By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current

The Geneseo Park District and the Friends of the Hennepin Canal have teamed up to host a free theatrical performance of “The Locktender,” a play written in honor of the history of the Hennepin Canal lock tenders.

The play will be presented at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, at Central Theater, in downtown Geneseo. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. and the program begins at 1 p.m. The event will conclude about 3 p.m.

The presentation is a dramatic interpretation of the play “The Locktender,” performed by Dexter Brigham of Midland, MI. Brigham has been a professional theatre artist for more than 25 years and has a career of directing and performing.

The “Locktender” performance highlights the dreams and struggles of the people that lived along the Hennepin Canal, the people whose lives depended on the success and failure of the Hennepin Canal for transport and freight, including a scene where a worker receives a closure notice and expresses feelings about it to his wife.

Dexter Brigham worked first as an opera singer and musical theatre actor before transitioning into a career as a director, producer and playwright.

Highlights of his performing career include the title role in the 2022 Off-Broadway revival of “The Robber Bridegroom,” and Fred/Petruchio in the 2003-2004 Broadway National Tour of “Kiss Me Kat.”

He is currently the Producing Artistic Director at Cornell’s Dinner Theatre in Marshall, MI.

ABOUT THE FRIENDS OF THE HENNEPIN CANAL

The Friends of the Hennepin Canal was formed to “preserve, protect, and enhance the park experience at the Hennepin Canal State Park.”

Funding supports maintenance, recreational, historical, and educational opportunities. More information about the Friends of the Hennepin Canal organization is available at www.friends-hennepin-canal.org/join-the-friends/