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ATLAS OF MUD
*By Jennifer Fawcett
> SATURDAY JUNE 12, 2021 | 7:30PM > SUNDAY JUNE 13, 2021 | 2:00PM 1. IN PERSON - At The Viking Theatre at GrandView University Des Moines, Iowa 2. LIVE STREAM - Join us virtually > SATURDAY JUNE 19, 2021 | 7:30PM > SUNDAY JUNE 20, 2021 | 2:00PM* 3. LIVE STREAM - Join us virtually *A virtual talk back with cast and company will follow this showing. |
Previously postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we close out our 2020-2021 Season with this moving play by Jennifer Fawcett, Atlas of Mud.
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CONTENT WARNING: This production includes theatricalized versions of the following things that may be distressing or discomforting for some patrons: sexual assault, environmental disaster, guns and gunshots, personal violence, strobe-like lighting effects, fog.
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Synopsis
Ten years after the world flooded and people fled to the boats, the desperation to find land has become lethal but the satellites still see nothing but water. Guarded by the military, one boat holds special cargo: seeds to plant when land is found, birds to find the land, and a child called Mud. A mythical allegory about finding hope in a world turned unrecognizable.
National Science Playwriting Award, Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, 2008
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For questions or help with ticketing, safety and event protocols, or content related issues, please email us at [email protected].
That was when I realized that faith and science are actually alike; both require a step into the unknown." -Playwright, Jennifer Fawcett |
We spoke with Jennifer Fawcett about the inspirations for Atlas of Mud. Read about her history with devastating flooding, her interest in the politics of survival, and the intersection of faith and science here!
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The Company
DIRECTING TheatreMidwest: The Thanksgiving Play, Brilliant Traces, The Friendly Hour. Repertory Theatre of Iowa: The Diary of Anne Frank, That Championship Season; Des Moines Playhouse: A Streetcar Named Desire; Duluth Playhouse: Singin' In the Rain; Yellow Tree (MN): Expecting Isabel; Williamston (MI): Five-Course Love; Guthrie Theatre (Studio): Hopscotch; Other Professional: Seven Year Itch, Jesus Christ Superstar, I Do! I Do!, Noises Off, Lysistrata the Bluegrass Musical!, Mother Courage, Night at the Carlton With Ray Charles; Guest Residencies; The 39 Steps, One Man-Two Guvnors, On The Razzle, As You Like It, Antigone; Simpson College: Peer Gynt, Learned Ladies, Henry 5, Into the Woods, Trojan Women, Godspell, Quilters, The Woman in Black, Twelfth Night; Other Academic: Machinal, Flow My Tears The Policeman Said, The Winter's Tale, The Marriage of Figaro, The Bacchae; ACTING Goldfinch Theatre: Macbeth; Stagewest: Time Stands Still; Other: Taming of the Shrew, The Glass Menagerie, Brigadoon, Carousel, My Fair Lady, Equus, A Flea In Her Ear. Homepage tomwoldt.com
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ATLAS OF MUD
by Jennifer Fawcett CAST Boatman/Marcus/Evacuee+ ------- John Audlehelm Mud/Boy/Evacuee ------- Claire Boston Bird Keeper 1/Evacuee + ------- Katie Braden Elias/Captain + ------- Brandon Herring Birdkeeper 2/Miriam/Evacuee ------- Joan Korte Bird Keeper 3/Evacuee + ------- Lindsey Oetken Elaine ------- Michelle Vaudrin PRODUCTION CREW Stage Manager ------- Katie Buchholz Lighting Designer ------- Tiffany Flory Dramaturgs ------- Sariah Cheadle, Jen Ippensen Set Designer ------- Kate Kanne Costume Coordinator ------- Joan Korte Video Assistant ------- Deidra Mohr Assistant for Intimacy Choreography ------- Stephanie Schneider Costume Designer ------- Eliz Tomaras |
Claire Boston (Mud) (Boy / Evacuee)
ACTING - Giving Tree Theater: Silent Sky, Pride and Prejudice, Puffs, The Tin Woman. Theatre Cedar Rapids: Dracula, Underground Play Festival. Dreamwell Theatre: Visages. London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art: Twelfth Night, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. REPRESENTATIVE ROLES - TheatreMidwest: When the Messenger is Hot. Mirrorbox Theatre: Rolling. Dreamwell Theatre: The Humiliation Play. 50/50-An Arts Production Co.: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Dracula, All the Natalie Portmans. DIRECTING- Theatre Cedar Rapids: A Walking Shadow. EDUCATION - Buena Vista University: BA Theatre. London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art: Classical Acting Diploma. 
