UTNT (UT New Theatre) is a showcase of new plays by M.F.A. candidate playwrights from Texas Theatre and Dance and the Michener Center for Writers. This year marks the 17th season of this festival that unites theatre-makers across disciplines in the process of bringing forth new work to the stage, through readings and productions. Collaboration is how these plays get made, as producing artistic director Alexandra Bassiakou Shaw states. When these shows hit the stage, UTNT asks you, the audience, to become collaborators as these plays reach their final stage of the development process here at UT Austin. We invite you to meet your collaborators – the artists bringing these works to life in the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre.
Alexandra Bassiakou Shaw serves as Producing Artistic Director, with Rusty Cloyes taking on the role of Production Manager. In addition, Jason Lee Huerta serves as Technical Director, Jose Salcido as Assistant Production Manager, Victoria Ellyse Jefferson as Assistant Technical Director, Andy Grapko as Intimacy Director and Alison Vasquez as Vocal Director for these performances.
UTNT (UT NEW THEATRE) 2024 INCLUDES:
CHOREOMANIAC 1518
It’s 16th century France and everything is horrible! There’s bubonic plague, major agricultural collapse and the leadership is corrupt as all hell. When a dancing plague breaks out, a group of potato farmers cue the strobe lights and reach towards hope. These are the choreomaniacs. This is their (mostly) true story. Written by Malena Pennycook and directed by Caley Chase, Choreomaniac 1518 features actors Eian Johnson (Frau Mika), Angela Mata (Frau Betty), Mia Hsiung Nguyen (Frau Sevallia), Carlise Rosa (Frau Thera), Emma Dodds (Tybee), Adam Flores Jr. (Marcus) and Joe Adkins (Father/Doctor/Feudal Lord). The understudy for this production is Mackenzie Mann (Betty/Mika/Sevallia/Thera Understudy).
The production also features a dance ensemble of “Choreomaniacs,” including E’ja Alexander, Laura Baker, Jaz Burchell, Evan Carlson, Mackenzie Peacock, Natalia DePaula, Elizabeth Garza, Lorna Luciano, Mackenzie Mann, Christian Ortega, Fátima Quarashi, Elyse Rosario, Jay Smith, Sophie Steinhauser, Nihal Tangeda and Jaden West.
The behind-the-scenes team that works to immerse the audience into 16th century France consists of Daniel Ruiz Bustos (Scenic Designer), Katie Concannon (Costume Designer), Sarah Jean Elliott (Assistant Projection Designer), Justin Gordon (Fight Director), Angel (AE) Hernandez (Stage Manager), AJ Hurtado (Projection Designer), Dillon James (Sound Designer), Kaia Lyons (Dramaturg), Mackenzie Mann (Assistant Director), Hannah Nelson (Assistant Director), Kelsey Oliver (Choreographer), Breanna Pruitt (Assistant Stage Manager), Elyse Rosario (Choreographer’s Assistant and Dance Captain), Cooper Smither (Assistant Sound Designer), Ella Wetmore (Assistant Costume Designer), Julia Yelvington (Associate Scenic Designer), Jacob Zamarripa (Lighting Designer) and Keya Zingade (Assistant Director).
PRETEND IT’S PRETEND
Playgrounds are designed to be dangerous enough for experimentation, yet safe enough to allow experiments to fail without serious injury. When Arthur, a playground architect, is asked to design a bulletproof playscape for his daughter’s old school, he confronts an unsettling reality: that the world does not operate by the same rules as playgrounds. At a time when dangers beyond the playground are overwhelmingly present, this is a story about the endurance of care. Playwright Emma Watkins and director Jenny Lavery take us through this play about learning, growing up and grown-ups learning to play. Pretend it’s Pretend boasts the actors Shalom Onuorah (Jen), Oliver Aaro (Arthur) and Penny Lou Zimmerman (Clara). The understudies for this production are Savannah Pruitt (Jen Understudy), Connor Burk (Arthur Understudy) and Lucy Nichols (Clara Understudy).
The creative team that works to bring the playground to the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre includes Madeleine Berckley (Assistant Sound Designer), Nicole Chako (Assistant Stage Manager), Violet Clemons (Costume Designer), Layla Isaac (Assistant Costume Designer), Joshua W. Martin (Scenic Designer), Bryce Riggle (Sound Designer), Mackenzie “Mack” Thornton (Assistant Director), Jaden West (Assistant Director), Emma Winder (Assistant Director), Donna Bonnelle Yancey (Lighting Designer) and Karol Yanez (Stage Manager).
UTNT 2024 WILL ALSO FEATURE THE FOLLOWING READINGS:
TASTE BUDS: THE ADVENTURES OF CAKE AND BROCCOLI
Written by Claire Derriennic and directed by Renita James, Taste Buds: The Adventures of Cake and Broccoli is an interactive play for ages six and up. When Cake and Broccoli are unexpectedly rejected, they must learn to be good so the humans will eat them. But will these unlikely buds find the answer before they face the unmentionable fate of being thrown in the trash? Or is the meaning of “good” more elusive than it first appears? By complicating harmful narratives classifying food as “good” or “bad,” this play prompts us to reflect on the meaning of worthiness and the value of food in our lives. The cast of Taste Buds: The Adventures of Cake and Broccoli will be announced in mid-February.
SPAYCE BOYS
spayce boys, written by Mateo Hernandez and directed by Diamante Martinez, follows two middle school boys, IGGY and OÑIO, who have a hard time fitting in with nearly anyone around them – peers at school, family at home and even each other. But, one night OÑIO decides to take IGGY on an intergalactic adventure into outer-spayce to figure out if they can actually become friends after constantly ignoring each other at school. Traversing through planets with friendly aliens, stardust meteor showers and even a lunar encounter, the boys start to see each other for who they really are and, in the process, see themselves too. The cast of spayce boys will be announced in mid-February.
