About the Production

Swede Hollow Ghost Sonata was a collaboration between Sod House Theater and the dance company Black Label Movement.  It was an outdoor, immersive performance experience that took place in Swede Hollow Park in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The production implemented theater, dance, movement, and original music to explore the continuing histories of immigration to St. Paul’s Swede Hollow neighborhood.

Audiences set off on an immersive, theatrical promenade through Swede Hollow Park, stopping along the way to experience moving vignettes inspired by the histories of immigration to the area beginning in the 1850s. Through kaleidoscopic performance, stories were brought to life by an incredible cast of local multidisciplinary artists, evoking the struggles, joys, stories, and ghosts of the myriad communities that have called this land home. Working closely with local businesses and organizations, this project also included additional community events designed to spark conversations about the rich history of this incredible neighborhood and the rich history of this incredible neighborhood.  Community event titles included, “Honoring Space and Place: “What does the site now called Swede Hollow Mean to You”; “Stories of Immigration on St. Paul’s East Side and “Resonances and Reverberations: Contemporary Immigration Issues in Minnesota and Beyond”

Why this Subject Matter is Important

We hoped, through the play and our community conversations, to create an experience that brought forth the specific history of Swedish immegration in St. Paul in the 1850s-60s. Along with the conversations around the production, Swede Hollow Ghost Sonata we worked to have the work resonate with the complex, ongoing immigration stories of of East St. Paul and of Minnesota.

Swede Hollow Park, St. Paul, MN

Took place September 2019

Cast

Sarah Agnew, Hannah Albers, Chloe Armao, Isabelle Blank, Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Brighid Burkhalter, Tessa Dahlgren, Sabrina Diehl, Kaitlyn Hawkins, Sara Heckadon, Wesley Hortenbeck, Patrick Jeffrey, Nathan Keepers, Ryan-Olivia McCoy, Sarah McCullough, Robert McGrady, Mirabai Miller, Rachel Miller, Bennett Petersen, Joey Weaver, and Cheng Xiong.

Music and Composition

Daniel Nass and Bennett Peterson

Costumes

Rhiannon Fiskradatz 

Set Design

Dietrich Poppen

Direction

Darcey Engen, Carl Flink, and Luverne Seifert. 

Community Partners

This activity was made possible in part by the Knight Foundation, the David and Leni Moore Family Foundation, the City of Saint Paul Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization, and by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.