse steps.

	Watson Town Hall

"I do remember when our threshing ring quit work for the afternoon and went into Montevideo to stop an auction," says Handeen. "And there were shotguns taken along for that. They were serious, that auction was not going to occur. And it didn't, it was postponed."

But blocking an auction was not enough to stop what became a long-term pattern. Farms got bigger. The tractor and other machines helped one person farm more land than was possible with horses. Grain production increased as scientists developed new strains of corn and other crops. The changes on the farm hurt small towns dependent on the farm dollar.

Handeen hopes the Children's Theatre production will help people understand how these events helped shape Montevideo and the surrounding area. He says its important that young people understand their history.

	Jon Borgendale

"They are the products of their environment and their area," says Handeen. "Understand the reasons and the causes of the environment in which they have been born."

Another person interviewed by the Children's Theatre was Jon Borgendale. He and his family run a dairy farm near Montevideo. He says farms are a lot different now than when he was a kid. They're bigger and often run by a team of managers. He says many farmers feel trapped by a world they're powerless to change.

"The livestock industry around here is controlled by people hundreds of miles away," says Borgendale. "And a lot of the farmers around here, I don't know if you'd call them peons, but they really don't have any control about what's done out here."

Five actors were chosen to map the emotional and psychological landscape of Montevideo and transform those feelings into live theater. As actor Kristina Mitchell recalls, it wasn't until their first day of work that they got their assignment.

"It was interesting actually. They said Montevideo and we thought they said 'mount a video' so we thought we were doing some film work," says Mitchell. "But instead we were taking a trip to the country."

	Laura Borgendale

There they spent a week immersing themselves in Montevideo culture. They interviewed residents handpicked for them and people on the street, paying close attention to body language and dialect. Actor Leif Jurgensen says the questions were the same for everyone and deliberately open ended.

"What inspires you? What is a typical day? What discourages you? Do you have any song or story about your ancestors? A lot of times they just didn't think they had anything interesting to say," says Jurgensen. "Once the interview started going, then they started talking more and then at the end of the interview, you could tell they were really glad to do it."

The real work began when the actors returned to Minneapolis and, guided by director Rebecca Brown, started assembling all the information into a theater piece. Actor Jason Armbruster says everyone had certain impressions they wanted to include in the performance.

"The thing that had the biggest impact on me was the stories of how hard people have to work to make ends meet on a farm," says Armbruster. "The stories of everyday life and how much has to get accomplished and what are the consequences if things don't get accomplished."

In the play, Armbruster transforms those feelings into dialogue.

"Dad'll start early in the morning. Get up, 4:30, head out to the barn in time to feed the cows, sanitize the milk line, get that thing going, then I come out, get the cows in, get milking going".

"Stories From Montevideo" isn't traditional theater.

Director Rebecca Brown calls it a collage which changes direction and moves forward and backward in time instantaneously. It consists mainly of performed excerpts of all the interviews, pieced together to create a dialogue on stage.

It's part of the Children's Theatre Company's Land Bridge Project, designed to connect urban and rural residents in Minnesota. This week the piece is being staged at the CTC, including two performances for Minneapolis high school students. Next week it comes to Watson Town Hall just outside Montevideo. For director Rebecca Brown, it will be like a theatrical mirror where local residents can see their lives reflected back at them.

"I think its important to hear your own stories being told," says Brown. "I think that that's part of creating memory inside a community and I think that by creating memory you create change and hopefully change for the better."

"Stories from Montevideo" is not all hard times and bad news. Jon Borgendale's daughter, Laura, says many people are trying to improve things, boost the local economy. One thing she finds most disheartening about small town Minnesota is how all the communities seem to look similar; the same chain stores and fast food outlets. But in Montevideo there's been an effort to keep things local. A coffee shop, some eating spots, places for the arts.

"People out here are realizing that the only way that they're going to keep their towns vital, is keeping local stores, local food, having it all connect together," says Borgendale. "Cause the more that you lose things the more that you have to try and build your own structure here in your own community."

She's can't wait to see just how her town will be reflected in the Children's Theatre production. She says even though it may appear all towns are the same, each has a history different from anyplace else. John Handeen would agree with that. He says certain events which happened in Montevideo have stayed with him his whole life. One childhood memory occured more than 70 years ago. It was the Christmas season. Snow blocked the roads. So his family rode a horse-drawn bobsled into Montevideo. When the sled turned onto mainstreet, Handeen saw electric Christmas lights for the first time.

"I was conscious of the mainstreet lit up like that," says Handeen. "I can still see it in my mind."

Handeen says the beauty of the moment left an indelible impression. Artful things will do that. He hopes the Children Theatre's play about Montevideo will also leave that sort of imprint.

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