News From the Festival
Military Appreciation Days at the Festival
The Utah Shakespeare Festival will be celebrating our Armed Forces on September 6, 7, 22, and 23 by offering free tickets to any performances those four days. The Festival appreciates the sacrifices of the men and women who serve and wants to recognize their dedication and commitment to this country.
The Festival will be proud to welcome Utah’s 222nd National Guard and any other active or inactive service personnel, as well as their families.
Military personal are invited to reserve tickets by contacting the Festival ticket office at 800-PLAYTIX or bard.org. A valid military ID will be required to pick up the tickets, and there is a limit of four tickets per show per family. Space is limited for this special offer, so call soon to reserve your seats.
Plays include Henry V and The Three Musketeers in the new outdoor Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre, The Cocoanuts and The Odd Couple in the Randall L. Jones Theatre, and Julius Caesar and Murder for Two in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre.
“We are excited and proud to make this offer to our military personnel and their families,” said Joshua Stavros, media and public relations manager. “It is a small way that we can say ‘thank you’ for the sacrifices they have made for us and our country.”
Tickets for the Festival’s 2016 season, which runs until October 22, are still on sale. The “practically perfect” family musical Mary Poppins runs through September 3. Much Ado about Nothing, The Three Musketeers, and Henry V continue in the outdoor Engelstad Theatre through September 10. The Cocoanuts, Julius Caesar, and Murder for Two continue through October 22; and The Odd Couple, featuring artistic directors David Ivers and Brian Vaughn, runs from September 14 to October 22.For specific days and times and to purchase tickets, visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Festival Announces New Play Program, Words3
The Utah Shakespeare Festival has announced a new name, an increased commitment, and an enhanced mission, for its new plays program. Formerly known as the New American Playwrights Project (NAPP), the Festival’s primary vehicle for exploring new works will now be a new program, Words Cubed at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
The new name comes from a line in Hamlet, “Words, words, words,” and focuses the new program firmly on the text and the work of playwrights.
“The program aims to not only replace, but improve upon the foundation of NAPP by providing a platform to move plays from the developmental/reading stage to fully funded productions,” says David Ivers, Festival Artistic Director. “As part of our efforts to expand and diversify our audience, we must also expand and diversify the voices who make our work. Ushering in new plays, new playwrights and new context for engagement is paramount to the success of our new studio theatre. Expect to see commissioned playwrights, workshops, and reading series throughout the coming seasons.”
According to the Festival, the mission of Words Cubed is to nurture and develop “openly-submitted and commissioned-based new plays by providing a professionally supported platform for readings, workshops, and fully realized productions as part of an ongoing commitment to create a diverse body of work."
Charles Metten, director of NAPP, had this to say: “I am thrilled that the Festival is continuing to grow its commitment to new works. We have worked many years to nurture playwrights, and I am excited to continue to mentor, advocate for, and develop these new works.”
The new name also reflects a commitment to staging new works as part of the Festival’s mainstage repertory season. For instance, How to Fight Loneliness, by Neil LaBute, is receiving a staged reading in 2016 and will have a fully realized production as part of the Festival’s regular 2017 season.
“The Utah Shakespeare Festival has committed its resources and vision to support new work,” continues Ivers. “The ideas of these works should inspire audiences to engage about the importance of fostering the ‘Shakespeares of tomorrow.’
Artistic Director Brian Vaughn added: “Just as Shakespeare was writing for contemporary audiences, our vision is to unfold stories that relate to our current collective humanity. Words Cubed will help usher in new voices with a platform of development and performance that will fulfill our mission of presenting classical and contemporary theatre.”
The new name, as well as a new logo, was unveiled today to the audience attending the NAPP reading of Debora Threedy’s script One Big Union.
Submission dates and guidelines will be similar to NAPP. Scripts for consideration for 2018 can be submitted via email starting January 5. The deadline for unrepresented playwrights is February 15, and the deadline for playwrights with representation is April 5. Submissions can be sent to words3@bard.org. Submission criteria and details can be found at bard.org/words-cubed, and that page will eventually transition to bard.org/words3.
