by Janine Sobeck, BYU Dramaturgy Specialist Every semester the TYA production tours to schools in Utah, Salt Lake and Nebo counties. The BYU students dedicate their Tuesdays and Thursdays to the show in order to travel to the various schools, performing and offering different workshops. In the middle of the semester, they add to their crazy touring schedule with a two week run on the BYU campus. Traveling around Utah by day and in the BYU theatre at night, this is a time where the lives of the actors seem to be consumed by the show in an incredible and amazing way. This period of immersion also gives a great…
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Theatre by Committee
by Anne Flinders, dramaturg and Katrina Forsythe, Henry 5 Collaborator In a traditional theatre production, one of the first things that happens when a script is chosen is that the director will choose a theme for the production. This theme will influence almost every decision made from then on, like which parts of the script to cut and which to keep, costume and lighting decisions, and set design. Last week in a BYU theatre class, something very different happened. Every year, BYU presents a Shakespeare production for children that will tour to local elementary schools. This year we’ll be performing Henry 5, the story of the English King Henry 5…
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Sleepy Hollow: So just what is a TYA show?
by Megan Chase, dramaturg The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a TYA production. The term, TYA, stands for Theatre for Young Audiences. Brigham Young University annually produces two TYA shows—one that performs during the Fall Semester and the other during Winter Semester. Usually, one of the plays selected is adaptation of a Shakespearean work. Both shows, in addition to a two-week run at BYU, tour to local elementary and middle schools twice a week for the majority of the respective semester. The notion of crafting theatrical performances specifically for children is actually a relatively new concept. Theatre is considered to have emerged around 400 B.C., yet plays were not developed…
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Welcome to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow!
by Megan Chase, dramaturg Brigham Young University’s production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is based on a short story of the same name written by the early-19th-century American author, Washington Irving. I remember my first introduction to this famous tale as a kid. It was an episode of Wishbone on PBS. I remember being sucked in by the larger-than-life characters and all the spooky adventure. Irving’s original story’s enduring appeal is demonstrated by its many other adaptations over the years. These included films, television shows, stage musicals, plays, and even an opera. Perhaps the most well-known versions are the 1949 Disney animated cartoon narrated by Bing Cosby, and Johnny…