Running from Jan. 27-Feb. 12, “Motherland” was a new play presented by Florida Atlantic’s Theatre Lab and written by playwright Allison Gregory. The play was inspired by “Mother Courage and Her Children” by Bertolt Brecht.

According to Theatre Labs’ website, the play is about “a self-made woman does her crafty best to protect her wayward children, keep her food truck business thriving, and impart some kind of moral code in a city battling collapse.”

Michael H. Small, an actor who played the sergeant and a vendor in “Motherland” has been acting for 45 years.

“I like the preparation but the ultimate reward is putting it on its feet and doing it in front of an audience and feeling the electricity that comes back from the crowd.” Small said. “It’s the reason that I got into this business.”

Theatre Lab, the professional resident theatre company at the FAU Boca Raton campus, was established in 2015 to “inspire, develop, and produce new work, audiences, and artists for the American Theatre.”

Freshman theatre major Jamie Brothman seized the opportunity to be part of the stage crew for “Motherland.” Her responsibilities included setting up props before the show and during intermission and cleaning up afterward.

“I heard about Theatre Lab before I came to FAU and I knew that it was going to be in the building where I stayed, here in Parliament [Hall] and it seemed like a really good fit that I would be able to gain some experience in my field and just have a lot of fun.”

Kamilah Douglas is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].