2017 Season Tickets On Sale
Tickets to the 2017 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival are now on sale. Playgoers can purchase tickets at the Festival ticket office near the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, by calling 800-PLAYTIX, or online at www.bard.org.
The season, which will run from late June through late October, includes nine plays (one more than in 2016), with five premieres and four enduring classics.
The Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre
Two complementary plays, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and the theatrical adaptation of the Academy Award-winning movie Shakespeare in Love, will anchor the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. Shakespeare in Love is about young William Shakespeare, who, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet. These interdependent story lines provided the impetus behind the Festival producing these two plays in repertory—with a shared cast and set.
The Festival has been selected as one of three theatres to present the first United States productions in the United States. It is based on the original screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, with the stage adaptation by Lee Hall. It is presented by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions.
Rounding out the Engelstad Theatre will be the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It. This rollicking frolic of confused courtship between Rosalind and Orlando features beautiful poetry and unsurpassed wit. It was last produced at the Festival in 2009.
Those who have been following the Festival’s History Cycle (all ten of Shakespeare’s history plays produced in chronological order) may notice that there is no history play in the 2017 season. The Festival will continue the cycle in 2018, using the coming year to develop a production approach for the Henry VI plays which will tell the story of the War of the Roses and the Tudor dynasty in all its artistry and majesty.
The Randall L. Jones Theatre
Four plays will fill the stage in the Randall L. Jones Theatre in 2017, offering a variety of genres and stories.
First will be the classical musical Guys and Dolls, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling. Considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls ran for over 1,200 performances when it opened on Broadway in 1950. Winner of many Tony Awards and numerous other theatre prizes, it has been frequently revived and has proven to be perennially popular. Featuring such memorable sons as “A Bushel and a Peck” and “Luck Be a Lady,” this oddball romantic comedy will find a comfortable home at the Festival.
Next will be the Mountain West premiere of Mary Zimmerman’s glorious adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island. This critically-acclaimed adaptation premiered in a joint production by Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago and Berkeley Rep in Berkeley, California. The Festival is the first theatre beyond them to receive rights to this play. This epic tale based on classic literature will thrill the entire family with tales of buried treasure, cutthroat pirates, the larger-than-life Long John Silver, and the courageous young cabin boy Jim Hawkins. A play with music, Treasure Island is dramatic story-telling at its theatrical best.
Possibly Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream will also appear in the Randall Theatre. This story of fairies, dreams, and moonlight tells the tale of love which never does run smooth, of feuding fairy kings and queens, and of young lovers caught up in the world between waking and dreaming. Perhaps Shakespeare’s most accessible comedy, the entire family will enjoy the antics of Puck, Titania, and Nick Bottom and his hilarious band of rustics.
Playing later in the summer in the Randall L. Jones Theatre will be a world-premiere adaptation of the satirical comedy The Tavern by George M. Cohan. Joseph Hanreddy (who adapted Sense and Sensibility for the Festival in 2014) is adapting this hilarious play and shifting the action and plot to locations and characters in Utah that just might feel familiar. As such, it is a dark and stormy night when a mysterious vagabond, a damsel in distress, and a politician all end up at a remote Utah tavern where they try, amid rising suspense and misunderstandings, to solve a recent robbery.
The Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre
One of the motivations for building the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre was to provide a space to produce new plays. The 2017 season will see the realization of that with two Mountain West premieres.
First will be nationally-acclaimed playwright Neil LaBute’s How To Fight Loneliness, which is receiving a its first staged reading at the Festival this summer, in preparation for this full production in 2017. LaBute recently had two successful shows close off-Broadway and has another, All the Ways To Say I Love You, opening this fall at MCC Theater. He and his work have been recognized with Tony Award nominations and Arts and Letters Awards in Literature, among others. How To Fight Loneliness explores a modern-day husband and wife who are at a life-changing crossroads and struggling to make monumental decisions about life and love.
How To Fight Loneliness is for mature audiences and contains explicit language and mature themes.
