The performance of “The Mill” at Backus Community Center Friday night provided such a lifelike depiction of events in 1989 International Falls an audience member said he felt his blood pressure rising.
“I’m (mad) all over again,” he said in an after-play discussion with members of the production’s crew.
The play, written by International Falls native Jeannine Coulombe and produced by Workhaus Collective of Minneapolis, came to International Falls Friday and Saturday as part of the Backus Concert Series.
The production, directed by Matt Sciple, followed events leading up to and following a labor riot sparked by the hiring of the non-union BE&K to construct a half-billion dollar expansion at the Boise paper mill.
The play told the story through the activities and emotions of a fictional family, pulled in several direction by the conflict.
Actor Eric Webster, who played “Case,” said it’s rare actors do a historical piece and perform it in the community that inspired the events.
“I’ll be honest with you, we wondered ‘What are they going to do? What are they going to say to us?’ he told the audience following the Friday night production in International Falls. “We’ve been really curious to see what your reaction was to this.”
On Saturday, the actors told the audience they had toured the paper mill and got a better understanding of the community and its people.
An audience member said Saturday the production hit home and shared her experience of her husband working in the mill the day the riot broke out.
“It all came back to me,” she said of watching the play. “It was very, very real and very, very scary.”
Another audience member said he didn’t move to the area until after the 1989 events, but said the play brought a few tears to his eyes.
“You just blew me away,” he said. “You captured my neighbors and my friends...You nailed it.”
Actor Terry Hempleman who played “Marty,” said coming to International Falls and driving by Boise gave him chills.
“It made it all very real to us,” he said.
The actors agreed experiencing the local crowd’s reactions to certain parts of the play was very different than they received in the Twin Cities.
“When we did the play in the Twin Cities, people didn’t get the local references like they did here,” Webster said. “Backstage, we heard reactions here about things we didn’t get in the Twin Cities. It was hugely different.”
Sciple said he was proud to sit among the audience and take in the production with people who may have been on opposite sides of the issue.
“To hear you hearing yourselves — if we’ve done our jobs right — represented, we feel very humbled to have this opportunity,” he said.
Prior to taking their seats, many in the audiences viewed newspaper accounts of the events before and after the labor riot posted on the walls outside the theater. Some looked for their names or photos, while others were prompted by the articles to recalled their own stories of that time.
Worth the trip
Ward Merrill, executive director at Backus, said it appeared the about 700 people who attended the play enjoyed it.
“People talked about how all sides of the issue were presented fairly well,” he said. “For some people, they didn’t know what to expect and they were surprised at how the whole incident was presented.”
Merrill was instrumental in bringing the performance to International Falls, but said it wasn’t an easy task.
“We’d love to bring more plays like this to the community...the only holdup is the cost,” he said.
After seeing “The Mill” in 2012 in Minneapolis, Merrill said he knew the community that inspired the production should have a chance to experience it.
Merrill sought and gained a $50,000 Minnesota State Arts Board grant as well as funding from the local Marshall N. Knudson Family Community Fund.
Backus was one of 34 recipients of the grant, which drew 90 applications and is “pretty fierce competition,” he said. The bulk of the grant was put toward the play.
“The play is about a $30,000 to $35,000 project,” he said. “We had a total of just more than 700 people attend the play while it was here...Even if we charged $12 for everyone, we would have made just over $8,000 – not even a fourth of the cost of the play.”
Still, the outcome seemed worth it, he said.
“It is rare to get a quality group of actors to do a play that represents the town,” Merrill said. “It was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...People who didn’t come missed a good experience and opportunity.”
Merrill said Backus staff won’t give up on seeking grants and hope to bring more plays and shows to the stage in the future.
“Local people have to support the arts if they want to see the arts,” he said. “We need everybody in the community to help us.”
