The Department of Theatre’s cast for A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been out and about in our community bringing theatre to young audiences and sharing the wonder of iconic playwright Shakespeare. The tour provides opportunity not just for our actors, but our Theatre Teaching students as well, given the accompanying educational components embedded in experience.
After taking the tour to Judge Memorial High School, Woods Cross High School, Springville Jr High, Bingham High School, and Stansbury High School, we wanted to hear from two students about their experiences on local tour.
Zoe Seare (Theatre Teaching BFA)
My name is Zoe Seare, I am currently a senior Theatre Teaching BFA major at the U, and I have been loving every second of touring with A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Oberon and Theseus!
Since mid-September, we have been touring our 90-minute production to many high schools across the Wasatch Front. To complement the show, my program specifically crafted a post-show talkback and activity with the students to further apply them to the skills they observed in our performance.
Many of the high school drama programs are headed to Shakespeare competition, and so we created our theatre lesson around what skills they can take with them and apply to their work for that. It truly has been such a joy to travel with this group and apply not only my acting skills but also my teaching skills as I head into student teaching this year.
As someone actively teaching in schools right now, it was helpful to be involved in the process of crafting this show for a younger audience. I was also able to teach some of the post-show lessons, which was incredibly important to me as an artist. I am always searching for ways to disprove the saying “those who can’t do, teach”.
I believe that in order to be an effective teacher, you have to be able to do just as those who you are teaching. Through this process, I hoped to get students involved in the arts, immersed in the story, and see that anyone can perform!
No matter what a student pursues in college, theatre provides a steppingstone to so many important life skills that can be applied to any field, and I’m so grateful that we were able to perform this story for them. Curious? Come see us for yourself starting October 25 in Studio 115.
We hope to see you there to join the story!
Emily Tatum (Actor Training Program BFA)
My name is Emily Tatum, and I’ve been having the time of my life serving as Assistant Director for the U’s touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream! For the past month and a half, we have been rehearsing our production and taking it on the road to high schools and middle schools throughout Utah.
It’s been an exciting process to put together a show that is adaptable to all sorts of spaces, and relatable to young students while also staying true to the text. I’ve loved being able to travel with our company and watch these students watch the show.
This age group specifically is a very energetic, truthful audience. It’s so fulfilling to hear them laugh, gasp, and engage with the story. There’s also definitely a sense of nostalgia that comes with performing for this age group, because it wasn’t that long ago that most of us were in their shoes.
As a senior in the Actor Training Program, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my time at the U and looking ahead to graduation. But going to high schools and middle schools has been a sweet reminder of the time where I fell in love with theatre and started hoping to pursue it at a collegiate level.
I’m sure our cast is providing that same kind of inspiration to these young audiences!
Overall, it has been an absolute joy to be a part of this team. I’m so proud of the work of our actors and stage management team and am most excited to bring A Midsummer Night’s Dream back to campus starting on October 25th.
It’s a high energy show full of love, skillful comedy and lots and lots of joy.
DIRECTOR: Robert Scott Smith
Studio 115 (240 South 1500 East in the Performing Arts Building, located west of the U Bookstore)
PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES
Fri, 10/25 @ 7:30 pm
Sat, 10/26 @ 2 pm
Sat, 10/26 @ 7:30 pm
Sun, 10/27 @ 2 pm
Thurs, 10/31 @ 7:30 pm
Fri, 11/1 @ 7:30 pm
Sat, 11/2 @ 2 pm
Sat, 11/2 @ 7:30 pm
Sun, 11/3 @ 2 pm
ASL interpreted performance and audience talkback November 1.
