Brigham Young University’s Department of Theatre and Media Arts has announced its 2009-2010 theatre schedule for the Pardoe and Margetts Theatres.
Rodger Sorensen, the department chair of Theatre and Media Arts, also announced the addition of a new series for the theatres.
“It is called the Platform Series and includes new and experimental works by students and faculty,” Sorensen said. “It includes a ‘New Play Project,’ ‘Semmelweis’ and ‘Casey at the Bat.’” The Platform Series will use minimal sets and costumes in order to allow students to explore a wide variety of theatre techniques that are outside of the traditional model.
“Our theatre production season has a good balance between the entertaining and the educational,” he said. “It invites engagement with mind and heart.”
There will be no performances in either theatre Sundays or Mondays. Reduced-price dress rehearsals and matinee performances will be available for each production. For season and individual ticket information, contact the Fine Arts Ticket Office, call (801) 422-4322 or visit arts.byu.edu.
The Pardoe Theatre will begin the year with “The Taffetas” by Rick Lewis Sept. 11-19. Directed by George Nelson, “The Taffetas” is about four sisters about to make their television debut. They will sing ’50s hits such as “Sh-Boom,” “Mr. Sandman” and “Johnny Angel” with the hopes of putting a smile on the audience’s faces.
Next on the BYU stage will be “Children of Eden” by Steven Schwartz playing from Nov. 13 to Dec. 5 (excluding Nov. 22-30). This musical retells the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah from the book of Genesis. The play focuses on the relationships between the Father and his children. It reveals that every family has challenges, but leaves behind a powerful legacy for future generations.
“Tartuffe,” by one of the greatest comedic playwrights of all time, Molière, features the story of Orgon who, in the twilight of his life, has decided to give all his worldly possessions to a holy man named Tartuffe. However, this holy man isn’t all that he seems to be, and Orgon’s family must convince him otherwise. “Tartuffe” will be shown Jan. 22 to Feb. 6, 2010.
William Shakespeare’s classic “As You Like It” will be shown March 19 to April 2. This comedy tells the story of Orlando and Rosalind, who try to redeem their families from injustice while also falling in love. As they journey from power to poverty and back again, perhaps you too will understand why “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.”
The Margetts Series will start out the year with Shakespeare’s last work, “The Tempest,” which will run Sept. 15 to 26. This production will be put on by the Young Company, BYU’s Theatre for Young
Audiences ensemble, and will be adapted into a one-hour production for families. The story is about a magician-king and his daughter who have been banished to an island inhabited by fairies. They are finally given the chance to return home but before they do they must negotiate between forgiveness and revenge, magic and power, betrayal and love.
From Oct. 30 to Nov. 14, the play “Absent Friends” by Alan Ayckbourn will be showcased. “Absent Friends” is a dark comedy by a British master of contemporary drama about a woman, Diana, who invites her friend Colin over for tea after his fiancée dies. Tempers and patience boil over in this British satire of middle-class mentalities and materialism.
The Young Company will present an award-winning true story of Sadako, a Japanese girl who, 10 years after Hiroshima was bombed in WWII, discovers she has “radiation sickness.” While in the hospital she learns of the legend of 1,000 paper cranes and begins folding. She hopes that in completing 1,000 cranes, the gods will grant her one wish. “A Thousand Cranes” by Kathryn Shultz Miller will play Feb. 2 to 13, 2010.
Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” will be presented March 5 to 20. On the evening of her wedding day, a young bride deserts her newlywed husbandand runs away with her former love. Exploring themes of family, honor and death, this tragic masterpiece is considered the greatest Spanish play of the 20th century. Lorca weaves together poetry, folk music and striking visual images to tell the heart-wrenching story of the three ill-fated lovers.
Children’s author Rick Walton has created an interactive family production titled “Mysteries of Monster Grove,” which will show May 28 to June 12. The play is about Sylvia, whose parents are accountants for classic monsters like Count Dracula. Things are great until the day her father mysteriously vanishes. Sylvia sets out to solve the mystery of her father's disappearance and solves a few other puzzles along the way. Walton has created a production just for BYU that will require the audience to help solve the mystery by voting on the ending.
The new Platform Series, to be presented in the Margetts Theatre, will feature plays with minimal costumes, sets and production resources. The first performances will be in the “New Play Festival” Dec. 2-5 and 8-10. The festival will include three new student works, including “For Dear Life” by Matthew Greene, “The Monster of Dr. Frankenstein” by Zach Kempf, and “Tre Sorelle” by Katherine Gee.
Next up in the Platform Series will be “Semmelweis” Jan. 7-9 and “Casey at the Bat, A New Musical” March 24-26 and March 30-April 2.
For more information, contact the Fine Arts Ticket Office, call (801) 422-4322 or visit arts.byu.edu.
Writer: Brandon Garrett