And last, but certainly not least, is William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged), brought to you by the same guys responsible for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). The play tells the not-quite factual (well, not at all factual) story of an ancient manuscript purported to be the first play written by William Shakespeare. Using questionable scholarship and street-performer smarts, a trio of comic actors will throw themselves into a fast, funny, and frenzied festival of physical finesse, witty wordplay, and plentiful punning.
“This is a season with something for everybody, and one that propels us into the next stage of our development as a theatre company,” said Joshua Stavros, media and public relations director. “As Shakespeare said in Measure for Measure, ‘Look forward on the journey you shall go.’”
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Playwright To Host "Conversation" and Book Signing
Neil LaBute, one of the most frequently produced playwrights currently working in America, will host “A Conversation with Neil LaBute” August 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, followed a book signing in the theatre lobby. Presented by the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the event will focus on playwriting in general and LaBute’s work in particular. It is free to the public.
“Anytime we can have a playwright here, it’s important,” said Festival Artistic Director David Ivers. “We get to ask questions that we can’t typically ask. We learn from someone who is currently working his or her craft.”
LaBute is very well known to those who follow the theatre world, and he is destined to become very well known to Festival patrons: His latest play How To Fight Loneliness will have its first public reading at the Festival as part of the New American Playwrights Project August 19, 20, 27. Then, the Festival recently announced, the play will receive a full production during the 2017 season.
LaBute recently had two successful shows close off-Broadway and has another, All the Ways To Say I Love You, opening this fall at MCC Theater. One of LaBute’s first well-known plays was In the Company of Men, which premiered at Brigham Young University, his alma mater, and which he later adapted into a movie starring Aaron Eckhart. He has since written numerous plays, including reasons to be pretty, which appeared on Broadway and was nominated in 2009 for three Tony Awards;In the Beginning; Fat Pig; Miss Julie; Reasons To Be Happy; Good Luck; Over the River and through the Woods; and many more*.* In 2013, LaBute was recognized with the Arts and Letters Awards in Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“Neil’s muscular and deft use of language, offset by his tightly conflicted characters will lend boldness, gravitas, and a fresh voice to our 2017 slate of programming,” said Ivers. “The play is provocative, funny, and heart-breaking all at once and should inspire audiences to engage about the importance of fostering the ‘Shakespeare’s of tomorrow.’”
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Bardway, Baby! Scheduled for August 13
Bardway, Baby!, the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s annual fund-raising show featuring Festival company members, is scheduled for August 13 in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. This year the show will feature songs from musicals the Festival has produced in the past, from Man of La Mancha to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, from Les Misérables to South Pacific.
The show will begin at approximately 11:15 p.m., after that evening’s performance closes and the theatre is made ready for Bardway, Baby! Tickets are now on sale for $25 each at the Festival ticket office (800-PLAYTIX) or online at www.bard.org.
The show is being directed and hosted by Brandon Burk, who is appearing this season in Much Ado about Nothing, Henry V, and The Three Musketeers. Music direction is by Paul Helm who is the associate music director of The Cocoanuts and is appearing as Marcus Moscowicz in Murder for Two.
Bardway, Baby! is a fundraising event for the Festival’s Artistic Initiative Fund which was established by Artistic Directors David Ivers and Brian Vaughn to provide funds outside of the regular operating budget to support the Festival’s growth in artistic excellence. Money raised is used to increase the size and artistry of the Festival’s shows, including helping pay for larger-scale productions and new technology.
“It allows artists to dream a little bit more,” said Ivers.
Tales of the World’s Worst Roommates
By Brooke Vlasich
David Ivers (left) as Oscar Madison and Brian Vaughn as Felix Ungar in The Odd Couple
Any adult or hopefully-soon-to-be adult knows that balancing a full-time job, paying bills, and running errands are just the beginning of managing adulthood. Financial responsibilities soon pile up and can become quite vexing. So what’s the best solution to temporarily relieving these financial woes? Deciding to move in with a best friend and split the bills and household chores may seem like the answer; but, as Neil Simon’s play The Odd Couple proves, this could be the worst idea ever.
