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7 Plays, 1 Show. What is Microburst?

by Abram Yarbro, dramaturg I always buy my movies with the "extra features" disc. On there you find interviews with the cast, behind-the-scene photos and videos, bloopers, and all sorts of neat material. In theatre we can't give you an extra features DVD but we have this blog, the 4th Wall, where we give you the backstage scoop on BYU's newest show, Microburst Theatre Festival! Check here often for interviews with the creative team, glimpses into rehearsals, and the most up-to-date information about this exciting show. [caption id="attachment_3533" align="alignright" width="173"]

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Some of the Microburst scripts[/caption] What is Microburst Theatre Festival? Microburst Theatre Festival is one show made up of seven ten minute plays written by BYU students. The plays are brand new, in fact this is their world premiere! Isn't that exciting? Wasn't there a Microburst Theatre Festival last season? Is this the same show? BYU held its first Microburst Theatre Festival last year and it won three national awards at the 2014 Kennedy Center for American College Theater Festival. This year features seven new plays. The title is the same but the plays are brand new. How do we perform seven plays in one night? We have a core cast comprising of five talented actors and who perform multiple roles. For example, in the play Goodnight, Graham our actress Emily is a tired nurse trying to survive the night shift at the hospital in but only a few minutes later she plays a seductive con artist at a fancy restaurant in Playing Around. Jumping from character to character is difficult but our actors love the challenge! [caption id="attachment_3540" align="aligncenter" width="376"]

Rehearsals are under way, and sometimes under the table...

Rehearsals are under way, and sometimes under the table...[/caption] What are the plays about? The general theme that connects these plays is an exploration of the human experience. Some of the plays are funny like D&D and the Big Date when a nervous first date goes hopelessly wrong, and some are more serious like Different But Equal where a handicapped boy tries to fight the stigma of disabled people in America. Head of the playwriting department and director of Microburst, George Nelson, tells his playwriting students to try to write a story that contains truth. These plays are fiction but each one has the potential to reveal truth and understanding to the audience. We hope you connect to them, hear their story, and discover the purpose of the piece. [caption id="attachment_3541" align="alignleft" width="225"]

Actors Clayton and Madison rehearse The Piano Room while the playwright, Linsdey, looks on.[/caption] What has happened so far? With opening night only a few weeks away, we're excited to tell you that the show is shaping up! Each script has gone through multiple revisions and only a few minor changes are left to get them performance ready. The actors are memorized and raring to go. Our designers are prepping the Margetts Theatre space. This blog posts weekly so check back frequently to stay updated. If you have questions, ask them in the comment section below and we'll respond or address them in the following blog post. Microburst Theatre Festival opens March 5, 2015. Buy tickets HERE!

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Games and Activities Inspired by this Fishy, Wishful Tale (Part 2)

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The cast has been participating in workshops with Teresa Love, an adjunct professor at BYU who teaches theatre for the elementary classroom, storytelling, and adapts many of the TYA plays performed on the BYU stage. (Fun fact: She wrote the script to BYU's most recent mainstage play, The Selfish Giant.) She is currently helping the cast of The Fisherman and His Wife construct a post-show interactive workshop for 3rd graders. These workshops will take place after the students have seen the show performed at their elementary school. In the images below, the cast and stage manager collaborate to first establish, then create frozen images of the play's themes: CONTENTMENT, POSSIBILITIES, DESIRE, UNSATISFIED, REVERSED, HAPPY. Overall Message: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU FISH FOR! Can you see any of these themes or messages represented in the poses below? MORE WORKSHOP PICTURES TO COME!
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Design Inspiration

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by Amelia Johnson, Dramaturg Creating a show is a process. Though the run of the show is over, there was a lot more that went into the show than what was seen in those few weeks. Months before the run, the production team began meetings. They discussed the director’s vision for the show and began planning designs. Everything was approved of and discussed before lights were set, sets, were built, and the costume and makeup designs were implemented. This year, the costume and makeup designers drew inspiration from the local artist, James Christensen. Having passed away earlier this year, director Dallyn Bayles thought it would be nice to pay tribute to him in this way. Costume designer Dennis Wright was thrilled to base his designs of Christensen's style. He said, “What I really love about Christensen’s work is the whimsy that he incorporates into his characters. His distinctive use of patterns, layers and silhouette is really fun and distinctive. I wanted to be sure to capture that in the costume designs for this production. “I love this show, and the concept and design choices our team has made. I am excited to share it with our audience. As a big James Christensen fan, my one regret is that I didn’t actually get to meet the artist in person. I just returned to Utah last year and sadly, missed my chance. I am very grateful to be able to pay tribute to him in this small way”. Makeup and hair designer Sarah Bult also shared some of her thoughts. “After reading the script I looked through as many James Christensen paintings as I could find. I picked out textures, colors, broke it all down and paired certain characters with those elements. His artwork influenced everything from the shape and colors of hair down to the detail on the bead work of the hairpins. I loved that I could draw my inspiration from his work and create something that really embodied his artwork." Bult continued, “One thing I didn’t expect to be a challenge was that not many Christensen pieces have hair showing. This created a very unique and fun challenge for me. I had to look many different paintings, combine textures and colors, and use my own design style to come up with fun fairy tale hair and makeup styles that were reminiscent of Christensen’s artwork. I am very excited to see how all of the elements come together”. Join us on the 4th Wall next time to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes!
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Until Next Time, Microburst

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by Holly Mancuso, dramaturg After a successful run, Microburst Theatre Festival has wrapped up for this year. If you missed it, make sure you join us next year for a fresh round of new plays written by students. As part of the show we created boards for the lobby highlighting each of the shows. Different drafts showed how much these plays have changed since the first drafts, which was fun for audiences to see. [caption id="attachment_3667" align="aligncenter" width="3264"] The Microburst lobby display[/caption] As part of this process, the production team has grappled with the question: "Why new plays?" This is a fair concern, since many people don't feel comfortable seeing something with which they aren't familiar. It's also easier to be drawn in by a known name
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