My event story

Hannah Schott
Oct. 19, 2009
Theater Symposium

"Radio Golf," a play by August Wilson, was the third consecutive symposium presented by Penumbra Theatre of St. Paul to be held at Anoka-Ramsey Community College. The symposium was held Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Coon Rapids Campus' Performing Arts Center.
The symposium began at 1 p.m., lasted 50 minutes, then repeated at 2 p.m.
About 200 people attended the first presentation and about 60 people were at the second, according to Scott Stankey of Anoka-Ramsey's English department. Many of the attendees were Anoka-Ramsey students and professors.
The symposium was recorded, Stankey said, and will soon become viewable on Desire2Learn, Anoka-Ramsey's online learning center.
The symposium was hosted by two actors and two directors from Penumbra. The two actors, Rex Isom and T. Mychael Rambo, read selected portions of the play and, along with the two directors, Dominic Taylor and Stephanie Lein Walseth, discussed the play with the audience.
"We wanted to tease out some of the themes and ideas that are present in the play," said Taylor, the associate artistic director at Penumbra. Taylor said he hopes the symposium "gives students places to enter and understand the play."
The program opens up students to investigating "Radio Golf" further, according to Taylor. "Anoka-Ramsey students are always engaged and seem to value theater as an art," he said.
Taylor said he feels it is beneficial for Penumbra to share theater with academic communities like Anoka-Ramsey. "It is important that the theater we do at Penumbra reaches out beyond St. Paul," he said.
The goal of the "Radio Golf" symposium was to help students contextualize the play, Taylor said. He added that the symposium helps students situate the play in Wilson's oeuvre and in the history of Penumbra.
"Radio Golf" is used at a textbook by six English professors at Anoka-Ramsey's Coon Rapids campus.
Prof. Linda Varvel, one of those six, said the symposium inspired her and excited her about theater. She said: "I think one of the best things (about the symposium) is that students can hear actors raise the play up on its feet. They can hear the lyrics and the emotion."
Varvel said that students who read "Radio Golf" before attending the symposium had diverse reactions to the actors' interpretations. Some students found more humor in the play, Varvel said, and some students found more anger.
"At the symposium, students have a chance to engage in a play that deals with people's real lives and their struggles with the American Dream," Varvel explained.
Taylor does a good job relating to the audience and describing the culture of African-American theater, Varvel said. "It's advantageous for our students from various cultures to experience that," she commented.
During the symposium, Taylor announced that Penumbra will play "Radio Golf," directed by Lou Bellamy, from Oct. 1 to Oct. 25. Taylor encouraged people to attend the production.
Varvel said the symposium helps students become aware of live theater in the Twin Cities. "I wish I could put each class on the bus and take them to "Radio Golf" (at Penumbra)," Varvel said, but acknowledged that the symposium, which she called an "intellectual exercise," was the next best experience.