Living with roommates can be incredibly complicated, as Oscar Madison and Felix Unger discover when they decide to move in together and quickly realize it’s not as easy as it seems. And, as it turns out, Oscar and Felix aren’t the only ones who have struggled with roommates. Utah Shakespeare Festival employees recently shared with me a few of their unique roommate stories that show just how difficult things can get when living with other people.
One employee recalls a roommate who used to hit the snooze button over and over on the alarm—from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. every morning.
Another shared stories of a roommate who used to cook items in the microwave and left the lingering smells of burned popcorn, cabbage, and ice cream.
Having had a number of roommates over several years, one employee had numerous stories to share. Memories include the roommate who baked cookies and pizzas and left them out uneaten for weeks, the roommate who insisted others use a flashlight when coming back to the dorm at night instead of using room lights, and the fanatic who lectured roommates about the brand of tuna in the fridge.
Then, there is this story from a Festival employee, that he insists is true. His roommate returned from a weekend trip home with a gift from her parents: a large chicken, ready to bake. He shoved it in the oven with the temperature as high as it would go. Took it out some time later and peeled the outer layer off to eat, then put the remainder in the fridge to do it again the next night. He cooked and ate one layer at a time for several days.
Now that Utah Shakespeare Festival employees have shared their roommate tales, we’re turning the question over to you: As you anticipate seeing The Odd Couple this fall, what are some of your stories of roommates? I hope you’ll share your comments below.
The festival’s production of The Odd Couple runs from September 14 to October 22. For more information visit http://bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
Cabaret Presents Festival Performers in a Different Light
The REACH Cabaret once again is offering its late-night variety show, with a chance to see Festival actors and artists perform in a different light. The REACH Cabaret is each Thursday through September 8 at 11 p.m. at Off the Cuff Comedy, 913 S Main Street.
A $10 donation at the door supports REACH (Really Eager Actors Crying Hire). The money is used to bring directors and other theatre professionals from across the country to the Festival to see the work of (and perhaps hire) Festival actors and artists.
The variety show is new every week and features a variety of entertainment from song and dance to stand-up comedy, magic, and juggling.
“It’s a great way to relax and enjoy some different entertainment,” said Joshua Stavros, Festival media and public relations manager. “It’s fun and unique, and you never know what, or who, you might see.”
The Tour of Utah Returns to Cedar City
The 2015 Tour of Utah
The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, billed as “America’s toughest stage race,” is returning to Cedar City July 30 for the popular team presentations and on August 1 for the finish of Stage 1 of the race.
Now in its 12th year, his week-long professional cycling race features 16 of the best men’s teams in the world. It will cover 705 miles of racing and 52,825 feet of climbing as it weaves through two national parks, two national monuments, four national forests, and two state parks.
Cedar City leads off the series of events with the popular Tour of Utah Team Presentation presented by America First Credit Union on Saturday, July 30 at the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Ashton Family Greenshow Commons. Cycling fans are invited to meet and greet members of the 16 professional cycling teams who will be competing in this year’s Tour of Utah. They are encouraged to bring blankets or chairs to enjoy the one and one-half hour program. Each team will be introduced on an event stage and top riders will be interviewed by announcer Dave Towle. This free event takes place from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Following this, spectators are invited to stay and enjoy *The Greenshow,*a free, 30-minute program of dance, music, and light-hearted entertainment that is part of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. The production is free and takes place on the same stage as the team presentation.
For those who want a VIP Experience Package on Saturday for the team presentation, tickets are available online for $125 per person. The VIP Experience Package provides an exclusive private viewing area along with light refreshments. The VIP area is adjacent to the stage, with some athletes stopping by to connect with fans.
On Monday, August 1, fans will want to return to witness the finish of Stage 1 of this breathtaking event. Stage 1 begins at Zion Canyon Village, winds through Dixie National Forest to the crest at Cedar Breaks National Monument, and then down Cedar Canyon, concluding with three downtown circuits, 2.5 miles each lap to finish at the corner of 300 West and Center Streets, near the new Beverley Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the magnificent new Southern Utah Museum of Art.
