Skip to main content
Intellect

BYU stages modern-dress version of Shakespearean classic beginning Nov. 9

"Two Gentlemen of Verona" on Pardoe Stage

Sparks will fly when two childhood friends fall in love with the same woman in Shakespeare's comedy "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," presented by Brigham Young University's Department of Theatre and Media Arts Nov. 9-19 and Nov. 30-Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pardoe Theatre.

Dress rehearsal performances will be Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 9-10, and a matinee performance will be Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. There are no performances on Sundays or Mondays.

Tickets are $12 or $9 with BYU or student ID. Seats for dress rehearsals and matinee performances are $5. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Fine Arts Ticket Office at (801) 422-4322 or by visiting performances.byu.edu.

Directed by Alexandra Mackenzie, Shakespeare's production questions the very nature of expressions of love, and uses sparkling wit and comic playing to carry the audience to places of theatrical delight and darkest deception.

Although the production is a Shakespearean play, the setting is in modern time with modern costumes. Mackenzie said she wanted to follow the same pattern Shakespeare used by dressing actors in the fashions of the current period.

"If Shakespeare did a play set in ancient Greece, the actors didn't dress in togas but in modern clothes," Mackenzie said. "The characters in this play are young, wealthy people falling in and out of love — it didn't fit to put them in Elizabethan times."

Actors perform on a bare, raked stage with a projection screen overhead and white scrims hanging down on the sides. Throughout the play, the character Proteus will have a camcorder on stage and film scenes that will be projected onto the screens above and to the sides of the actors. There will also be live musicians on stage playing original compositions by Joseph Olson.

Mackenzie says the use of multimedia throughout the production ties in with the play's theme of trying to capture memories and moments in life.

Cast members include Jacob Gowans, Jon Stoffer, Moronai Kanekoa, Luke Rebarchik, Gail Bennett, Benjamin Abbott, Dana Fleming, Trevor Banks, Ben Phelan, Katie Rockwood, John Kovalenko, Matt Haws and Josie — a live dog that portrays the character Crab the dog.

The production team includes scenic designer Eric Fielding, costume designer Priscilla Hao, lighting designer Troy Streeter, sound designer Joseph Craven, production stage manager Josh Gubler, composer/conductor Joseph Olson and dramaturg Tarythe Barclay.

The public is invited to participate in several free talkback sessions associated with the performances. A "Meet the Company" will be held immediately following the Thursday evening performances on Nov. 10 and 17 and Dec. 1. A university panel will take place immediately following the matinee Saturday, Nov. 12. The Theatre and Media Arts Department will also host a forum about "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" Thursday, Nov. 17, at 11 a.m. in the Nelke Theatre.

For more information, contact Alexandra Mackenzie at acymackenzie@gmail.com.

Writer: Brian Rust

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Impossible Burgers at a summer BBQ? Impossible! Why plant-based alternatives are still just beyond reach for most people

August 14, 2025
Plant-Based Alternatives (PBAs) — such as the Impossible Burger — are becoming more common, and those who try them say they are actually quite good. And while companies are pouring billions into making PBAs taste just like their meat counterparts, they still aren’t catching on. So what’s the hold-up?
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Photographic memory: BYU boasts nation's top student photographer for third year in a row

August 05, 2025
One of BYU’s very own is the best student photographer in all the land. Information systems student Matthew Norton was just named the Student Photographer of the Year by the University Photographer’s Association of America.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Forum: Faith and flourishing in your life and work

July 29, 2025
Paul Lambert, the religion initiative director at the Wheatley Institute, shared in a BYU forum address how faith in Jesus Christ is more than just a personal foundation. It’s also a powerful force for good in the world around us.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=