The newly created Bridge Theater Company is directed by Julia Wharton and is a project of Free River Press. Its primary mission is to present, in the form of readers theater, stories inspired by the writings developed across the country in Free River Press writing workshops. On occasion, we will present evenings of poems and stories for festivals, such as our 2022 winter production of the Dylan Thomas classic, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”
But most plays and productions will express the life and culture of a particular region. Driftless Dreams, which we presented in summer 2022, gives a picture of rural life in the upper Midwest, based on Free River Press stories written by farm families, small town residents, and commercial fishermen on the Mississippi.
Our spring production, Broncs and Honky Tonks, was inspired by stories written for Free River Press by ranching people of Texas and New Mexico.
Our summer production, Ragnaok: The Doom of the Gods, written by Robert Wolf, is based on Nordic myths and was presented twice at Decorah’s Nordic Fest.
Our fall production is a portrait of rural life in the Mississippi Delta adapted by Julia Wharton from stories written by blacks and whites about farming, church, and community.
River Days, adapted by Cathy Baldner will be our 2023 fall production. It is based on stories written by a Mississippi River towboat captain, pilots ,commercial fishermen and river town residents. Written in 2019 and adapted from the Free River Press volume, River Days, it ws first presented at Decorah’s Nordic Fest.
