2021-2022 Season

Before there was Fiddler on the Roof there was the collection of short stories by Sholom Aleichem called Tevye the Dairyman. These stories were highly popular which led their to being adapted into the musical we know and love today. That being said there are some significant differences between Fiddler on the Roof and Tevye the Dairyman that I came across while I was preparing research for the actors about the source text for this musical. One major difference that shocked me was that Aleichem wrote the character Yente, the matchmaker, as a man named Ephraim. I was quite surprised to find this as Yente has become such a well-known name in Yiddish English to mean a woman who is a bit of a gossip or a busy body. The use of this word doesn’t date back to Aleichem, as I expected, or even Fiddler. The origin of Yente’s meaning dates back to Yiddish Theatre in the 1920s and a series of comedic sketches that were written about a woman who was the town’s busybody (for more info about the origin of Yente check out this website).

History has not always been kind to women. Because of the hierarchy of sexes, women haven’t always found their way into the history books. Imagine all the incredible stories and personalities we have missed because of that. In our world, men are often seen as strong, hard-working, and never ruled by emotions, while women are gentle, highly emotional, and ruled by men. Many of Shakespeare’s plays deconstruct gender norms and allow for fluidity, not caring too much for strict gender roles. He has shown this with a few of his plays, such as Twelfth Night and As You Like It. Although the original Julius Caesar does not play with gender-swapping, we’d like to think Shakespeare would have been on board with this BYU production.

This project is multiple years in the making, having been initially proposed for the BYU 2020-21 season. Originally, it was going to be my project as a faculty dramaturg. And I began working on a script adaptation that would feature women and build a more gender-neutral world in which both men and women would hold power. The pandemic forced a postponement for a year, and I paused my work on an adaptation.

I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.

by Emme Corbett, dramaturg As a senior student studying history at BYU. One of the first concepts you learn as a history major is that when you study history, it is vital that you do not bring your modern-day biases with you. As strange as some past behaviors or occurrences may be to our modern eyes, understanding the reality of what life was like in historical societies allows for a more authentic and rich study of the past. It also becomes evident fairly quickly that no matter what point in time you’re studying or where you are in the world, there will be commonalities across many cultures. The shared similarity of the human experience allows these connections to occur, so it is no surprise that researching various time periods could be related back to Caesar in Ancient Rome. It was necessary in our dramaturgical research to explore three major time periods that are encompassed within this play in one way or another. These time periods are first, 49 B.C. Rome, when Julius Caesar first became a dictator of Ancient Rome, and the setting for the original script. Second, 1599 England, when William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was first performed, most likely at the Globe Theatre. And third, 1919 Italy, when Italy was recovering from participating in the First World War, and the setting for our performance at BYU. This weakened state created a situation where authoritarianism could ensue. It was an interesting experience to be able to connect the culture of Ancient Rome to that of Italy in the early 20th century. The reason for choosing this production of Julius Caesar to take place in 1919 Italy is not random. The significance of that time period is to draw upon the reality that history repeats itself. An aspect of history that is repeatedly detrimental to countless societies is when a group of people finds itself weak and vulnerable--whether that is due to lack of resources, a change in leadership, exiting a war, or simply evolving generations--and a power vacuum is created. This moment in time when desperation allows for someone to assume leadership (based purely on the need to rely on anybody) and provide temporary relief is often too quickly turned into an authoritarian government. The third time period that we also had to account for in this production was the time of Shakespeare in 1599 England. Some of the questions we had to ask ourselves were: Why Julius Caesar? What elements from the story of Caesar’s assassination did Shakespeare feel would resonate with his audience? From these questions and further research on the Elizabethan period, we discovered that, like in 1919 Italy, there was a concern with the succession to the Crown. Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne at the time and created conflict among the people beyond her just being a woman in power. Queen Elizabeth never married and subsequently never bore any children, thus failing to secure a successor who was in her direct line. Another element of the play that related to Shakespeare’s audience was the role of the plebeians. Their behavior in the play could symbolize how the lower class in the Elizabethan Era, while uneducated and changeable, contribute largely to the success of their society.

I love working as a dramaturg. I love studying, researching, and learning new things, and being able to treasure new knowledge in my life. Being part of the Julius Caesar production team has been a great and revealing experience. I quickly found out that as an Italian native who now lives in the United States, I have a lot of bias when it comes to my culture. First and foremost, Caesar is never the “bad guy” in my eyes, and I would dare to say he is not the bad guy in the eyes of most Italians as well. Scholars have debated about whether Caesar was a tyrant, would have been a tyrant, or if he would have been just, bringing serenity to a fractioned country. The truth is we will never know because he was murdered before he could become what he had envisioned himself to be.

By Isabella Beals, dramaturg

The concept utilized when adapting the Escape from Planet Death podcast to the stage draws upon a type of performance consumption uncommon to traditional theatre fandom. In the world of our production, Escape from Planet Death was an authentic radio show that aired in the 1950s and built a cult fan base. In recent years the way in which audience members consume performance has become increasingly communal rather than individual. Fans and other consumers are invited to actively participate in the creation (or recreation) and circulation of new content, such as Fanfiction/remakes, cosplay, and collectibles.