John Audelehelm (Boatman / Marcus / Evacuee / Soldier)
ACTING - Ankeny Community Theater: Diary of Anne Frank, Kingman Row Entertainment: Private Passage, Iowa Stage Theater Company: Recompense, A View From the Bridge 
Brandon Herring (Elias / Captain+)
ACTING - TheatreMidwest: Nickel and Dimed, The Thanksgiving Play. Hampstead Stage Company: Alice in Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel. Okoboji Summer Theatre: Happily Ever After: A Wedding Comedy. North Dakota Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing, Unrehearsed Shakespeare: Macbeth. Prairie Repertory Theatre: The Little Mermaid, The Fox on the Fairway. Starry Night Repertory Theatre: All in the Timing. Western Illinois University: Richard II, Arcadia, Stupid F***ing Bird, Unreharsed Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing, Proof, The Drowsy Chaperone, One Man, Two Guvnors, Sense and Sensibility, November. BUSINESS: Assistant Drama Director - Hoover High School. EDUCATION: MFA Acting - Western Illinois University. BA Theatre Arts - Simpson College. 
Kate Kanne (Set Designer)
SCENIC DESIGN - Illusions by Ivan Viripaev, Rumors by Neil Simon, Les Liaison Dangereuse by Christopher Hampton, and (Anon)ymous by Naomi Iizuka. BUSINESS: Central College - Theatrical Design Faculty Member. EDUCATION - Minnesota State University, Mankato - MFA. South Dakota State University, Brookings - BA Theatre. 
Eliz Tomaras (Costume Designer)
STAGE MANAGEMENT - TheatreMidwest: Brilliant Traces, The Thanksgiving Play. Theatre Simpson: A Year With Frog and Toad, The Servant of Two Masters, Fall From Grace (Festival of Short Plays 2011) DRAMATURGY - TheatreMidwest: Nickel and Dimed. DESIGN - - Theatre Simpson: Back Story, Betrayal, Women Beware Women, Festival of Short Plays 2012. ACTING - - Theatre Simpson: Henry 5, Peer Gynt |
Michelle Vaudrin (Elaine)
THEATRE - TheatreMidwest: The Thanksgiving Play. Carousel Theatre Co., IA: Eurydice, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Eurydice. The Plaza Theatre Company, TX: West Side Story, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Theatre Arlington, TX: Legally Blonde: The Musical. Prairie Repertory Theatre, SD: Smokey Joe's Cafe, Hairspray. Frost Fire Theatre Company, ND: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. EDUCATION - UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA: BFA Musical Theatre 
Katie Braden (Bird Keeper 1 / Evacuee)
ACTING - Ivy Theatre Company (NYC) Co-Founder: A Real Boy (59E59), Reach, Mill Fire, Outside/Inside, The Perfect Wife, Like Poetry (LaMaMa), Incongruence, Black Ice. The Secret Theatre (NYC): The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Romeo and Juliet, Edward II, The Spanish Tragedie. Shakespeare Forum (NYC): The Scarlet Letter, Romeo and Juliet. Workshop Theater (NYC): Acting: Full Frontal. Directing: Turtles & Bulldogs, After, Vowed & Wowed, Food for Thought. FILM - Wherever You Go Pictures (NYC): Unpacking. EDUCATION- Gregory Abels Training Ensemble, NYC, Certificate. Simpson College, Iowa, BA Theatre Arts. 
Tiffany Flory (Lighting Designer)
DIRECTING TheatreMidwest: Stripped. Theatre Simpson: Fall From Grace ACTING TheatreMidwest: The Friendly Hour. Tallgrass Theatre: The Foreigner, Independence, Barefoot in the Park; Iowa Stage Theatre: A Doll's House, Lion in Winter, Romeo and Juliet; Repertory Theatre of Iowa: Turn of the Screw; Des Moines Playhouse: West Side Story, Rent; Goldfinch Theatre: Macbeth; University of Idaho: Winter's Tale, Three Strikes to First; Simpson College: Learned Ladies, Servant of Two Masters, Henry 5, Antigone. CHOREOGRAPHY Urbandale Community Theatre: Music Man; Des Moines Playhouse (Academy): Fame Jr.; University of Idaho: A Christmas Carol; Lincoln High School: Sound Attraction and Infinity Show Choirs; Southeast Polk High School: IHSSA Musical Theatre; 
Deidra Mohr (Video Assistant)
THEATRE TheatreMidwest: The Friendly Hour, When the Messenger is Hot, Hitler's Tasters. Kata Klysmic Productions: The Rocky Horror Show, Vagina Monologues; California Theatres: Young Frankenstein, Burning Opera LA, Ragtime in Concert, Company, Not Your Mama's Broadway, The Nitch, Stepping Out, Marat/Sade, Mousetrap, Laramie Project; FILM/TV My Friend Max, That Night, Lost Soulmates, Antique America. |
Joan Korte (Miriam / Bird Keeper 2 / Evacuee) (Costume Coordinator)
ACTING - TheatreMidwest: When the Messenger is Hot. Fair Assembly, Dallas TX: Romeo and Juliet. Texas Shakespeare Festival: King John, Tartuffe, 110 in the Shade. Wesleyan Theatre Company: August: Osage County, The Lion in Winter, The Glass Menagerie. BUSINESS - Professor of Theatre, Nebraska Wesleyan University. DIRECTING: ACADEMIC Nebraska Wesleyan University: A Doll’s House Part 2, The Book of Will, A Christmas Carol, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Bridges of Madison County, 12th Night, Nell Gwynn, Mamma Mia, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Noises Off, The Importance of Being Ernest, The Learned Ladies, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Clean House. 
