Theatre Arts Faculty Member Directs World Premiere in Salt Lake City

Adrianne Moore, a faculty member in the Theatre Arts Department at Utah State University, is directing the world premiere of Miasma, a work by Utah playwright Eric Samuelsen. The play, presented by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, opened Sept. 8 and continues through Sept. 24, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Moore is an associate professor of voice and directing at USU and has directed a number of mainstage productions (West Side Story, Hay Fever, Taming of the Shrew) and she just completed her fourth season as a director with the Old Lyric Repertory Company (The Rivals and Sylvia.) She has served as dialect coach for many productions for both organizations. She also served as dialect coach for Pioneer Theatre Company’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest and for the Utah Contemporary Theatre production of Talking Wales.

 

A native of New Zealand, Moore has worked in theater in Australia and England before coming to the United States.

 

“We encourage our faculty to work professionally off campus,” said Theatre Arts Department Head Colin Johnson. “Many work throughout the region and beyond as actors, directors and designers and through this effort, they endeavor to work with many of the top professionals available to them in their disciplines. This breadth of experience reinforces and enhances their work on campus.”

 

Johnson also said that work of this type is not only professionally competitive, but is difficult to accomplish and must be engaged in collaboratively with a theater company.

 

“It takes a dedicated person to do this,” he said. “They are not taking consulting leave to do this. They teach their classes and then drive to Salt Lake City, drive home — often well past 10 p.m. — then return to the classroom the next morning.”

 

Miasma features a cast of four. Read more about the play from the artist’s statement.

 

Home to the production is the Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Center, 138 West 300 South, Salt Lake City, (801) 355-2787. The Studio Theatre, a performance space opened in June 2002, provides flexibility for rehearsal space or live theatre with a maximum audience capacity of 75.