Voices from the Grave: Reflections on Phelps Cemetery Walks

DRC Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

Kristen Underwood will be offering her reflections on her experience directing walks at Decorah’s Phelps Cemetery in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2018, where local children and adults acted the parts of past Decorah residents while stationing themselves next to the associated gravesites. She will highlight selected histories of past residents whose names may be familiar to Decorah Rotarians.

Kristen developed scenes and monologues based on obituaries, newspaper articles, cemetery plot maps and other archived materials, and directed players to perform these in costume at the appropriate plots as groups were led from place to place through Phelps Cemetery. Last October she participated in the Porter House Museum’s After Dark lecture series where she provided a popular and theatrically inspired recapitulation of her cemetery walks.

In addition to her cemetery walks, Kristen produced walks at Luther College and along the Upper Iowa River. Her collaboration with Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum resulted in 10 original theatre pieces inspired by museum exhibits. She also produced children’s theater adaptations of works by Carroll, Kipling, Dickens, Molière and Shakespeare, as well as solo performances including Lessons from Cancer College, Women and Fiction: Virginia Woolf Speaks and Natural Shocks.

Kristen has recently retired from Luther College after serving as Director of Campus Programming, and teaching in the theatre department intermittently for over 30 years.  Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she worked as an actor in regional theatre for several years before settling in Lanesboro, MN where she co-managed the Commonweal Theatre. Upon moving to Decorah, Kristen founded Upstart Crow Theatreworks and co-founded ArtHaus with Lea Lovelace. Kristen continues to mentor speech and drama students and co-direct the fall production at Decorah High School.

---

**Please complete your meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcement, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advace to all members by email.