USU Theatre Season Offers Laughter, Drama and Boldness

With all that happens on the Utah State University campus, one can easily get lost in the shuffle and follow the crowd from one event to another. Then there are those events that appeal to those seeking something different, something more tangible, something with impact, laughter, drama, boldness, originality and life.

Utah State Theatre might provide the answer for those who seek something different.

 

Many theatre scholars and critics posit that staged action reaches into the depth of human emotion. It is the stage that captures the intricacies of humanity. The 2006–2007 Utah State Theatre season follows this thought, as the variety of productions throughout the year explore the full range of human emotion.

 

Utah State Theatre is the production arm of the Department of Theatre at USU.

 

The opening act — in this case, the season’s opening production — is Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, Sept. 28–30 and Oct. 4–7 in the Caine Lyric Theatre, 28 W. Center, Logan.

 

“All My Sons is a powerful and moving exploration of the paradoxes and illusions upon which the American dream is built,” said director Kevin Doyle.

 

The play’s action is set in August 1947 in America’s Midwest. Joe Keller, the chief character, is a man who loves his family above all else and has sacrificed everything, including his honor, in his struggle to make the family prosperous. He is now 61. He has lost one son in the war, and is keen to see his remaining son, Chris, marry. Chris wants to marry Ann, the former fiancée of his brother, Larry. The mother, Kate, refuses to acknowledge Larry’s death. This denial has enabled her, for three and a half years, to support Joe by concealing her knowledge of a crime he committed.

 

Playwright Miller based the idea for Joe’s crime in a true story which occurred during the second world war: a manufacturer knowingly shipped defective parts for tanks. The tanks suffered mechanical failures, leading to the deaths of many soldiers. The fault was discovered, and the manufacturer was convicted.

 

In All My Sons, Miller examines the morality of the man who places his narrow responsibility to his immediate family above his wider responsibility to the men who rely on the integrity of his work.

 

Moving to a lighter tone is the annual “family production.” This year the production is Richard R. George’s James and the Giant Peach. Many will remember the 1996 film version of the tale, but the live staging is guaranteed to enhance James’ adventure, which features hideous guardian aunts and friendly bugs who live in a giant peach.

 

In the story, James’ gleeful existence at the English seaside is turned upside down after a rhinoceros kills his parents. He is forced to live with his two horrid aunts after the accident, an event that provides the backdrop for his “escape.” James daringly saves the life of a spider and comes into possession of magic crocodile tongues, after which an enormous peach grows in the garden. Exploring the peach, James discovers a number of new friends who help him with his plan to get to New York.

 

James and the Giant Peach runs Oct. 27–28 in the Morgan Theatre.

 

One of Shakespeare’s darkest scripts of death, revenge and the haunting demands of the past is Hamlet. It will be performed on the Morgan Theatre stage in the Chase Fine Arts Center on campus Nov. 3 and 4. The production features visiting artists from England, the group Actors From the London Stage. The artists-in-residence were last seen at Utah State in 2003, and this visit includes the professional production of the Shakespeare piece, as well as numerous classes, presentations and workshops. Detailed information will be provided as the production and residency approaches.

 

Anna in the Tropics, by Nilo Cruz, is the final production of fall semester and plays Nov. 30–Dec. 2 and Dec. 6–9 in the Morgan Theatre.

 

The play portrays the lives of cigar factory workers in Ybor City, the Latin quarter of Tampa, Fla., where men and women remain divided in their loyalties. Economic hardship and the pressure to forget traditions force the owners of the cigar factory to adopt progressive manufacturing models to keep the business running. In a romantic turn, the novel Anna Karenina casts a spell over the workers, transforming their passions and desires through the affirming power of art. The love they seek may result in a tragic end — ordained as much by the story of the Russian noblewomen in the book as it is by the actions of the workers themselves.

 

The always popular and sold out An Evening of One-Acts is up next. The plays are directed, and in many cases, performed by the advanced directing class of the theatre arts department. Dates for the run are Jan. 20 and 23-27 in the black-box stage of the Studio Theatre, FA 224. An Evening of One-Acts is not a part of the mainstage season, and seats sell quickly. The series features complicated, contemporary works that bring dramatic, tragic and comedic forms to the studio stage.

 

Tartuffe, Moliere’s comedy in five acts plays Feb. 8-10 and 14-17 on the Morgan stage. The playwright relates the story of an attempt by an irreclaimable hypocrite to destroy the domestic happiness of a citizen who, charmed by his seeming piety, has received him as a prominent guest. In Tartuffe, the playwright has drawn a character of strength and precision that few dramatists have equaled.

 

Capping the 2006-2007 season with a kick and a bang is the Broadway hit Chicago. With lyrics by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander and book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, the musical has been a highlight of New York’s theatre season for years. Utah State Theatre brings the production to the Morgan Theatre with gusto April 12-14 and 18-21.

 

All Utah State Theatre performances begin at 7:30 p.m. unless noted. Children under the age of 6 are not allowed into the theatre.

 

For tickets, call (435) 797-0305, or visit the Smith Spectrum Ticket Office on the Utah State campus. For general inquiries call (435) 797-1500 or email gordonj@hass.usu.edu.

 

Utah State Theatre information is also available online. Please note that dates and titles are subject to change due to pending rights.