Singing, Dancing, and Magic!

By Liz Armstrong

Actor Rhett Guter is a man of many talents. Of course, he’s a consummate actor, but (as evidenced by his performances at the Utah Shakespeare Festival this summer), he is much more. For instance, he sings and dances his way across the stage as the swashbuckling Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, and he choreographed The Greenshow. But what may not be as obvious is that Guter is a professional magician and uses that skill playing real-life magician Harry Houdini in Ragtime.

A southern Utah local, Guter grew up in St. George and attended Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts where he began to study dance, music, and acting as a teenager; but what led Guter to study the performing arts was, in fact, magic.

“I got into performing arts because I started studying magic when I was about 12 years old,” Guter said. “I worked with a magician named Jeff McBride who told me that if I wanted to be a great magician, I would study what he called ‘the cousin arts.’”

Guter was the first student to graduate from the musical theatre bachelor of fine arts program at Southern Utah University and also graduated with a bachelor of science in dance. 

“I worked consecutively for the Festival for about seven seasons while I was in college and then right after,” Guter said. “Then I moved to Chicago for five years and [am now] in New York City.” There he is spending half of his time acting and half of his time working as a professional musician. 

When Guter heard that the Festival was producing Ragtime this season, he immediately called Artistic Director Brian Vaughn in hopes that he could play the role of Houdini and help Vaughn with the magic in the play. Vaughn agreed, and they started to work, discussing how to most effectively fold the magic into the fabric of the play.

“The tricks themselves weren’t the challenge,” Guter said. “The challenge was integrating them into the play without it stopping the story.”

Guter’s favorite trick in Ragtime is the box illusion trick in Act 2 which is called “metamorphosis.” In it, actors disappear and reappear, puzzling the audience with its convincing execution. Historically, Houdini was famous for doing that very trick with his wife, and so it was something Guter was determined to implement into the musical as a “historical nod” to the magician. 

“As a professional magician I do a lot of close-up magic, [such as] sleight of hand, card tricks, coin tricks, that kind of thing,” Guter said. “You see some of that in the play, but that doesn’t read as well to a large audience.” However, Guter didn’t shy away from the challenges this alternative magic brought, leaping at the chance to experiment. 

“Personally, I love the very first trick I do with the straightjacket because I designed it completely from scratch and I had no idea if it would work,” Guter said. “So whenever that trick works,  it’s extra satisfying.”

For Guter, being back on stage this season has been an extraordinary experience. By blending the two things he is most passionate about—theatre and magic—Guter has been able to add his talent to the company’s arsenal and—quite literally—contribute to the magic of theatre. 

Guter considers the Festival stage home, and so returning this season is a full-circle moment in the magician/actor’s life. “I learned how to perform on the Festival stage, and for me to be back home this year and share both the talents I learned here—but have grown as an artist over the last eight years—has been rewarding.”

The Festival’s 2021 season runs through October 9. Plays are Pericles, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, The Pirates of Penzance, Ragtime, Cymbeline, Intimate Apparel, and The Comedy of Terrors. Tickets are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting www.bard.org.

Words Cubed: Announcing Two New Plays

The Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Words Cubed program for new play development is set to introduce audiences to two exciting and insightful plays this season: The Virgin Queen Entertains Her Foolwill play August 13, 14, 25, and 27. Polar Bears, Black Boys, & Prairie Fringed Orchidswill be performed August August 20, 21, 26, and 28. The staged readings begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. Tickets are on sale by calling 800-PLAYTIX, going in person to the Ticket Office at the Beverley Center for the Arts, or visiting www.bard.org.

“The chance to steward a process in which playwrights get to sit in a room with talented actors and insightful directors for a whole week and pick apart the beats, intentions, and particular words of a play—and change them when necessary—to develop an even stronger piece of theatre is thrilling,” said Derek Charles Livingston, director of new play development/artistic associate. “This program—Words Cubed—is a privilege and responsibility the Festival offers these works and the greater theatre world.”  

