Theater group travels down Mississippi with environmental message

Members of the Unseen Ghost Brigade are sharing their talents and an environmental message as they travel down the Mississippi River.

Wearing handmade costumes in front of a patchwork quilt backdrop, they used music and humor as they acted out stories loosely based on historical river characters, including Mark Twain. About 100 people came Saturday afternoon to watch the free performance on the Common Pleas Courthouse lawn.

By resurrecting the "hidden ghosts of the river" the group hopes to raise awareness about suffering as a result human efforts to control the flow of the Mississippi River for commercial uses.

"All our characters resist control, just how the river itself resists control," said Gus Ganley, 23, of Minneapolis. "This whole trip is a way for us to resist control and bring storytelling to the people, rather than people having to pay a price to experience live theater."

They started their trip on a homemade raft in June in Minneapolis, and have performed in about 30 river towns so far.

"We've met so many amazing people whose families have been living along the river for generations after generation and have really rich histories and so many stories intertwined," said Corinne Ebbenga, 28, of Minneapolis. " As we've been sharing these stories about the river, we've been learning other people's stories about the river."

Members have performed skits they wrote in parks and on street corners, in many cases bringing live theater to small towns where people wouldn't have access to performing arts otherwise.

Each story they perform takes place along the river, from a New Orleans brothel to an orphanage in St. Louis.

"Most of us grew up along the Mississippi River," Ganley said. "The mythology of the river has been in us since grade school when we read 'Huckleberry Finn.' This has been a dream of ours for a really long time."

As passionate as they are about their performance, they are equally passionate about protecting the river and its banks from the effects of pollution, dredging and dams.

"The river has been turned into a cargo highway, and people whose lives have relied on the river, like fishermen, they're not able to continue their livelihoods," Ebbenga said.

The Unseen Ghost Brigade will move down river with upcoming performances planned in Cairo, Ill., and New Madrid, Mo.

For more information, people may visit www.unseenghostbrigade.org.

mmiller@semissourian.com

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