Theatre

Current Production

The Student Directors Festival

April 6 – 8 & 11 – 15

All performances at 7:30pm in the Eccles Blackbox Theatre. Doors open for entry @ 7pm. Seating is first-come, first-serve.

Mark your calendars now for the Student Directors Festival! This festival will feature four 30-minute productions directed by the following students: Joss Carlisle, Ashlie Chaston, Brookelyne Peterson, and Rook Reilley. All pieces are not only directed, but designed, performed, and fully executed by students!

Each evening will feature two plays – they will be as follows:

April 6 – Krapp’s Last Tape & The Worker

April 7 – Striptease & The Daggerman

April 8 – Krapp’s Last Tape & The Worker

April 11 – Striptease & The Daggerman

April 12 – Krapp’s Last Tape & The Worker

April 13 – Striptease & The Daggerman

April 14 – Krapp’s Last Tape & The Worker

April 15 – Striptease & The Daggerman

 

Information on each production: 

Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett

Directed by Brooke Peterson

“One man and his tape recorder. Krapp’s Last Tape is a story of a lonely, older man who spends the play reflecting on life when he was younger. He listens to his younger self talk through a cassette about the exciting life he lived with love and observations. He spends the play realizing how much he has lost in his lifetime and accepts his fate where it lies in the moment. It’s a beautiful and depressing story of longing for a life you have already lived.”

***This play contains some vulgar language and hints at sexual topics!

 

The Worker by Walter Wykes

Directed by Rook Reilley

The Worker is a dark comedy in which an overworked office worker comes home to find that his wife has been stowing away a secret “baby”.

Further Details from the Director:

At first glance, this play seems to be a twenty-something minute-long argument between a couple, but upon further inspection, reveals a complex allegory of the everlasting conflict between expression vs suppression. This play is full of those opposing forces: expression vs suppression, comedy vs tragedy, loneliness vs companionship.

TLDR: This play is about secrets.

***This play contains mature themes which may not be suitable for young audiences.

 

Striptease by Slawomir Mrozek, Translation by Lola Gruenthal

Directed by Ashlie Chaston

“In America today, so many people are focused on speaking their opinion, and take no time to listen to the other side’s opinion. It is good to speak our minds, but it is also vital to listen to one another. If we do not try to understand each other, we will end up in a world of chaos. Listening is not agreeing. Listening brings tolerance and solutions. The play ‘Striptease,’ by Slawomir Mrozek, is a giant allegory of this concept. MR. 1 and MR. 2 are so focused on talking at one another, they never actually listen to one another. This brings forth giant consequences for the both of them…and a Hand.”

 

Daggerman by Joss Carlisle

Directed by Joss Carlisle

“The play is adapted from Macbeth. It follows Mac, a genderqueer person who lives in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee. After a terrible interaction with their mother, Duffy, they begin to contemplate their place in their community. They meet Em, who suggests they kill their mother and sell the land they’d inherit. Mac must decide between communal validation and their identity. Daggerman attempts to speak to audiences who may not understand queerness and the complexities of gender identity. It also attempts to validate the feelings of queer people who feel rejected by their community. This is a show that reminds us we’re all deserving of respect and dignity. We don’t get to decide who’s human and we don’t get to change how humanity feels to other people.”

Trigger warnings for the show: Some hate speech, mentions of hate crimes, and mentions of suicidal thoughts. There’s some adult language as well.

 

2022-2023 Production Schedule

Your on-going support for the arts is greatly appreciated, and we encourage you to check back regularly for any updates we have to share regarding our season.

All productions are FREE ADMISSION. There’s no need to secure tickets in advance. We want everyone to be able to come see our students’ work! By attending one of our productions, you are actively participating in the growth and training of UT students.

Doors to the theatre open at 7pm for you to take a seat, with the show beginning at 7:30pm. Please look for more information on signs and in the programs pertaining to intermission breaks and safety.

See you at the show!

Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus. 

September 22 – 24, September 27 – October 1

All performances at 7:30pm on the Eccles Mainstage

THE STORY: Ten explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon.

In 1869, ten explorers set off to chart the Green and Colorado Rivers, under the guidance of John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War Veteran and personal friend of President Grant, a government-sanctioned journey following in the footsteps of the deserters, lone adventurers, and countless indigenous people who have previously braved the wild rapids leading through Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, and through the most dangerous waterway of all: the Grand Canyon. Along the way they make friends, they get on each other’s nerves, they suffer loss of boat and supplies, they doubt, struggle, and name mountains after themselves, they posture and pretend, they quit while they’re ahead, and they repeatedly brave dangerous rapids to reach the other side. As boats capsize and supplies are lost, as belts tighten and nerves fray. In Men On Boats, Jacklyn Backhaus’ original, hilarious, and delightful adventure dramedy, the conquering men out to chronicle the land in service of America, God, and Manifest destiny, are given voice and movement by actors who are anything and everything but caucasian and male, and the bravery, determination, foolishness, humanity, and true grit of the historical explorers is memorialized, while the historical moment of their journey is viewed with a critical lens.

Comedy

Content Advisory: PG-13. Adult themes and language. 

 

 

 

Count Dracula by Ted Tiller

November 10 – 12, 15 – 19

All performances at 7:30pm in the Eccles Blackbox Theatre

THE STORY: The classic tale of Count Dracula meets wit and suaveness in this adaptation. Prepare for thrills, frights, laughs and everything in between as you descend into lair of of one of the most notorious literary villains of all time.

Drama with Comedy

Content Advisory: PG. Dark tones & horror.

 

 

 

The Drowsy Chaperone 

Music & Lyrics by Lisa Lamber & Greg Morrison

Book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar

February 23 – 25, February 28 – March 4

All performances at 7:30pm on the Eccles Mainstage

THE STORY:

Winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Jazz Age musical, featuring one show-stopping song and dance number after another.

With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight.

Musical! Comedy!

Content Advisory: PG. Some adult themes.

 

 

Student Directors’ Festival

April 6 – 8, 11 – 15

All performances at 7:30pm in the Eccles Blackbox Theatre

This production will feature work directed by UT Theatre students. Specific details on these pieces will be added as they are developed.

Content Advisory: (Likely) Adult Themes and Language.

 

 

 

 

SHOWTIMES & TICKETING

  • All performances begin promptly at 7:30pm unless otherwise noted
  • All productions are free admission – no need to secure tickets
  •  There will be no reserved seating
  • Questions?  Please contact Chelsea Richards at 435-879-4385 or crichards@utahtech.edu

 

POLICIES

Latecomers
In the interest of safety, the doors will close at 7:30pm when the performance begins, and no one will be admitted after that time.

Ratings
Some shows may be rated PG-13, or have another posted recommended age.  For these shows, children under the posted age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian in order to be allowed into the production.

Thank you very much and we’ll see you at the Theatre!