Playwright Michael Hollinger introduces his play, The Virgin Queen Entertains Her Fool, with his tongue firmly in his cheek: “It’s 1570-something, in an unfamiliar European country, and Queen Adalia—mother of us all—is rapidly dying. High time to name a successor, as her presumptive heirs are both raising armies to slaughter each other and claim the throne. But the Virgin Queen blunts her pain with poppies and the entertainments of her fool. (Murder ballads! Puppets! Fart jokes!) What’s a privy councillor to do to settle the matter and save the realm? It’s a tragedy, albeit dressed in motley.”

Hollinger is a prolific and much celebrated playwright, with numerous productions around the country, off-Broadway, and abroad. Awards include a Steinberg New Play Citation from the American Theatre Critics Association, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, four Barrymore Awards, and many others.

Playwright Vincent Terrell Durham saysPolar Bears, Black Boys, & Prairie Fringed Orchids“isan invitationto eavesdrop on a last-minute cocktail party hosted by a well-meaning white couple in their newly renovated Harlem brownstone. Molly Castle and her husband Peter have invited Jaquan, a Black Lives Matter activist; his plus-one, Shameeka; a business owner and author; and Rita Dupree, the mother of a recently slain twelve-year-old. The cocktail conversation, in ways witty and cutting, quickly gives way to the emotions and issues revealing some of the complexities of contemporary America.”

Durham is a playwright, poet, and author. Born in Binghamton, New York, he first honed his storytelling skills performing as a stand-up comic across the country. He has authored several full-length plays, as well as over thirty short plays, and numerous other works.

The staged readings of these plays will be followed by discussions between the playwright, actors, and audience members. “The post-reading discussions provide playwrights a unique opportunity to engage in dialogues with audiences about the work,” said Livingston.  “In our process, the playwrights pose questions to the audience as well as listen to the feedback of these astute theatre-goers who love new work.  The focus of this artist-audience interaction remains firmly fixed on the play.”

Words Cubed is designed to nurture the new work of nationally-recognized and emerging playwrights and allow them to workshop their plays in front of an audience and then receive feedback from the actors and audience. 

In addition to the Words Cubed readings, tickets for the Festival’s regular season plays are also on sale. The 2021 season includes The Comedy of Errors, Pericles, Richard III, The Pirates of Penzance, Ragtime, Intimate Apparel, Cymbeline, and The Comedy of Terrors.

NOTE: The plays in this series are written for contemporary adult audiences, and some plays may contain themes and language not appropriate for children and that some may find offensive.

The Corset as Art: Past and Present

Tying in closely with the Festival’s production of Intimate Apparel, the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) is featuring the exhibition The Corset as Art: Past and Present.

The show, which is generously sponsored by Shelley Berkley and Dr. Larry Lehrner, includes numerous corsets from various eras and styles, from utilitarian to beautiful to flamboyant.

“Some of these objects display extraordinary sewing craftsmanship, but many are three-dimensional objects created from artistic minds using different methodologies to make three-dimensional art,” said guest curator Laura Crow. “One of the works is, in fact, a costume created for actress Scarlett Johansson’s appearance on Saturday Night Live and made entirely of plastic mylar.”

The Festival production of Intimate Apparel is the heart-rending yet hopeful story of Esther, an African American woman in the early 1900s that creates intricate pieces of lingerie for a wealthy clientele while also searching for love and acceptance. Written by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and directed by actor, theatre educator, and director Tasia A. Jones, Intimate Apparel explores social divisions of race, religion, equality, class, and sexism.

“I was thrilled when Frank Mack, executive producer of the Festival, approached me about the play and partnership,” said Jessica Kinsey, executive director of SUMA. “As the art museum at the Beverley Center for the Arts, this is a great example of how we can bring the performing and visual arts together.”

“This is the perfect companion piece to our highly-acclaimed production of Intimate Apparel,” added Donn Jersey, Festival director of development and communication. “Watch the play then visit the museum and learn about the corsets and the cottage industries that the play depicts.”