Fans will be able to watch this fast-paced finish from the sidewalks and other vantage points around the course.
The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah continues to be free to all spectators. It is the first internationally-sanctioned cycling competition in North America following the Tour de France. More information about the Tour of Utah, the host venues and the teams can be found by visiting www.tourofutah.com, as well as social channels Facebook (tourofutah), Twitter (@tourofutah, #TOU16), Instagram (thetourofutah), and YouTube (tourofUtah).
Festival Excitement Continues with Two New Shows in New Theatre
Paul Helm (left) as Marcus Moscowicz and John Wascavage as The Suspects in Murder for Two.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently opened five plays, three greenshows, and a new theatre; but the excitement continues. Two more plays are set to open over the next three weeks as the Festival christens the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre.
William Shakespeare’s political masterpiece Julius Caesar previews July 29 and opens July 30. The hilarious musical murder mystery Murder for Two previews August 4 and opens August 6.
It is, indeed, an exciting time for the Festival, in new buildings that offer new possibilities as the theatre company celebrates its fifty-fifth season. “The Anes Studio Theatre is at the center of the Festival’s commitment to exploring new and original works in the canon of dramatic literature,” said Festival Artistic Director David Ivers. “As we continue to produce the best in classical theatre, we must also usher in new voices, new work, and new artists in order to present the most inclusive and dynamic programming available to us. This theatre provides the framework, the space, and the context for us to push forward over the next several decades.”
Directed by Joseph Hanreddy, Julius Caesar runs through October 22. Hanreddy’s credits at the Festival include adaptor/director of Sense and Sensibility in 2014, adaptor of Pride and Prejudice in 2010, and director of Macbeth in 2010 and Private Lives in 2009.
The play’s numerous roles will be played by twelve actors, led by Paul Michael Sandberg (who last appeared at the Festival in 1991) as Julius Caesar, Jeffrey Cummings (at the Festival in 2008) as Marcus Brutus, Rex Young (who appeared here in 2003 and 2004) as Caius Cassius, and Sam Ashdown (who is playing Henry V this year) as Mark Antony.
In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare poses questions that we are still asking 400 years later: When people can no longer trust their elected leaders, what do they do? Do they remain loyal, or do they stab their opponents in the back? Especially poignant in an election year, it is a dazzling masterpiece of betrayal and faithfulness, treachery and trust.
“Julius Caesar is a tremendously relevant play to our current political debate,” said Hanreddy. “The Anes Theatre has allowed us to design a unique seating arrangement that will support an intimate, visceral, visually exciting production, as well as invite the audience to play a vital part in the storytelling.
Murder for Two is directed by Brad Carroll, who has directed numerous Festival plays, including South Pacific, The Comedy of Errors, Les Misérables, The Mousetrap, H.M.S. Pinafore, and Lend Me a Tenor: The Musical, which he also co-wrote. This two-actor comedy also plays through October 22.
“Eileen and Allen Anes have been cherished friends of mine for years, so I’m delighted and honored to be directing one of the flagship shows going into the theatre that bears their names,” said Carroll. “Murder for Two, a fairly new show to most audiences, is perfect for the new space. It is a true tour-de-force for two actors, and has something for absolutely everyone!”
Everyone is a suspect in this two-person hilarious musical murder mystery with a twist: One actor (Paul Helm) plays Marcus Moscowicz, a police officer, would-be detective who investigates the crime. The other (John Wascavage) plays all the suspects. And they both accompany themselves on the piano! This zany blend of classic musical comedy and madcap mystery is a highly theatrical duet loaded with killer laughs.
Both actors are new to the Festival this year. In addition to their work in Murder for Two, they both appear in The Cocoanuts: Wascavage is playing Robert Jamison (Zeppo) and Helm is the associate music director and a member of the band.
