SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY PRESENTS ‘HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING’
BY SHAWN FISHER
“I said to her, I ain’t that person no more. And she said, ‘part of you is’.”
Salt Lake Acting Company is producing the winner of the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays
Award, HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING by Shawn Fisher, February 6 – March 3, 2013. A 300 year old scarred oak tree inspires a story exploring who we are and who we once were, personalizing racial prejudice and its consequences.
When Delores Wright, the matriarchal former school principal selects Arthur “Bo” Wells, the longest
serving African American custodian in the Oakbranch Public School System, to help name the new
elementary school, a discussion wrought with reflection and angst erupts. Within the walls of the old
decaying schoolhouse in Southern New Jersey secrets of their lives are unearthed that will forever change their views of the past and future. Some scars never go away. HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING is a beautiful and painful story of intolerance, love and forgiveness not to be missed by Utah audiences.
Adrianne Moore is excited to direct this World Premiere of Shawn Fisher’s work. She says, “The story
that unfolds is just so unexpected, and painful and lyrical in its telling. The themes of loss and the search for redemption are there and the difficulty with assessing someone’s true nature, our desire to judge, to take the moral high ground. The stories told by the central characters highlight the racism of mid- century America and the struggles particularly around school integration.”
Playwright Shawn Fisher gives audiences a unique look at segregation and racism, he says, “A little known fact is that in the early twentieth century, many in the African American community referred to this region of South Jersey as ‘The Mississippi of the North’.” He thinks that Utah audiences will be interested to “explore race without setting it in Mississippi or Alabama like most ‘race’ plays tend to be. I didn't want it to be about a place we have all condemned as ‘racist’ but rather a place where racism is less overt yet ingrained in its own way.”
Salt Lake Acting Company is thrilled to have an amazing cast including Glenn Turner, an award winning and highly accomplished actor who has been seen on Broadway in such shows as FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE (original cast), A CHORUS LINE, MY ONE AND ONLY, GRAND HOTEL, THE MUSICAL (original cast), GREASE and HIGH SOCIETY (original cast). His work on and off Broadway, regionally and in film and television is numerous, nuanced and exceptional. Joining Mr. Turner is local favorite, Jayne Luke who has been seen on the SLAC stage in CHARM, BIG LOVE and KIMBERLY AKIMBO. She has performed in a myriad of shows at the Grand Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, the Egyptian Theatre, Hale Theatre, Plan-B Theatre Company and many others. These two accomplished actors will be joined by the talented up-and-comer, Lucas Bybee who was last seen on SLAC’s stage in ANGELS IN AMERICA and DO NOT HIT GOLF BALLS INTO MEXICO. Lucas has performed in theatre across the Wasatch front and in films such as SHADES OF TREASON, which recently premiered at the Orlando Film Festival.
HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING has and will continue to have a rich life. The play had its first reading in October 2011 at Cape May Stage in New Jersey where it’s rolling world premiere will be produced in May. It also had a reading at Urban Stages off Broadway in New York City. The Salt Lake Acting Company presented a staged reading of HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING as a part of our New Play Sounding Series in February 2012.
FACT SHEET
SLAC PRODUCTION HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING
WRITTEN BY Shawn Fisher
DIRECTOR Adrianne Moore
CAST Lucas Bybee, Jayne Luke, Glenn Turner
SET DESIGN Keven Myhre
COSTUME DESIGN K.L. Alberts
LIGHTING DESIGN Jesse Portillo
SOUND DESIGN Josh Martin
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Janice Jenson
DATE Opening: February 6, 2013
Closing: March 3, 2013
COMING SOON:
Tony nominated Broadway, film and television actress, Alyson Reed, best known as the loveable loopy
drama teacher Ms. Darbus in Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL series will present a succession of
theatre activities, including a family night, a master class and a weeklong succession of free educational
and entertaining assemblies for Beverley Taylor Sorensen elementary schools.
FAMILY NIGHT WITH MS. DARBUS ACTOR’S WORKSHOP
January 31, 2013 @ 6:30pm February 2, 2013 @ 11:00am
Clayton Middle School Salt Lake Acting Company
1470 South 1900 East 168 West 500 North
Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 Salt Lake City, Utah 84103
$5/person $25/person
For tickets call 801-363-SLAC(7522), visit www.saltlakeactingcompany.org, or come to the box office at 168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103. Student, Under 30, Senior and Group discounts
available.
SLAC is a not-for-profit 501(c) founded in 1970 and is dedicated to producing, commissioning and
developing new works and to supporting a community of professional artists. SLAC has been nationally recognized by the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Edgerton Foundation, among others. SLAC operates under a STP Actors’ Equity Association contract. SLAC is a Constituent Member of Theatre Communications Group, a national organization for non-profit professional regional theatres, and the National New Play Network.
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