Lindsey Oetken (Bird Keeper 3 / Evacuee)
ACTING - Minnesota State University, Mankato: Atreus, Silent Sky, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Shakespeare in Love, Cloud 9. Long Island University Post: Memento Mori. Iowa Stage Company: Romeo and Juliet. Missoula Children's Theatre: Red Riding Hood. Minneapolis Musical Theatre: Happy Days. Theatre in the Round: The Beaux' Stratagem. CHILDREN'S THEATRE - Minnesota State University, Mankato: Writer/Director - Planet Protectors. Missoula Children's Theatre: Tour Actor/Director, Red Riding Hood. EDUCATION: Simpson College, BA Theatre Arts (2012); Minnesota State University, Mankato, MFA Acting (2021) 
Katie Buchholz (Stage Manager)
THEATRE PERFORMANCE Theatre Simpson: University, Festival of Short Plays 2011, The Learned Ladies. THEATRE MANAGEMENT Des Moines Performing Arts: Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King (Merchandiser); Theatre Simpson: Festival of Short Plays 2013 & 2012 (Box Office Manager), Alice’s Trip, The Glass Menagerie (House Manager). MULTIMEDIA Iowa Watch: Multimedia Director (Senior Project); Simpson Student Media: Director of Digital Content; Iowa Momentum: Communications Intern. BRAND AMBASSADOR/OTHER Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival: 2020 Bacon Queen; ACTION Talent Group. BUSINESS Businessolver - Interim Supervisor Member Services. EDUCATION BA Multimedia Journalism 
Stephanie Schneider (Assistant for Intimacy Choreography)
INTIMACY DIRECTION - Des Moines Playhouse: Singin’ In the Rain, I and You, Plaza Suite. Tallgrass Theatre: Bridges of Madison County. DIRECTING: Des Moines Young Artists Theatre: She Kills Monsters. ACTING: TheatreMidwest: Hitler's Tasters. Des Moines Playhouse: Singin' in the Rain, A Chorus Line, Newsies, A Christmas Story, Lion/Witch/Wardrobe. Young Frankenstein. Tallgrass: Ordinary Days. Actors (Ames): Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Urbandale Community Theatre: Beauty and the Best. Knoxville Community Theatre: Into the Woods. FILM - Strobie Studios: The Last Guardian of Magic. Deft Film: Tubelords. Fearless Cinema: Absynthe, Red Sunset Drive, Burn. Independent: The Ever Beating Heart, A Family That Slays. |
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JENNIFER FAWCETT, Playwright
READINGS/WORSHOPS ATLAS OF MUD: The Inkwell, Lied Center (KS), Central Square Theatre, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Lark PLay Development Center, Kennedy Center Lab, Union Eight Theatre; PRODUCTIONS ATLAS OF MUD: Working Group Theatre (Iowa City), Collin College (TX), OTHER PLAYS: Riverside Theatre (Iowa City), Phoenix Theatre (Indiana), Source Festival, Centenary Stage Company, Available Light Theatre, Uprising Theatre Company (Minneapolis), Tennessee Women’s Theatre Project, The Drilling Company, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Alcyone Festival (Chicago), Theatre Masters, Hatchery Festival, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Residency, Banff Playwrights Colony, The Inkwell, Lark Playwrights' Week, Cultural Conversations (Penn State), National New Play Network MFA Workshop at the Kennedy Center; AWARDS Kennedy Center National Science Playwriting Award (ATLAS OF MUD), National New Play Network Smith Prize for Political Theatre, Susan Glaspell Award (APPLES IN WINTER), NEFA National Theatre Project Award (OUT OF BOUNDS), ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Nominee (BIRTH WITCHES); TRAINING University of Iowa (MFA Playwrights Workshop); Curious Theatre Company-Denver (National New Play Network Emerging-Playwright-In-Residence). |
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THIS PRODUCTION IS SUPPORTED, IN PART, BY GRANTS FROM THESE EXCELLENT ORGANIZATIONS
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The beautiful Viking Theatre on the campus of Grand View University in Des Moines, IA.
TRAVELING TO THE SHOW
VIKING THEATRE STREET ADDRESS: 2811 East 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50316
NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS THE MAILING ADDRESS FOR GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY
Or ask your GPS to navigate to the Student Center at GrandView University.
VIKING THEATRE STREET ADDRESS: 2811 East 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50316
NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS THE MAILING ADDRESS FOR GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY
Or ask your GPS to navigate to the Student Center at GrandView University.