SUMA is located on the northwest corner of the Beverley Center for the Arts, just steps from the Festival theatres. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information on SUMA, visit www.suu.edu/suma.

The Festival’s 2021 season continues through October 9. Plays arePericles, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, The Pirates of Penzance, Ragtime, Cymbeline, Intimate Apparel,andThe Comedy of Terrors. Tickets are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting www.bard.org.

Blog #1: It's Magic!

By Daria Pilar Redus

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of blog posts from actor Daria Pilar Redus. A graduate of Otterbein University, she appeared at the Festival in 2018 inBig RiverandThe Greenshowand this year is playing Sarah inRagtimeand Kate inThe Pirates of Penzance*. She is also the recipient of the Festival’s 2021 Michael and Jan Finlayson Acting Award.*

In 2017, I carefully selected my audition materials for the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s summer season. I was confident that I had a good chance of getting a spot at this festival that my university had a long-standing relationship with. The juniors at Otterbein University are encouraged to submit for the Festival’s summer season upon returning to school every year. But in my junior year, nothing came of it. I wasn’t defeated, I just knew that I had to be patient and wait for my cards to play out as they were meant to. It was only a matter of time before I’d get my chance to work at this festival—a festival that I wanted to be a part of so desperately, but couldn’t articulate a single reason why.

Fast forward, one year later, I was the only senior at Otterbein that insisted on having one more chance to shoot my shot with the Festival. There was such an overwhelming magnetic pull to this festival out in Utah that I felt so intensely before ever knowing a single thing about it. I got a song, monologue, and dance filmed, submitted my tape, and found out that I’d be joining the company in 2018 for its summer season. I was over the moon. I was so excited for my first professional gig out of college. But it felt deeper than that. It felt so intentional, and I had no clue why. Then, I showed up. Then, I knew.

It started as early as the flight into town. The breathtaking mountains of the West were miracles that I’d never seen before, and I couldn’t believe that I was still in America. I’d been so ignorant all my life, not knowing that anything so beautiful even existed. As I got off the shuttle into Cedar City, I noticed that this pocket-sized city was hugged by these stunning red rocks from every corner. The beauty was inescapable. I couldn’t walk out of my housing at the Festival, walk to the Pastry Pub, or even push a shopping cart out of Walmart without the mountains reminding me that I was so far from home, and yet I’d never been closer. I was spectacularly overwhelmed with the all-round beauty of this new adventure without even entering a day of work yet. Then, rehearsals began. 

Magic is real. I’m not certain whether it’s real in all forms, or in the way we often see on television or in magic shows with card tricks and disappearing coins. But magic exists, and it roams the halls of the Randall Theatre, hides in the wings of the Englestad Theatre, sits in row B at the Anes Theatre. I was first introduced to its enchanting presence on the first day of rehearsal for both The Merry Wives of Windsor and Big River, and it’s followed me ever since. I’ve also learned that magic and heart are dear friends, and here at the Festival, they coexist. One wraps tightly around the other’s hand, and they travel together, infecting everyone that passes through this festival—audience members, sound technicians, actors, administrators. Me. 

Read Blog Post #2 | Read Blog Post #3 | Read Blog Post #4

Seven Fun Facts about The Comedy of Terrors

Michael Doherty (left) as Janet Jones and Alex Keiper as Jo Smith in The Comedy of Terrors

By Kathryn Neves

This season at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, you’ll get the chance to see The Comedy of Terrors—a rip-roaring farce that will have your head spinning. With identical twins, mistaken identities, and two actors playing five characters, this play will keep you laughing until the final curtain call! Here are seven fun facts you may not know about The Comedy of Terrors:

1.     This play takes its name from Shakespeare. Okay, so maybe you already knew this fact. This play is named after The Comedy of Errors, another play about identical twins, and the crazy mishaps that they get into.

