This summer, three Minnesota towns will host “The Visit,” a unique theater production that will immerse each of the historic communities in the question, How far will a town go to save itself? Darcey Engen ’88, chair of the Theater Department at Augsburg, and husband Luverne Seifert ’83, professional actor/director and head of the B.A. Theatre Performance program at the U of M, provided the impetus for creating this adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s original play—an adaptation done by Engen’s colleague, Sarah Myers. After exploring venues in several towns, Engen and Siefert finally decided on East Grand Forks, Albert Lea, and Blue Earth as the sites to feature. The plays will involve community actors from each town in the actual event, as they perform at the historic site, watch scenes unfold, and experience the mounting tension at close range. Check online at www.brownpapertickets.com or Sod House Theater (Facebook) for specific performance times.
In connection with this summer’s unusual productions, Engen and Seifert have formed Sod House Theater, a site-specific Twin Cities-based theater company that travels through Greater Minnesota with a team of professional artists to work with communities to produce classic and relevant works of theater.
While work on “The Visit” was progressing, Engen received a call notifying her that Augsburg’s Theater Department had been singled out by “Backstage” magazine (a premier entertainment publication for theater professionals) as one of the Top 5 U.S. institutions for theater majors who wish to continue their studies professionally. The magazine recommended an Augsburg education for “enterprising, driven students looking to climb the [professional] ladder in double time.” Engen was delighted at the news and attributes the distinction to not only class content, but bringing in professionals as guest artists, commitment to producing a variety of voices and kinds of theater, and providing frequent opportunities backstage and onstage.
In addition to theater, Engen enjoys antiques, gardening, and finding and painting interesting pieces of furniture. She and Seifert live in Northeast Minneapolis with their two teenage sons, Severin and Simon, who love their parents’ actor friends and enjoy working as stage hands, having been in theaters during rehearsals ever since they were in car seats.