Venue View: Augustana University

By Jayna Gearhart Fitzsimmons

Theatre Faculty Member

Augustana University

Greetings from Augustana Theatre! My name is Jayna Gearhart Fitzsimmons, and I’m a theatre faculty member here at Augie.  In addition to teaching courses in acting, theatre history, new play development, improv and theatre for social change, I also direct productions as part of our main stage season in the Edith Mortenson Center (EMC) Theater.  With summer officially here and our students off enjoying summer break, our theater is a little quieter these days—but it’s a perfect time to share a “venue view” of our AU theatre home.

(Submitted Photo)

As a liberal arts university, Augustana prides itself on being at the heart of the arts, and so it’s fitting that our theater is at the heart of campus.  The EMC was renovated in 2000 from an existing building—the old gym facility.  In fact, alumni tours often include a quick stop in our costume shop, where the gym floor is still visible as a memento of our building’s history!  Our main stage theater is modeled on the Guthrie Theater’s iconic Wurtele Thrust stage, and the arena seating makes for an intimate viewing experience from anywhere in the house.  The EMC is a unique place to see and make theatre, and we love transforming the space for each production we do! 

The EMC is the home of the Augustana Theatre Company: passionate, hardworking students from across the country and world. In collaboration with the theatre faculty, these young artists create our four-show main stage season, which we select not only based on what our audiences will enjoy, but also with the goal of offering our students a wide range of opportunities for experiential learning on stage and behind the scenes.  

This past year was our first totally in-person season since 2020, and we were excited to safely welcome audiences back to the EMC for The 39 Steps, Medea in a new translation by Richard W. Swanson, the musical Little Women, and our Claire Donaldson New Play Festival, which featured new work from regional and student playwrights in collaboration with local theatre professionals.  In the coming year, we are eager to bring the historical drama Ada and the Engine, the delightful musical The Drowsy Chaperone, the hilarious All in the Timing and a series of student-directed short plays to the stage! 

Over the summer, the EMC is host to a very famous “guest”—William Shakespeare!  Every June, I direct a youth Shakespeare camp in collaboration with the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts.  The green space just outside the EMC transforms into an outdoor theater as we stage an abbreviated Shakespeare play.  (This year, it’s Hamlet!) The EMC is also the indoor rehearsal home of my original practice Shakespeare troupe, Bare Bodkins Theatre Company.  This summer marks Bare Bodkins’ 25th season of bringing free Shakespeare to Sioux Falls—and my 10th year as the company’s artistic director!  We’ve been hard at work lovingly preparing our production of The Tempest, one of Shakespeare’s final and most beloved plays.  Later in the month, we’ll move to the ruins of the Queen Bee Mill at Falls Park for free performances June 30-July 3 and July 7-10.  

Summer is such an exciting time to enjoy unique theatre experiences in and around Sioux Falls.  Nothing says summer like a road trip, and what better excuse to hit the road than to see some awesome Sioux Falls artists—and fellow Augustana theatre faculty—sharing their talents across the state? Augustana’s resident designer Jacee Casarella is bringing her scenic design skills to Prairie Reparatory Theatre in Brookings, and no trip to the Black Hills is complete without a stop at the Black Hills Playhouse where you can see some top-notch theatre—and say hi to Augie’s own Dan Workman, who is the artistic director there.  

Closer to home, I can’t wait to take full advantage of all the amazing outdoor performances Sioux Falls has to offer! The City of Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Department sponsors a wide variety of free performances in our beautiful city parks, and Bare Bodkins is in excellent company with Storyland Children’s Theatre, Opera South Dakota and Ephemeral Productions in offering fun, family-friendly, free theatre all summer long.  The Levitt at the Falls has 50 free concerts this season, and I’m thrilled that Headlights Theater is back to share more music and dance.

Here’s to a wonderful, safe summer of gathering around all sorts of Sioux Falls stages, and we’ll see you at the EMC next fall!