2.     There are only two actors in the show. A man and a woman perform as a set of identical triplets and a set of twins, moving back and forth between roles with dizzying speed.

3.     The playwright, John Goodrum, played the Jones brothers in the original production. Performing as Beverly, Vyvian, and Janet, Goodrum got the chance to speak the very lines he wrote when the show first premiered.

4.     John Goodrum is a big fan of thrillers. He’s very into Sherlock Holmes; he’s written a few stage adaptations of Conan Doyle’s works, and generally focuses on writing plays with plenty of suspense. It’s no wonder, then, that even this farcical comedy has just a touch of terror!

5.     There’s a movie with the same name, starring Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone. Don’t get confused—it’s a different story. The movie came out in 1963 with a star-studded cast, and has become a cult classic. This season’s show is a different The Comedy of Terrors—but no less hilarious!

6.     The Comedy of Terrors is full of references to past theatrical works*.* From its namesake, The Comedy of Errors, to classic stories of confusion and coincidence dating all the way back to ancient Greece, this play follows in the comedic footsteps of all the greats.

7.     This is one of two plays directed by Brian Vaughn this season. Artistic Director Brian Vaughn is bringing you two amazing shows this summer! Be sure to catch his production of Ragtime while you’re in Cedar City.

The Comedy of (T)Errors

Michael Doherty (left) as Beverley Jones and Alex Keiper as Fiona Smith in The Comedy of Terrors.

By Kathryn Neves

What is the only thing better than a farce? Two farces, of course! This season at the Utah Shakespeare Festival includes two mad-cap comedies that’ll leave you in stitches. The first, of course, is William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. The second is a hilarious modern comedy called The Comedy of Terrors by John Goodrum. Goodrum’s play follows in the footsteps of Shakespeare’s classic slapstick; though they are two completely different stories, you’ll find plenty of things in common when you come to see them both this season.

Shakespeare loved a good set of twins. Both Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors star twins who get into all sorts of mishaps and misadventures! After all, twins are an easy way to get some great comedy into a story. Goodrum’s play is no different: just like The Comedy of Errors, The Comedy of Terrors stars not one, but two sets of identical siblings! The twins and triplets in The Comedy of Terrors will will have your head spinning with their antics. Of course, Goodrum’s twins (and triplets) have different names, unlike Shakespeare’s Antipholuses and Dromios. But each play explores the hilarity that ensues when long-lost twins come together again.

Mistaken identities are a key factor in both Errors and Terrors. By the time each play gets going, the characters’ heads are spinning as they try to keep track of each other. As an audience, we have a great view into their confusion and mishaps. It takes a lot of wit and cleverness to be able to weave these characters’ identities so seamlessly; both Shakespeare and Goodrum do a great job of letting the audience know who is who, while keeping up the hilarity.

Maybe the best part of each of these plays is the physical comedy— and the Festival has some great actors to do it! Physical comedy is a key component to both of these plays. Shakespeare follows classic slapstick in The Comedy of Errors; taking techniques from the slapstick of commedia dell’arte, he has kept audiences roaring with laughter for centuries! The Comedy of Terrors, too, makes physical comedy a very important part of the show. You’ll watch characters running back and forth, actors jumping into different roles, fistfights, and all sorts of shenanigans that will keep you entertained until the final curtain call.

Even though they are not the same show, you’ll find that Goodrum’s comedy pays homage to one of Shakespeare’s classics. It’s one of the funniest farces you’ll ever see— and after all, everyone loves a good farce. You won’t want to miss it!

Q&A with the Director of "Terrors"

Artistic Director Brian Vaughn has acted and directed at the Utah Shakespeare Festival for over three decades. He has directed such notable plays as 2019’s Hamlet, as well as Henry V, Shakespeare in Love, Peter and the Starcatcher, and many more. This year he is directing Ragtime and The Comedy of Terrors*. Here’s what he recently had to say about his experience with “*Terrors.”