Seasonal farm labor is historically under-protected and under-compensated. Attempts to organize in the 1930s and 1960s have made great strides for modern workers, but there’s still work to be done in protecting and fairly treating the backbone of American agriculture.

by Makenna Johnston, dramaturg “Pay no attention to the [film crew] behind the [fire] curtain.”

by Makenna Johnston, dramaturg As you can see in The Turn of the Screw, the Victorian era was shrouded in death. Complications from industrialization, as well as high disease and infection rates, caused high mortality rates, especially in younger demographics. Because of this, the living found comfort in one of the most fascinating mourning practices of the Victorian era: post-mortem photography. Due to the high cost of photography during the Victorian era, post-mortem photographs were often the first, and only, photographs families had taken of their loved ones. The mourning would commission a daguerreotype or a photograph taken by a long-exposure camera. Long exposures when taking photographs meant that the dead were often seen more sharply than the slightly-blurred living, because of their lack of movement. The dead were carefully posed to appear as if they were still alive. Some deceased were propped against stands or furniture while others were surrounded by their family members or favorite toys. Once the daguerreotype photographs finished developing, some photographers would paint eyes or add blush to the finished photograph to make the deceased appear more lifelike. Below are more examples of post-mortem photography. How do you choose to remember those who have passed on? Sources: Bell, Bethan. “Taken from Life: The Unsettling Art of Death Photography.” BBC News, BBC, 4 June 2016, www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-36389581. Diaries, Ghost, et al. “Memento Mori: The Macabre Victorian Art of Death Photography.” The Occult Museum, 16 May 2017, www.theoccultmuseum.com/memento-mori-macabre-victorian-art-death-photography/. Leahabaza. “Picturing the Dead: Victorian-Era Mourning and Post-Mortem Photography.” Woodland Cemetery History, 20 Aug. 2018, woodlandcemeteryhistory.wordpress.com/2018/08/20/picturing-the-dead-victorian-era-mourning-and-post-mortem-photography/.

by Shelley Graham, dramaturg Often one of the dramaturg's major responsibilities is to help the cast and production team understand and truly live in the world of the play. Because of the condensed timeline for this show, there was a dramaturgy presentation as part of the first rehearsal. The cast was given some basic information about Gilbert and Sullivan's history and a quick primer on theatre in the Victorian era, and that was it! The rest of the historical context, visual image research, and production history was available to the cast as part of an online learning module that they could access outside rehearsal time. But as we moved into the unique process of first recording the final tracks and then going into blocking and choreography, it became clear the another of my responsibilities as a dramaturg would be to document this creative approach. Below is a video slideshow of our process, including the studio recording, blocking and choreography rehearsals, and the filming. We hope you enjoy learning a bit more about how we created this one-of-a-kind performance!

by Shelley Graham, dramaturg [caption id="attachment_7692" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Director Tim Threlfall works with four actors in an early rehearsal.[/caption] Each performer in this production had a unique opportunity to create a character in ways we've never tried before. Such singular opportunities bring with them challenges. I reached out to our performers in the middle of blocking and choreography rehearsals, to see what they thought about the process. Here's what a few of them had to say. One of the challenges I've experienced with this production is the need to exactly replicate every inflection in my dialogue. People speak and inflect the same words differently in different contexts, on different days, and for endless reasons. Because we recorded the audio before filming, the challenge was to match our performance with the inflection we had on the recording day. I'm a fairly emotive person, and I rarely say things exactly the same way twice. In order to be successful with this production, I had to spend a lot of time listening to the recordings of myself, a strategy I've not used in preparing for roles in the past. Brendon French During this process, it was a challenge to not have in-person rehearsals when learning the score. I personally learned how to plunk out my notes on the piano, worked with those in my vocal part, and was able to meet privately with Korianne [Johnson, music director] to confirm that I was on the right track vocally, and that I was ready to record in a group! This has been such a wonderful experience despite the challenges! I have learned so much and am grateful to be a part of this production Riley Holmes I think an obvious challenge is covid. It's been affecting this whole process! The worst part about it is that not everyone can be on the stage, so I feel like it is a little more difficult to be able to react to the other actors that are "on stage." You just have to imagine that they are there! Luke Gonzalez I think the biggest challenge for me was having to learn everything alone, without any guidance or direction from either the vocal or acting directors at first. It was super interesting and a great learning opportunity, because I got to put my own spin on everything before it was altered by the directors, but it was still really hard. I think the way that I overcame this challenge was just lots of time putting into memorizing and learning and practicing. Practice makes better! AJ Klomp Highlights from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance is live streaming March 31, April 1-2 at 7:30 pm. Don't miss it!

by dramaturg, Susanna Bezooyen

by Sydney Southwick, dramaturg In preparation for the North Star auditions last November, Gloria Bond Clunie, the playwright and director of this production, hosted a virtual workshop for BYU’s theatre arts students, entitled “In the Company of Stars.” Attendees listened and learned as they shared with each other their first times experiencing race. In response to these conversations, Gloria asked the students to imagine a vast sky full of stars. In the distance, at the tip of the Little Dipper, there is a bright constant: the North Star. [caption id="attachment_7589" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

Utah women of the 19th century believed in many of the same doctrines that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe in today. They also believed in and practiced the doctrine of polygamy, which was accepted as not only revelation from God but also an unremarkable way of life. Many women found happiness in plural marriages, formed close relationships with their sister wives and helped each other in raising children. One woman, after being proposed to, asked that the man marry both she and her sister. Hundreds of women accepted plural marriage- “some because they believed plural marriage was a glorious doctrine, others out of a hope for future exaltation or because conforming seemed a lesser idea than abandoning their homes and faith.”*

Suffrage Playbill