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Who's the Troupe!?: Part I

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Twelfth Night Cast

Twelfth Night Cast[/caption] by Christian Riboldi, dramaturg Welcome back to the 4th Wall! Tonight is opening night for our production! It's going to be such a blast we can't wait for you to come see the show! Make sure to come a few minutes early to make your very own fake mustache that you can wear into the play! As you've seen in our past posts, we've been putting a lot of work into this show behind the scenes. Today, in preparation for you coming to see the show, I'd like for you to get to know the casts just a little bit more. In your program you're going to be able to read a little bit about each cast member. I'm going to include those biographies here. However, there's only so much information you can get out of cast biographies that have to meet a certain standard for BYU productions. Our main theme for this show is to be true to yourself. I would like to help you get to know our cast members and who they really are. Because they are pretty amazing people. In preparation for today's posts I sent around a survey to the cast and asked them to answer the following questions as honestly as they could. It was really fun to see their reactions because sometimes they had to think really hard to narrow down their answers. Here is half of our cast and a little bit about each of them. [caption id="attachment_4332" align="alignright" width="241"]

1601-33 2671601-33 Twelfth Night PlayBYU Young Company production of Twelfth Night. January 19, 2016Photo by Jaren Wilkey/BYU© BYU PHOTO 2016All Rights Reservedphoto@byu.edu (801)422-7322

Savanah Smith playing Viola[/caption] Sherry Kopischke - plays Viola From Vancouver, Washington. Senior in theater arts studies with a minor in nonprofit management. Last seen as Liana in the BYU adaption of Princess Academy. Upon her return from the Alpine German-Speaking Mission, she met her husband and they have been happily married since August.

  • What is your favorite line that your character says in the show? My favorite part is the Viola reveal, "that I am Viola!"
  • What is one random fact about you? I love Reese's peanut butter cups.
  • Where is the furthest place you have traveled and why did you go there? Northern Italy; an exchange on my LDS mission. Or Vienna for Mission Zone Conferences. I'm not sure.
  • How many kids are in your family? And where do you fit into the mix? Four and I'm the second oldest.
  • What is your favorite book? Oooohh tough question. I love to read the Chronicles of Narnia, but it's hard to pick a favorite.
  • What is your favorite T.V. show? Scrubs
  • What is your favorite movie? Tangled
  • What is your favorite animal? Ostrich
  • What is your type of favorite food? German food. Bratwurst, Schnitzel, Rotkohl, Raclette...yuummmmm!
  • What was your first theater show and how old were you? In 4th grade my elementary school did a little Disney pageant program, I got to be Sleeping Beauty - my favorite princess at the time. Now I'm a big Rapunzel fan.

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BYU Young Company production of Twelfth Night.January 19, 2016Photo by Jaren WilkeyBYU© BYU PHOTO 2016All Rights Reservedphoto@byu.edu (801)422-7322

Cameron Bridston playing Feste[/caption] Cameron Birdston - plays Feste Cameron Bridston has been performing from a very young age. He has been playing trombone since he was twelve, and has been singing since even earlier. When he isn't onstage with the young company, he is either writing music, recording music, or performing his over the top original music for any crowd that will hear him. Notable roles include a lamb in a production of The Christmas Story, and the Bill of Rights in his Elementary School performance of The American Revolution Musical.

  • What is your favorite line that your character says in the show? "Latrine"
  • What is one random fact about you? I own 13 pairs of shoes, and I can play the trombone!
  • Where is the furthest place you have traveled and why did you go there? New York. To, well...you know.
  • How many kids are in your family? And where do you fit into the mix? I'm the oldest of three. The "Example"
  • What is your favorite book? George Orwell's 1984
  • What is your favorite T.V. show? Glee
  • What is your favorite movie? The Prestige
  • What is your favorite animal? Any dog.
  • What is your type of favorite food? Mexican Food.
  • What was your first theater show and how old were you? Revolutionary War the Musical, I was 9 years old.

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BYU Young Company production of Twelfth Night.January 19, 2016Photo by Jaren WilkeyBYU© BYU PHOTO 2016All Rights Reservedphoto@byu.edu (801)422-7322

Andrew Smith playing Sebastian[/caption] Andrew Smith - plays Sebastian A transfer student from the University of Alaska Anchorage; Andrew is studying theatre education. After receiving certification from the Leadership Education Mentoring Institute Andrew taught after-school Shakespeare classes for several years. His favorite acting credits include himself in the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at Shakespeare: Alaska, Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice at the Alaska Fine Arts Academy, and a troupe member in the 2016 Microburst Theatre Festival at BYU.

  • What is your favorite line that your character says in the show? "I am mad, or else this is a dream. If it be thus to dream still let me sleep."
  • What is one random fact about you? By the time I was ten years old, I had read all the Harry Potter books at least 10 times. I was obsessed.
  • Where is the furthest place you have traveled and why did you go there? I live in Alaska, and the furthest I've been is to Washington D.C., to tour the sites. It's about 4,500 miles from my home.
  • How many kids are in your family? And where do you fit into the mix? I'm the third of ten kids, ranging from 5-25 years old.
  • What is your favorite book? The Giver, by Lois Lowry, and Harry Potter of course.
  • What is your favorite T.V. show? Friends
  • What is your favorite movie? Dead Poet's Society
  • What is your favorite animal? Dolphins
  • What is your type of favorite food? Cheeseburgers...or triple chocolate brownies.
  • What was your first theater show and how old were you? When I was 12, I played the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.

