by Abram Yarbro, dramaturg
It is hard to believe that nine months ago I sat down for my first See How They Run production meeting. Saying goodbye to any show is difficult but I find it especially hard with a show that is so hilarious. I know Philip King’s show inside and out but tonight when I watched the show again, I laughed. I laugh at the clever actors, the roaring audience, and the memories of all the inside jokes we’ve made since starting this project. Before the cast says “and that’s how it all began!” for the last time on Saturday night, here are my top 10 favorite See BYU Run memories:
10. 8am production meetings every Friday morning.
Occasionally they turned into morning nap time.
9. Auditions.
This was my first opportunity to sit behind the desk and be auditioned for instead of being the auditioner. We had a wonderful pool of actors audition and I couldn’t help but feel their nerves as they stepped to the mark. Thank you to all who auditioned.
8. Caunte’s accident during rehearsal.
Four stitches and one drawn on eyebrow later, he is good as new!
7. Teaching our BYU cast about liquor.
“Does anyone here know the difference between Cooking Sherry, Brandy, and Whiskey? No?”
6. The story of Penelope’s dress falling apart during a show.
Unfortunately I was not at the performance to witness it first hand but during one of Ali’s more “rough and tumble” scenes, the back of her dress popped open. This prompted a jump forward in the lines, skipping about seven pages of script, an unexplained entrance by Ida, lots of ad-libbing, and a handful of safety pins to hold the dress together, all without stopping the scene. Bravo my actors! Bravo.
5. When Miss Skillon donned her fat suit for the first time and got squatty legs.
“She’s a bit love starved, if you know what I mean.” – Ida
4. When the boys wearing Harry Potter glasses was just too much for Barta.
Now we just need the Harry Potter scars! Canute, can you help us with that?
3. Dissecting Philip King.
See How They Run is the third remake of an original play called Moon Madness. When the play was moved to New York City in 1949, Philip King updated it in an attempt to make it more relevant to American audiences and The Cold War. The update was not done efficiently and left a lot of holes in the script. For instance, Penelope tells how she and Lionel played together when they were children before she moved to the USA. One problem with this is that he is almost ten years older than her. How did he play with her? Bounce her on his knee?
2. The Lobby Display
It was just too much fun. Check out our hashtag to see more pictures. #seebyurun
1. Watching the audience laugh hysterically.
One performance had four specifically wonderful audience members: the girl who cackled like the Wicked Witch of the West throughout the entire second act, the dear old man who sat in his chair with a big smile on his face and his shoulders bouncing up and down as he chuckled, the little boy on the front row who stood and took a step onto the stage whenever things got exciting, the girl in the green cardigan who clapped, stomped her feet, and threw her head back in a hilarious bellow that caused the audience and actors to double-take. This show was for you and we couldn’t be more thrilled at the laughter and joy we felt giving this show to you.
