(Augustana College, Rock Island, IL) -Take Davenport-born Susan Glaspell, her turn-of-the-century play Trifles, a bunch of talented Augustana College students, and you have a lively River Readings event on January 20.
Departing from its usual fare of contemporary poets, novelists, and nonfiction writers, River Readings focuses this January on a staged reading of a play. Five students in Augustana College's theatre program, under the direction of senior Bart Curtin, will read Susan Glaspell's short play Trifles. Curtin is studying the play as part of his senior research project in the departments of English and theatre. He selected Trifles because it was written in 1916, soon after the birth of modernism. Following the reading, Curtin, the actors, and theatre program director Jeff Coussens will answer questions about the reading and the play.
Born in Davenport in 1876, Susan Glaspell worked as a reporter in Des Moines before moving to the east coast where with George Cook and others, she founded the Provincetown Players. Trifles, presented in 1916, is based on a murder case Glaspell covered while working for the Des Moines Daily News. Going on to write many plays, novels, and short stories, Glaspell won the Pulitzer Prize in 1931 for her play Alison's House.
Trifles tells the story of a murder through the eyes of two ordinary women of the early 1900's who despite their traditional roles as housewives might just be more astutely observant than the male professional investigators.
"What will make the reading worth attending, "Curtin says, "is a communal appreciation for the role literature played about 100 years ago during a time of change for many types of people. Even to this day the themes expressed in this piece are inherent in our nation's politics."
The reading is free and open to the public and takes place Thursday, January 20, at 7:00 p.m. in Wallenberg Hall (3703 7th Ave.) on the Augustana College campus. A reception follows the reading.
The River Readings at Augustana is sponsored by the Institute for Leadership and Service, the Thomas Tredway Library, and the English Department at Augustana College.
The River Readings at Augustana calendar:
March 24, Molly McNett, short fiction
April 14, Dora Malech, poetry