The Utah Shakespeare Festival: You are directing two shows this year at the Festival: Ragtime and The Comedy of Terrors. These are very different shows. How do you make the switch from Ragtime with its large cast, soaring music, and plethora of scenery and costumes to The Comedy of Terrors, with two actors and minimal scenery and costumes?

Brian Vaughn: The switch has been both welcoming and a touch jarring, to be honest. Ragtime has so many moving parts and is such an emotional ride. Our production has been occupying a huge portion of my brain for many, many months now, especially as we navigated COVID-19 protocols during the early days of rehearsal. That combined with the sheer complexity of getting a very large show up and running under a very tight timeline played havoc on my central nervous system. The Comedy of Terrors has been a complete 180. It’s been a joy to flex the comedy and farce muscles a bit and laugh frequently, while exploring a completely different theatrical form than Ragtime. In many ways it’s a great example of our repertory schedule here at the Festival—the opportunity to work on two completely different projects and relish specific aspects of each. They are both vastly different, and they both have tremendous value.

The Festival: That being said, what are some of the challenges of directing such a small show?

Vaughn: This show has its own unique challenges. Only two actors, playing multiple parts in a quick paced, rhythmic style, with dialects and multiple technical elements makes each performance of the play fresh and lively. The old adage that comedy is hard is true. It’s all about timing, precision of movement, clarity of the set up and punch line, and all while keeping it honest and effortless. Luckily these two actors (Michael Doherty and Alex Keiper) excel at it, and it makes my job so much easier.

The Festival: The Comedy of Terrors is a light-hearted, farcical play that is witty and fast-moving. How does this type of show fit into a schedule with Richard III, Ragtime, and other “meatier” plays?

Vaughn: The Comedy of Terrors references Shakespeare, mistaken identities, and an individual’s search for love while also seeking reconciliation and reunion. The broad, witty, comical element of this play helps celebrate the nuttiness of life and the joyous comedy we need as a relief alongside such heavy dramatic material. Sometimes it’s just nice to laugh. I don’t know about you, but I relish the opportunity to laugh these days.

The Festival: In your Director’s Notes for the play, you reference vaudeville, stand-up comedy, Laurel and Hardy, and Burns and Allen. Could you elaborate on these influences on the play?

Vaughn: The Comedy of Terrors has witty, rapid-fire banter, similar to the comic stylings of George Burns and Gracie Allen, Laurel and Hardy, as well as famous British comedy teams like Monty Python or Beyond the Fringe. It is filled with word play, tongue-in-cheek references, and broad satirical characters. In many ways it celebrates British pantomime or vaudeville, with a crazy plot, silly characters in silly circumstances, and semi-dangerous scenarios.

The Festival: How has it been working with the high-energy husband-and-wife team of actors, Michael Doherty and Alex Keiper?

Vaughn: Working with Alex and Michael has been a dream. They are both so incredibly gifted. They have a tremendous rapport together, and their work ethic is envious. Plus, they are just flat out funny. They’re always fine-tuning comic moments with grace and openness, and it’s a complete and utter joy to work with them. The play really hinges on two actors who are completely at ease with one another and who are quick on their feet and have agile brains. They are both so, so good. It’s been fabulous.

The Festival: As playgoers, what should we watch for in this production that may help us enjoy it more?

Vaughn: Just come and enjoy the silliness.

Pericles: Shakespeare's Blockbuster

Photo: Danforth Comins (left) as Pericles and Desirée Mee Jung as Thaisa in Pericles*.*

By Ryan D. Paul

Pericles is the first Shakespeare play that I can remember reading. It is not the first of the Bard’s work that I had read, but I can recall the exact moment and place when I finished it. I can still feel the excitement of dropping the book on the desk, picking up my phone and calling my friends. I was convinced at that moment, and still am today, that Pericles is the coolest thing Shakespeare wrote.

