The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

January 3, 2010

Mankato Mosaic is all about performance

New organization, highlighting local artists, holding first event

By Robb Murray

MANKATO — John Rezmerski wasn’t a lifelong pal of “Rhymin’ Rex MacBeth.” They didn’t hang around campfires telling cowboy stories till the wee hours, or shoot rifles together and compare their knowledge of Jesse James.

But they both shared a love of the old west and a penchant for poetry.

That’s why Rezmerski — a widely published author and poet and professor at Gustavus Adolphus College — will read some of MacBeth’s locally famous poems at the inaugural run of what organizers hope will be a regular event.

“The Mind’s Eye,” a series of plays, poetry readings and other performance art, is the first event of its kind from a new organization called the Mankato Mosaic Theatre Company.

More than a dozen artists will either perform at the event or have their work performed. Rezmerski is one of the bigger names for the group’s first event. He said the task of reading the poems of a local legend will come with much responsibility.

He says he’s a fan of cowboy poetry, and considers MacBeth’s work to be of high quality.

“Like any other kind of poetry, there’s a lot of feeble stuff out there, but there was something a little more to Rex. He was a natural,” Rezmerski said of MacBeth. “Sometimes he had some really sophisticated turns of phrase.”

Craig Groe, one of the event’s organizers, said the group’s goal is simply to highlight local talent.

“We’re trying to fill in a niche that we felt wasn’t being filled by other groups,” Groe said. “People can go to the bar to see music or to the theater to see theater. This is more like a crossover. It’s presentational theater rather than representational theater.”

Groe said Mankato Mosaic was started as an open project in June, and for the next four months they worked on putting the company together.

Their mission is to use local talent, and that’s exactly what will be on display Jan. 22 and 23 at Centenary United Methodist Church on Second and Cherry streets. The group solicited works and then chose what would be on display during the first event.

Two plays by local playwrights will be performed, as well as one short story dramatization.

The event includes the screening of a short film, poetry readings and other performances.

Groe said the group received a Prairie Lakes grant for $1,000 and an Arts and Cultural Heritage grant for $500.

“What we’re trying to do is just create quality entertainment,” he said, “and we thought in January it’d be kind of like a dead spot in the winter when other stuff wasn’t happening.”



For more information or to buy tickets, visit mankatomosaic.tripod.com.

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