In Focus: Bemidji Community Theater Presents Locally Written Play ‘Corresponding Lives’

What happens when you take the unique story of two lifelong friends, a cast of actors, and a community theater wanting to put on a show? The answer is, of course, Bemidji Community Theater’s latest production, “Corresponding Lives.”

“Two young women began writing to each other as teenagers, one is an American and one is a British gal,” said actor Tami McMenimen.

“And they just become friends through life and through hardships,” explained actor Aria Robertson. “Even though they’ll get into, like, little squabbles over time, they always come back together, and their friendship remains strong.”

“I just knew that I was gonna have to write a play about this because it’s just so unusual,” said “Corresponding Lives” playwright and director Barbara Lindquist Schlichting, whose life the play is based upon.

To properly tell this unique and personal story, it would require a unique and tight-knit cast to perform.

“It puts the community in community theater and being involved in a play that is written locally, produced locally and has local actors in it is really exciting to me,” said actor Jess Robertson.

Of course, a large challenge the actors faced was portraying a real-life person, one of which being their director standing across the stage from them.

“You want to honor the real person, especially when they’re sitting in front of you at rehearsals,” joked Jess Robertson, “and making sure that you are true to who that person is.”

“Because it is a very emotional thing to bring to life someone that was an important friend for 55 years,” said McMenimen.

“And these actors, they’ve embraced it, you know? And they have just grown so much too on stage, just to see it happening,” said Lindquist Schlicting. “I’ve just been thrilled, it’s been amazing.”

Performances of “Corresponding Lives” will continue at the BCT Performing Arts Center in Bemidji from Friday, May 19th to Sunday, May 21st. More information on the play and showtimes can be found on the Bemidji Community Theater website.