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 testament as to how the production, which has been carefully crafted for the young, school-level audiences, has the ability to delight the families, college students and others who see it during the BYU run.
For The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, it is that special time of the semester. The company has spent the last week and a half performing in BYU's Margetts theatre, bringing this spooky tale to campus right in time for Halloween. The audiences have been a great mix of young and old, with all groups getting pulled in by the interactive nature of the show. When I personally saw the show, I saw everyone from little kids, to parents, to students, to our older generation stand up and dance, sing and ride the occasional "horse." I made a window with the little girl across the aisle, created a "river" with the the students sitting across the stage, and held a "baby" when the actors were called elsewhere. It was a great reminder of how much FUN theatre that is heavy on imagination can be.
There's only a few days left in the BYU run, but The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will continue its traveling production through the beginning of December.
The power of healing and growth is a topic not unknown to students at BYU. Educators and learners alike were asked to stretch their capacity to hold both powers in one hand as they were transplanted from their on-campus home in the Harris Fine Arts Center, to the new West Campus building, formerly known as the old Provo High School. The college of fine arts and communication, which includes Theatre, Media, film, Art, and Design departments, had to establish new communities, while major construction projects prevented them from being as close to the rest of campus as they might like to be.
The BYU Department of Theatre & Media Arts provides students with opportunities to gain hands-on experience in technical theatre by assigning them as lead designers for main stage productions. Wait Until Dark is a unique and thrilling experience to create the design for ultra realism on stage.
Wait Until Dark is full of action and heightened reality. In our dramaturgy guide within the show program, we asked audience members to locate a select few handheld props and set pieces. These items that are utilized to help Susy, the main character who is blind, overcome her tormentors.