Utah State University Presents 'Factory Girls' as the Theater Season Opens

Utah State University and the Caine College of the Arts present the first theater show of the season, Factory Girls, Sept. 29-Oct. 3 in the Black Box Theatre of the Chase Fine Arts Center (FAC 224) on USU’s Logan campus.

“This show features strong female characters in extended, high-stakes scenes,” said Leslie Brott, the show’s director and associate professor in the Theatre Arts Department.

Written by Frank McGuinness, Factory Girls is about five women whose jobs at a shirt factory in County Donegal are under threat. The play was first produced at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.

“The topics in this show are still relevant today,” Brott said. “Fair and decent labor practices, voices at the table for women and workers versus management are overt topics in the show but there is also an examination of family and a challenge or redefinition of family — that is, those who can be counted on to have your back.”

Besides political and group themes, there are also moments of epiphany for each individual character: confronting their personal lies and denials and not having them destroy, but rather empower them, Brott said.

Brott is working with actresses in the BFA — bachelor of fine arts — training program for the production.

“They constantly astonish me with their excellence,” Brott said. “In this case they are presenting a historical piece from another culture and the ability to embody their characters with specificity and honesty — no matter how unattractive the character may be — requires a fearlessness that inspires me daily.”

Brott hopes audience members will take away an awareness that we’re “not there yet” in regards to women or any other underrepresented constituency.

“Hopefully the play will provoke an examination of self in the minds of each audience member, prompting them to question whether their own level of self-respect is adequate to meet the demands of life; do they listen as well as they should; do they believe in the possibility of change; do they have to know how to solve the problem before they tackle the problem or is just recognizing the problem a good enough starting place?,” Brott said. “Most of all, do they have the courage to ask themselves how they are complicit in facilitating the disappointments and injustices in their own lives?”

Factory Girls can be seen Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m., Black Box Theatre, Chase Fine Arts Center (FAC 224). A 2 p.m. matinee performance is Saturday, Oct. 3. Tickets are $13 adults, $10 seniors and youth, $8 USU faculty and staff and free for USU students with ID. For more information or tickets, contact the CCA Box Office in room L101 of the Chase Fine Arts Center on USU’s Logan campus, call 435-797-8022 or see the college’s Production Services website.

- USU Theatre Arts Department

- USU Caine College of the Arts

Writer and contact: Whitney Schulte, 435-797-9203, whitney.schulte@usu.edu