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Twelfth Night PlayBYU Young Company production of Twelfth Night. January 19, 2016Photo by Jaren WilkeyBYU© BYU PHOTO 2016All Rights Reservedphoto@byu.edu (801)422-7322

Savanah Smith playing Olivia[/caption] Savanah Smith - plays Olivia Savanah is from American Fork, Utah. She is a senior in the BFA acting program here at BYU. Last semester she played Hypatia in Misalliance here at BYU. She loves Shakespeare, and has enjoyed watching this show come to life!

  • What is your favorite line that your character says in the show? "Thy Yellow Stockings!"
  • What is one random fact about you? I love miniature things.
  • Where is the furthest place you have traveled and why did you go there? Australia, visiting my grandparents.
  • How many kids are in your family? And where do you fit into the mix? Two, and I am the oldest.
  • What is your favorite book? Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks
  • What is your favorite T.V. show? New Girl
  • What is your favorite movie? What Dreams May Come
  • What is your favorite animal? Monkey
  • What is your type of favorite food? Mexican
  • What was your first theater show and how old were you? I was 12 and played Little Timoune in One on This Island.

Next time join us again to meet the rest of the cast. Notice how different each individual is. It's fun to get to know others and compare the similarities and differences that we share with them.   Photos are credited to BYU Young Company production of Twelfth Night. January 19, 2016 Photo by Jaren Wilkey BYU© BYU PHOTO 2016 All Rights Reserved photo@byu.edu (801)422-7322

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Margaret More Roper: Scholar and Daughter

July 26, 2022 12:00 AM
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="376"] Margaret Roper[/caption] Margaret More Roper: Scholar and Daughter by Adam White, dramaturg Thomas More was a family man; he was married twice and had four children with his first wife, Jane Colt. After being married for six years, Jane Colt More died, leaving More with four children: Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecily and John. However, More quickly remarried to the widow Dame Alice Middleton, marrying her within a month of his wife’s death. While many of his friends resisted the rapid nature of the arrangement, More went through with it. Thomas and Alice More would raise the four children Thomas More had with Jane, as well as Alice’s daughter from her previous marriage and a foster daughter. Certainly, More valued his family and the welfare of his children. More also valued the power of education. He insisted that his daughters be educated through rigorous schooling, and this was unusual in 16th-century England, as society at large believed women unfit for scholarly pursuits. Despite cultural and institutional norms, Margaret More, the eldest of the More children (and More’s favorite, some would argue), would grow to become one of the most educated people in all of England, a woman of great scholarly knowledge. Margaret More Roper was tutored at home and became well-known for her studies, particularly for her adeptness in Greek and Latin. Her skill in writing and speaking Latin would impress the clergy of England. This specialty is reflected in a scene in Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons where Margaret and King Henry VIII engage in a bit of Latin language sparring. She would also become the first woman who was not of royal birth to publish a translated book. In October 1524, Roper published an English translation of a book called ‘Precatio dominica’ written by Thomas More’s good friend Erasmus. This book was based on the Lord’s Prayer. Instead of translating the book directly from Latin to English, Roper would use her extensive knowledge of both languages to construct the themes and the meanings Erasmus had written in to the treatise with her own words. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="291"] Erasmus, Dutch humanist and good friend to Thomas More[/caption] It was Margaret who would visit the imprisoned Thomas More the most often. They were very close, writing letters to one another regularly the duration of their relationship. It was in a letter to Margaret that Thomas More confided, “I do nobody harm, I say none harm, I thinke none harm, but wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live.” We have good reason to believe that Margaret More Roper very well understood what would be her father’s fate. After Thomas More’s execution, Margaret More Roper and her husband William Roper would continue to carry on his legacy in their own ways. William Roper would write the first biography of Thomas More, a glowing and gracious document that would influence our understanding of More’s personality for hundreds of years to come. Margaret More Roper actually kept her father’s head after his beheading, pickling it to preserve it from decay. While many of us may find that historical tidbit a tad macabre, I would like to believe that Margaret More Roper had deep admiration for her father; perhaps it was out of this feeling she kept his head. Please stay tuned to the 4th Wall Dramaturgy Blog to catch clips of my interview with Mallory Gee, the actress who will portray Margaret More Roper in BYU’s A Man for All Seasons. Bibliography: Abernathy, Susan. "Margaret Roper, Daughter of Sir Thomas More." Early Modern England. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. Duerden, Richard. "A Man for All Seasons." Telephone interview. 31 Jan. 2014. "Margaret Roper." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. "Sir Thomas More Quotes and Quotations." Sir Thomas More Quotes and Quotations. Luminarium. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
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July 26, 2022 12:00 AM
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Come And See Us!

July 26, 2022 12:00 AM
[caption id="attachment_4573" align="alignleft" width="222"] Mother Courage Counsels her children to "be careful," in the war.[/caption] Hello all you 4th Wall Fans! Mother Courage and Her Children opened on Friday to a major success. Tickets are still available for other showings, but they are going fast. You can buy them online by visiting this link: http://bit.ly/1WTCpMW See you soon!
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