Now, to be fair, there is ample evidence that Pericles was written in collaboration with pamphleteer George Wilkins; in fact, the first two acts are attributed to him. Wilkins would write a small novel entitled The Painful Adventures of Pericles, Prince of Tyre a year after the play was produced, perhaps the first novelization of a theatrical work in history. Collaboration alone, however, is no reason to discount the wonder of the play. David Scott Kastan, the general editor of the Arden Shakespeare series argues that Henry VIII, Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, Macbeth, Timon of Athens, Measure for Measure, and All’s Well that Ends Well all were collaborative. He states, “No doubt there are other collaborations in the Shakespeare canon. That’s the way plays were composed. The plays of the Elizabethan theater were not written like Lord Byron’s poems or Virginia Woolf’s novels in a room of his or her own. They were more like our movie or TV scripts, which might combine several ideas from a writers’ room or get reworked by one or more ‘script doctors.’ In the account book of the theater manager Philip Henslowe—the most important surviving document testifying to how plays were written in Shakespeare’s time—nearly two-thirds of the plays mentioned are in some sense collaborative.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/06/shakespeares-plays-had-other-authors-too/590389/).

Pericles is loosely based on the ancient Greek tale Apollonius of Tyre. In 1554, poet John Gower translated the story in his De Confessione Amantis and this became the base for Shakespeare to build on. In Shakespeare’s play, the narrator, the character shaping the proceedings, is given the name Gower. Each section of the play begins with Gower providing context, telling us what we need to know as the miles and the years pass by. The dumb show, an old-fashioned theatrical use of dramatic mime illuminates Gower’s language, letting us as an audience know that this is tale that must be shown, more than told. That is one of the brilliant facets of this work. We, as the audience, watching in our time, our era, are visited by Gower, a contemporary of Chaucer, showing us an ancient tale. Shakespeare scholar Marjorie Garber puts it this way, “Repeatedly, at the end of his prologues Gower reminds us of the inadequacies of telling – just as do the prologues of Henry V. By stressing the fictionality of the events he is describing, by emphasizing the degree to which they are products of poetic imagination, he brings his audience into the process of creation.” (Marjorie Garber, “Shakespeare After All” Pantheon Books, New York, 2004, 759.) And what a creation it is.

Pericles is an adventure tale full of storms, shipwrecks, pirates, prostitutes, death, and resurrection. Looking deeper, however, it is a play about healing, transformation, reconciliation, and redemption. Consider this: Pericles, fearing for his life for solving a truly disturbing riddle, ends up shipwrecked on a foreign shore. There, thanks to some solid luck and courageous fisherman he prepares himself to compete to win the hand of a princess. Triumphant (see, he is a man skilled in the arts and armaments) he sets sail with his pregnant wife, only to lose her in childbirth during the midst of another torrential storm. Having buried his wife at sea, he leaves his daughter with a pair of monarchs, who seem to be friendly, but in the ensuing fourteen years will eventually try to murder her. However, before the foul deed can be committed, she is saved by pirates, only to be sold to a brothel, where she begins to convert the patrons to the virtues of chastity. Finally, due to the help of a really talented doctor and a personal visit from a goddess, Pericles is reunited with those he loves.

Actor Christian Carmargo, who played Pericles in a 2016 production directed by Trevor Nunn describes it this way: “Pericles starts young and reckless, and his desire leads him into a difficult situation. He’s Hamlet. Then he matures. Lear goes down into a dark hole, but Pericles comes out into the light, as, Leontes and Prospero do in the later plays. To me, the play is a portal. It’s a play about how, when all is lost, one can reestablish a connection with a benevolent universe. When Trevor asked me to play it, my mind went immediately to the Latin quote on Pericles’ shield: ‘In hope I live.’” (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-continual-riddle-of-shakespeares-pericles). 

Pericles was one of the most popular plays in Shakespeare’s day, reprinted five times in less than thirty years. Pericles, according to Margorie Garber was the first of Shakespeare’s plays “to be revived at the time of the Restoration, when theatres, closed by Cromwell, were opened again—and women began for the first time to act upon the public stage. It became popular again in the early twentieth century when fairy-tale improbabilities caught the public fancy and the play’s poetry began to catch the enthusiastic ear of critics; and it is popular again today” (Garber 755).

