Running Uphill: A Minnesota Theater Memoir

Running Uphill emerged from the memories of a woman brought up on the shirttails of the Depression and World War II, that time of great change for women who left jobs as domestics, secretaries, and teachers to move into war production jobs while the men were conscripted into military service. Cultural changes flowed from historical events, and women were cutting their apron strings. But despite this change, women still needed Gloria Steinem and MS. magazine to launch careers in what remained a man’s world.\nUsing memoir techniques of storytelling, Childs delves into her story of becoming a theater artist, joining friends to start a nonprofit theater company in 1985, naming it the Lyric Theater. The mission of the Lyric entailed making music integral to stage productions, which led to stage adaptations of work by several Minnesota poets. When the Lyric began producing scripts by well-known Minnesota author Jon Hassler, it settled into an uphill climb. In 2000, the Lyric transitioned into the Jon Hassler Theater and moved to Plainview, Minnesota, Jon Hassler’s boyhood home.\nAbout the Author:
Sally Bronski Childs holds a B.S. in English Education from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and an M.F.A. in Theatre from Minnesota State University, Mankato. A ten-week summer course at the Bread Loaf School of English (part of the Middlebury College language arts summer institute) in the Program for Teachers of Rural Writing fed Childs’ passion for teaching, writing, and theater. She recently completed three courses in Writing Memoir at the Loft.
From 1968-80 she taught high school English with an emphasis in writing and multimedia classes in Babbitt, MN. “Mrs. B,” as she was called by Babbitt students, directed three one-act plays and two class plays which whetted her appetite to direct plays professionally.\nChilds completed internships at The Cricket Theater (in Stage Management) and the Guthrie Theater (as Assistant Director for Hedda Gabler). Upon completion of her M.F.A., she directed several plays at Southwest State University in Marshall, MN and served as a sabbatical replacement in 1985.\nIn 1985, Childs co-founded the Lyric Theater (Minneapolis) with two Mankato friends, Tom Woldt and Christine Samuelson and served as the Artistic Director for fifteen years. In 2000, the Lyric moved operations to Plainview, MN where it became the Jon Hassler Theater, under the aegis of the Rural America Arts Partnership. Childs served as the Artistic Director from 2000-2004. She also directed plays for the high school in Plainview.
Sally played a pivotal role in forming the Writers’ Center in Plainview. Her adaptation of Jon Hassler’s novel, Dear James, was produced by the Lyric Theater (Minneapolis), the Jon Hassler Theater (Plainview), and the Barn Theater in Willmar, MN. Her adaptation of Hassler’s novel, Rookery Blues, was produced by the Jon Hassler Theater with funding from the NEA.\nFrom 2004 to 2010, Childs directed shows at the Phipps Center in Hudson, WI, and for the Northern Lakes Arts Association in Ely, MN. In 2018 Childs acted as dramaturg for Hassler’s Grand Opening at Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis. She is a retired member of the Actors’ Equity Association.