“I can’t wait for our audience to see these two dynamic productions,” said Artistic Director Brian Vaughn. “They promise to be unlike anything we’ve produced before, and I can assure you, you won’t want to miss them.”
Tickets for these two plays and for the currently running plays are all available on the Festival website at bard.org or through our Ticket Office at 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
NAPP Plans Readings of Two New Plays
The 24th annual New American Playwrights Project (NAPP) takes the stage at the Utah Shakespeare Festival from August 12 through August 27. Two plays will be presented as staged readings in the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre at 10 a.m. on selected dates. Chosen from hundreds of plays submitted, this year’s lineup includes One Big Union by popular Salt Lake City playwright Deborah Threedy and How To Fight Loneliness by nationally-acclaimed playwright Neil LaBute.
Playgoers will have the unique opportunity to see a staged reading of these new pieces and take part in an after-play discussion with the playwright, director and actors. Audience members should be aware that the plays in this series are written for contemporary adult audiences and contain themes and explicit language that some may find offensive and that may not be appropriate for children.
Tickets are $10 each and are on sale now at 1-800-PLAYTIX and www.bard.org.
How To Fight Lonelines by Neil LaBute will get its first public reading at NAPP August 19, 20, and 27 in preparation for a full-scale production and Utah premiere as part of the 2017 Festival season. It will be directed by Festival Artistic Director David Ivers.
One of LaBute’s first well-known plays was In the Company of Men, which premiered at Brigham Young University, his alma mater, and which he later adapted into a movie starring Aaron Eckhart. He has since written numerous plays, including reasons to be pretty, which appeared on Broadway and was nominated in 2009 for three Tony Awards;In the Beginning; Fat Pig; Miss Julie; Reasons To Be Happy; Good Luck; Over the River and through the Woods; and many more*.* In 2013, LaBute was recognized with the Arts and Letters Awards in Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“Neil’s muscular and deft use of language, offset by his tightly conflicted characters will lend boldness, gravitas, and a fresh voice to our 2017 slate of programming,” said Ivers. “The play is provocative, funny, and heart-breaking all at once and should inspire audiences to engage about the importance of fostering the ‘Shakespeare’s of tomorrow.’”
The play explores a modern-day husband and wife, Brad and Jodie, who are at a life-changing crossroads. They must make a monumental decision, but can’t seem to do it on their own. To help, they enlist an old schoolmate, which brings unexpected results leading to a spiral of recrimination, deceit, and (ultimately) relief, in this surprising play about life, love, and the right to choose your own destiny.
In addition, LaBute, who recently had two successful shows close off-Broadway and has another, All the Ways To Say I Love You, opening this fall at MCC Theater, has agreed to host a special lecture and discussion, “Conversations with Neil LaBute” about playwriting and his current work. The event is free to the public and will be Saturday, August 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Anes Theatre.
One Big Union by Debora Threedy will appear at NAPP on August 12, 13, and 26. It will be directed by Jerry Rapier, producing director of Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City.
Although not as well known to national audiences, Debora Threedy, who has degrees in theatre arts and law, is very well known in Utah and the Intermountain West. After many years appearing on stage in Salt Lake City, including at Salt Lake Acting Company, she turned to playwriting. She wrote and performed a one-woman show, Desert Wife, which toured the state with funding from the Utah Humanities Council. She has had a number of plays produced by Plan B Theatre in Salt Lake City, most recently The Third Crossing, which also was one of the winners of the Fratti-Newman New Political Play Contest in New York.
Her play, One Big Union, focuses on legendary union agitator Joe Hill who was executed by the State of Utah in 1915. Considered a martyr by many, his songs at the time envisioned gender and racial equality and criticized the gross income disparities of his time. Today, he remains an enigmatic folk hero, but beyond the mythology lies a larger story of protest, still relevant a century after his death.
“Theatre companies have to look to the future as well as the past,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director. “NAPP allows us to do this, and it helps audiences be informed by new works and the ideas of up and coming artists, as well as classic theatre. That’s when we can really tell the story of what it means to be human.”
Playwright biographies and more information are available at www.bard.org/napp.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).