The Utah Shakespeare Festival has presented Pericles twice before, once in 1997 and again in 2010. This year’s production is helmed by Kent Thompson, who last directed the Festival’s 2012 production of Scapin. In his unpublished director’s notes, Thompson states that “Pericles is a strange and tantalizing play that feels like an experiment by Shakespeare in the development of his late Romance plays.  It is an epic tale of a hero’s journey that reminds me of other great adventures, such as The Odyssey or sections of The Bible. Being an adult fairytale, it is magical but also a very dark—misfortune and loss are faced repeatedly by Pericles, Thaisa, and Marina, only to end in the thrilling restoration of the family at the Temple of Diana. As Gower says: “Virtue preserved from fell destruction’s blast / Led on by heaven and crowned with joy at last.”  Indeed, endurance, faith, and virtue are required for the family to achieve a happy ending after a wild and painful adventure. It has moments of unimaginable beauty and unspeakable tragedy, but it ends in the wonder-filled restoration of the family.  The good are rewarded; the bad are punished.  In this way, Pericles is an Everyman.”

Pericles is not just an “Everyman” as Thompson notes; Pericles is a play for everybody. Noted Shakespeare scholar James Shaprio said, “I don’t know why we do any other play” (New Yorker). Noted director Trevor Nunn put it this way, “Pericles, is also about someone who is known to us. He’s a man who has attracted bad luck, he’s a noble man, he’s a modest man, he’s in the shadow of his wonderful father. How many people does one know like that? A crisis of bad luck throws him into a depression early on, he bravely sets out again, misfortune strikes, and he goes very far down and becomes a hermit. We know people like this. The play asks, What kind of species are we? Must the canker always eat the rose? The stars continue to exist in our contemporary world. The gods are on every page” (Director’s Notes).

We cannot but obey the powers above us – Pericles Act 3 Scene 3

From an Old Golf Cart to a Model T Ford

From an old golf cart (top), through the various stages of building, to a finished prop Model T Ford in the Utah Shakespeare Festival production of Ragtime, with Ezekiel Andrew as Coalhouse Porter Jr.

By Liz Armstrong

Properties Director Benjamin Hohman has been at the Utah Shakespeare Festival for 28 years, but creating a Model T Ford automobile for Ragtime this season has turned out to be his biggest props project yet—and it all started with a broken-down golf cart.

The process to create the Model T started with hours of research beginning in February, and actual construction beginning in late April. “It probably took us a total of 800 to 1,000 hours, with around 14 people working on it at different times,” Hohman said. 

“Besides the large puppets of the man-eating plant in The Little Shop of Horrors, this was one of the biggest projects we’ve ever done,” said Hohman. “There was a huge learning curve.”

This learning curve was a surprising challenge for the props director, especially since he’s had that position since 2000 and worked at the Festival for seven years prior to that. He’s built props and done set dressing for over 160 shows at the Festival and had seen it all—almost.

“I’ve never built a car. Because it’s on stage it had to be battery powered, and I had several friends I had to ask for guidance,” Hohman said. 

So why build this Model T automobile from a golf cart? Surely there was an easier way. 

After looking into renting a Model T from another theatre company, Hohman found an automobile that he could rent from Massachusetts. However, transporting the car across the country was going to quickly use up the props budget for the show.

“I thought, I can build one for less than $9,000,” Hohman said. And the props director did just that. He began the project with an old golf cart the Festival already had in the shop, but he and his crew quickly ran into a huge problem.

“We quickly realized the golf cart didn’t run. It took three to four weeks to diagnose the problem.” Hohman said. “It was at this point we realized we had about a 50 percent chance that the stage crew members were just going to have to push the car on stage.” This option was actually acceptable to Director Brian Vaughn, if necessary—but not to Hohman. His team kept working.

