Behind the ‘Line

Right before the start of performances for Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me, director Helen Young (HY) sat down with Beth Lacke (BL) to chat the rehearsal process, amendments, and the document that continues to spark conversation and controversy, hundreds of years after it was created. This interview has been edited for length.                     From left: Beth Lacke and Helen Young Helen Young: Hi, ...

A History of the American Freak Show This was a marvelous diversion. I’ve always adored carnivals and freak shows. – Atung as Andrew Jackson, The Chinese Lady While Afong Moy may have been the first Asian woman to immigrate to the United States, she was far from the first “exotic” body to tour rural America on display. Indeed, after P.T. Barnum popularized the freak show in the mid-19th century, exhibits of “human oddities” continued to enthrall rural ...