Meiningens is the University of Minnesota Morris student theatre club. It was founded in 1961 as the "Drama Club," and presented its first play, "The Curious of Savage," in March of that year. The club has thrived since then, though it went through many name changes in its early years. Testifying to the group's vitality, during the covid year of 2021, the group released a video recording of their production of Euripedes' "Iphigenia in Aulis." In many ways Meiningens exemplifies much of what is unique about UMN Morris campus culture. Its structure has always been democratic and the organization has remained open to all students and not just theatre majors. At the same time the group honors the history of serious theatre and encourages in students both a love of the art and the development of a wide variety of craft skills appropriate to work on the stage. Finally, Meiningens members in their choice of performance pieces--again reflective of the Morris liberal arts tradition--have brought together experimental theater and the traditional and the formal.
The February 22, 1961 issue of "The Vanguard" reported the first production of the "UMN Morris Drama Club." The play was John Patrick's "The Curious Savage" and it was directed by T.S. Long, an English teacher who had also taught at the West Central School of Agriculture. Sue Stahler and Bill Zinda played lead roles.[1] Although the organization's first constitution had christened itself the "Morris Players," some campus publications in these years persisted in referring to the group as the "Drama Club."[2]
Eventually the group finally settled on Meiningens as its formal name. The title refers to the "Meiningen Players," a late 19th century German touring theater company founded by George, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, a rich aristocrat and devotee of modern theatre. The name, “The Morris Meiningens,” seems to have been first used in a program from February 1963. The text read: "UMM Theatre Presents 'Three for Fun' Produced by The Morris Meiningens."[3]
Before the name change, the group in 1962 presented a light comedy about the Pennsylvania Dutch entitled, "Papa is All”.[4] In that same year the club reinvented itself in a more formal and organized manner. Group members resolved that they would meet on a more regular basis, that officers would be elected and committee assignments delegated. Students took on positions such as production supervisor and technical director and were required to perform duties in lighting, costumes, properties, theatre promotions, ticket sales, etc.[5] It is apparent that the club was very intentionally attempting to forge links to and model itself on an earlier ensemble tradition. The tight organization of the group and its obvious ambition says much about the rich cultural life of the early campus.[6]
The Meiningens have maintained a tradition of working closely with the Theatre discipline while also maintaining a sense of independence and autonomy. The group has consistently offered important support services. For example, an article from the Vanguard in 1971, then the student newspaper, noted that the production from the previous year, “The Brick and the Rose,” had toured six different high schools and had been viewed by over 2000 students. The piece concluded, “Other Meiningens activities include handling ticket sales, ushering, poster-making and other promotional activities…”[7]
As early as 1965, the group was putting on student-directed plays, the first being Henry Fielding’s “The Tragedy of Tragedies or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great.”[8] That the Meiningens first show was a famous satire is telling and anticipates the future substance and tone of their productions. A fascination with the absurd and the experimental would become the Meiningens stock-in-trade, and the history of the group is replete with instances that reflect the Meiningens’ ongoing interest in modern theatre. One example was the 1978 fall production, which included excerpts from Jules Fieffer’s “Feiffer’s People” and a selection from Ray Bradbury’s “The Last Night of the World.” The latter piece was performed in “Readers Theatre Style” in which stage action, scenery, lighting and props are eschewed and the plot is carried by voice and vocal expression.[9] Another example, this one from 1997, is the production of Georg Buechner’s “Woyzeck,” an early nineteenth-century German play that substitutes a long series of interconnected scenes for traditional structure organized in acts and depicts the slowly developing madness of an abused German soldier.[10] A further example is the 1989 the Meiningens show, “Clips and Cuttings,” an entirely sludent directed and managed production involving “a series of scenes from seven plays chosen by the student directors.”[11] A final, more recent, instance from 2010, was the group’s staging of ”The Vagina Monologues.”[12]
At the same time, the Meiningens did not shy away from more traditional fare, including at times comedies from Broadway. For instance, the group performed at least two Neil Simon plays: “The Owl and the Pussycat” in 1970 and “The Gingerbread Lady” in 1977.[13] In April 1983 the troup put on Ira Levin’s Broadway thriller, “Deathtrap,” and one of their productions for the 1997-1998 year was “The Fantasticks.”[14] The Meiningens took on the 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial” in their production of “Inherit the Wind '' in 1968.[15] A few years later the group tackled Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” and in 1978 they staged Tennessee Williams' “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”[16] Their shows also included Greek tragedy. For example, the club put on Euripides’ “Hippolytus” as its fall production in 1969 and forty years later in 2012 Meiningen students performed Medea.[17] The list, of course, can be expanded to further demonstrate that, because the Meiningens always enjoyed significant agency and independence, its productions necessarily reflected the shifting preferences of students as larger cultural tastes and preferences evolved and changed.
Meiningens has always been an active participant in the cultural life of the campus and has consistently maintained an inclusionary policy that allows non-theatre majors to participate in stage productions. The group has also promoted appreciation of theatre, appealing both to college students and to local community members. Members have occasionally taken their productions on the road to area high schools, they have staged workshops for high school students, and the club has traveled to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to take in regional theatre.[18] Throughout its history the group has employed the art of the stage to serve the community in other interesting ways. For instance, in 1981 Meiningens participated in orientation by presenting a skit on study skills.[19] Five years later the group performed “The Butter Battle Book” based on a work by Dr. Suess for the First Annual World Peace Emphasis Week at UMN Morris.[20] More recently, the Meiningens have sponsored so-called “de-stressing events” in the period around finals week.[21]
Meiningens is one of the oldest student organizations on campus, and its story encapsulates much of a larger campus history. Its democratic structure and inclusive nature, its emphasis on outreach to the larger West Central community, its student-centeredness, and the group’s commitment to the honing of craft skills all exemplify core UMN Morris values.
[1] The Vanguard, February 22, 1961.
[2] See, for instance, The Vanguard, February 4, 1963.
[3] “University Theatre” Program, February 12 and 13, 1963, UMN Morris Archives.
[4] The Vanguard, November 17, 1961.
[5] The Vanguard, October 26, 1962.
[6] “UniversityTheatre” Program, University of Minnesota Morris Archives. The program reads in part: “The earliest successful theatre company to demonstrate the value of the “ensemble” approach to play production was sponsored by George, Duke of Saxe Meiningen. The ‘Meiningen Players’ toured Europe and were a source of inspiration to all who saw them. It is from this famous company of players that we have taken the name of our student drama organization.”
[7] The Vanguard. September 27, 1971.
[8] The Vanguard. April 7, 1965.
[9] Morris Weekly, October 3, 1978
[10] Morris Weekly, February 9, 1983.
[11] University Register, April 26, 1989.
[12] “Meiningens to Present the Vagina Monologues,” News Release, February 11, 2010.
[13] The Vanguard, January 22, 1970 and Morris Weekly, April 5, 1977.
[14] Morris Weekly, April 6, 1983, University Register, October 30, 1997.
[15] The Vanguard, January 12, 1968.
[16] University of Minnesota Morris Alumni Association, “Newsletter: vol. 8, number 4,” December 1971 and Morris Weekly, January 24, 1978
[17] The Vanguard, November 7, 1969, and “Morris’s 2011-2012 Public Enemy #1 season closes with Euripides Medea,” University Relations News Release, April 26, 2012.
[18] See, for example, University Register, October 11, 1989.
[19] Morris Weekly 1981-09 Special Edition
[20] Morris Weekly, April 16, 1986.
[21] University Register, December 7, 2018.