When asked why they just didn’t give up and allow stage crew to just push the car onstage, it was clear that he wanted to tackle the challenge of having a Model T that was actually able to drive onstage because he believed it would add to the overall impact of the play.

“The director was prepared to have it not drive. But the car is a big deal to Coalhouse as he rises up out of poverty to buy his own car,” Hohman said. “Pushing the car just wouldn’t have told the story as well.”

The props team’s original thought was to use components from the golf cart, including the motor, batteries, steering, and part of the frame; but they realized that the cart was about as wide as they could go to fit in the space allowed onstage, but it was not long enough to fit the reproduction Model T body panels they had purchased. The solution: essentially cut the golf cart in half, extend the length, and weld it back together. 

“We eventually got it running and drove it a few feet right there in the shop,” Hohman said. For him and his team, this was a huge accomplishment. 

Now, they “simply” needed to add the replica body to the frame, as well as rims, tires, and other accoutrements. The rims on the car are from a genuine 1930s Model A and the tires are reproduction tires. 

“There’s upholstery that makes it look like the car is convertible, and there’s lanterns on either side of the windshield,” Hohman said. “From the audience, it looks like a real Model T, but it’s totally a props project.”

Ezekiel Andrews, who is playing the role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. this season, has played the same character for different theatres several times before but has never had a car that he could actually drive. 

Hohman made sure to mention that it was a team effort, and that the props team has never had a project like this before—where everyone had to pitch in. Hohman and his team worked through the nights, weekends, and early mornings, making sure to get every detail right. 

“We have an older artisan that is a retired material scientist, and he wasn’t going to come out this season, and then he heard about the car,” Hohman said. “He was a great help.”

Despite all of the challenges, Hohman and his team pulled it off, and the Model T Ford they built for Ragtime is something you won’t want to miss. 

“The fact that we built all the props for seven other shows and created a car that drives in the amount of time that we did is amazing,” Hohman concluded.

In addition to Ragtime, the 2021 season includes The Comedy of Errors, Pericles, Richard III, The Pirates of Penzance, Intimate Apparel, Cymbeline, and The Comedy of Terrors. Tickets for the season are now on sale: visit the Festival website at bard.org, call 800-PLAYTIX, or visit the Ticket Office at the Beverley Center for the Arts.

Ten Things You May Not Know about The Comedy of Errors

Michael Doherty (left) as Dromio of Syracuse and Andrew Plinio as Dromio of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors.

By Parker Bowring

With a plot rife with twists and turns and not one, but two sets of twins, The Comedy of Errors is a fun-filled play that is two times the trouble and double the laughs. Newly reimagined in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2021 season and set in the 1970s in a Greek Island paradise, this tale weaves humor and heart into a splendid tale of family, loyalty, and love. 

Even though this is a popular and often-produced play, there are a few things about this audience-favorite that you may not know: 

1. The Comedy of Errors was first published in the First Folio of 1623, from Shakespeare’s manuscript.

2. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humor coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to a multitude of puns and word play.

3. It is based on Menaechmi by Plautus, with additional material from Plautus’s Amphitruo and the story of Apollonius of Tyre.

4. As one of Shakespeare’s earliest works, the play was first performed at Gray’s Inn in London, on December 28, 1594, as part of the Christmas festivities.

5. Half the play is in blank verse, an exceptional accomplishment for Shakespeare being such a young playwright.

6. The Comedy of Errors, as Shakespeare wrote it, is set mainly in a street in Ephesus in Ancient Greece, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Turkey.

7. The play has been adapted into several different movies.

8. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two Shakespeare plays to observe the Aristotelian principle of unity of time, which means that the events of a play occur within twenty-four hours.

9. In the centuries following its premiere, the play’s title has entered the popular English lexicon as an idiom for “an event or series of events made ridiculous by the number of errors that were made throughout.”

10. There is no real antagonist in The Comedy of Errors. Most characters create their own problems by making assumptions based on the similar appearances of each Antipholus and Dromio.