Original solo show about Gettysburg to premiere at Ice House
A new play about the unique experience of living in Gettysburg, the site that marked the turning point in the Civil War, will have its world premiere at the Charles Brown Ice House in Bethlehem Friday and Saturday, as part of the Ice House Tonight series.
“Addressing Gettysburg, or Swimming To the High Water Mark” is presented by Selkie Theatre and is a fascinating new solo piece written and performed by “self-proclaimed history nerd” Richard Sautter, who reflects on the experience of moving to, and living in, America’s most sacred ground.
Gettysburg is where the Union had the victory that ended General Robert E. Lee’s second and most ambitious invasion of the North. Known as the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion,” Gettysburg was the Civil War’s bloodiest battle and was also the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal “Gettysburg Address.”
Sautter moved to Gettysburg with his family 14 years ago, and since then, he has been collecting observations about what it means to live and work in such a meaningful place. He discovered spending a lot of time in Gettysburg meant meeting many different people, there for many different reasons, from passionate historians to ghost hunters, from Civil War re-enactors to apathetic schoolchildren.
He also explores why some places gain such deeply special meaning for us, and how our history affects us today, as he attempts to tie all of these experiences into one show that combines both laughter and deep reflection.
Sautter has been involved with theater for 25 years, mainly as a performer, but which also featured turns as a director, playwright, and designer.
Doing a show at the Ice House is a homecoming for Sautter, who worked as an actor for 15 years in the Lehigh Valley before moving to the Gettysburg area in 2005. It also marks a reunion with Selkie directors George Miller and Kate Scuffle, with whom Sautter worked with at the original Theatre Outlet, where he performed in “Dancing At Lughnasa,” “The Baltimore Waltz,” “Ibsen’s Ghosts” and others. Sautter also has performed at Touchstone, and the Muhlenberg Summer
Music Theatre.
His favorite roles include Gloucester in “King Lear,” the Laredo Kid in “The Majestic Kid,” and Marcus Lycus in “A Funny Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He is on the theater faculty at both Gettysburg and York colleges. He has also taught at Messiah College, McDaniel College, and at Penn State Lehigh Valley. For four years, Richard served as a Commonwealth Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, delivering presentations on the American theater during the Civil War.
Sautter performed his solo piece “12 Steps,” a show about the addictive quality of acting in theater, for Selkie Theatre at the Ice House two years ago. “Addressing Gettysburg, or Swimming To the High Water Mark” is his fourth solo show.
A Meet The Artist reception will follow both performances.
“Addressing Gettysburg, or Swimming To the High
Water Mark,” 8 p.m. Sept. 13-14, Charles Brown Ice House, 56 River St,, Bethlehem. Tickets: $15 cash only. Reserve blueselkies@aol.com or 484-241-9591 and pick up at the door.
Momix’s 35th anniversary show comes to Zoellner
“Viva Momix” a compilation of company favorites taken from six shows plus four new pieces, brings the internationally known dance company to Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center Saturday.
The show was created for Momix’s 35th Anniversary season in 2015 in celebration of June 10, 1980, when Moses Pendleton performed the first Momix show at Teatro Nazionale, in Milan, Italy.
Known internationally for presenting works of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty, Momix is a company of dancer-illusionists under the direction of Pendleton.
The beautiful, athletic