The Suffrage team has been working hard to bring you a stellar audio-drama performance this week. Below, you can meet our crew!
Emily Trejo, Director
Emily is a Senior studying Theatre Education with minors in TESOL and Family Life. She has had the opportunity to work on a handful of shows here at BYU that has helped further her interests in Directing and Dramaturgy. Aside from a life in theatre, Emily has also founded a mariachi band, Mariachi Montes Azules, that has also experienced lots of growth in the last few months. She is grateful to her husband, Dravyn, who has helped keep her sane during the semester.Tiffany Gibbons, Sound Designer and Foley Artist
Tiffany is a Senior in the Theatre Education program from Cedar Hills, UT. Passionate about music and movement, Tiffany hopes to teach in elementary schools and advocate for the use of the arts in general classrooms. This is such a beautiful and impactful show, and she is so grateful to have had the chance to help tell this story! Sending blessings to artists, teachers, storytellers, and Mothers everywhere during this trying time!Becca Christiansen, Hair and Makeup Designer
Becca has always had a love for hair and makeup and has been a cosmetologist for 7 years. She graduates this semester and can't wait to be able to spend more time with her husband and baby once she does. She stays busy with taking care of her family, cutting hair, and running her own boutique. Claire Eyestone, Costume Designer and "Frances"
Claire Eyestone is a senior studying theatre education and English teaching. Recent credits include Amy in Charley's Aunt at the HCTO, Adriana in Comedy of Errors, and assistant directing Little Shop of Horrors at BYU. She's loved getting to both design and act in this production.
Juniper Taylor, "Ruth"
Juniper Taylor is a junior in the BFA Acting program. She has played many roles from Lucifer in Dr. Faustus to Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. She would like to thank Emily and the production team for working so hard on a story she’s grown to love. And she would like to thank Ruth for teaching her that strong, independent women can change the world. Samantha Daynes, Dramaturg
Samantha is a senior from Singapore studying theatre education. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of Wilford Woodruff, and has loved the opportunity to understand more about the lives of the early Saints. Acting credits include BYU's Hamlet and Comedy of Errors, and she read stage directions for Suffrage when it premiered at BYU's Contemporary Voices Festival. She has also worked as a set and costume designer, as well as a full-time position on the run crew at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista, CA, and hopes to continue her education in many aspects of theatre.Lisa Eardley, Assistant Dramaturg
Lisa is a Senior from Elko, NV. She will graduate this semester with her degree in Theatre Arts with an emphasis on costume design. She has been the costume designer for the Silver Stage Players and the Overland Stage Theatre Company in Elko for several productions including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, White Christmas, and Cinderella.
While music has always been an integral part of many cultures, for Native Americans dance and music are very special to their culture. From healing dances such as the Jingle Dress dance to spiritual ones like the Eagle Dance to more fun PowWow style dances such as the Fancy Dances, their culture is very connected to the Heavenly Spirit in many ways. So we invited some people who were Native American to come and speak to the cast and crew. We were able to invite Cheyanne Elton, a dancer with Living Legends in the Native American section who’s also minoring in American Indian Studies, and we invited Naabaahii Tsosie, a Native American dancer who travels the world and shows off his culture. Cheyanne was able to talk with us a lot about their culture, and Naabaahii was able to talk with us and show us some of the things behind dance in his culture.
Being a white woman, I have no place to make commentary on Native American/Indigenous People’s lives and their culture. So work on this production was very hard to approach because we needed the points of view that the characters strive for in the play but we needed actual resources. Through The Tribe of Many Feathers and some other connections, I was able to find Cheyanne Elton who is of Navajo descent, dancing in the Living Legends Native American Section (with a minor in American Indian Studies), and Naabaahii Tsosie who is also of Navajo descent. He is the previous President of the Tribe of Many Feathers at BYU, and he also travels the world dancing Native American dance. Both were able to come and were willing to talk with the cast about their families and their connections with the culture. After the cast did some research and sent me questions for the special guests, Cheyanne and Naabaahii were prepared to share their perspectives. They both have connections with the Navajo tribe and were very willing to talk about their experiences as well as their families’ experiences, jobs on reservations, experiences they’ve had with racism, and their thoughts on representation. They answered many hard questions.
