University of Wyoming students, from left, Mary Dyson, from Parker, Colo.; Justen
Glover, of Arvada, Colo.; Andrew Thornton, from Riverton; and Lauren Asher, from Powell,
rehearse a scene from “God of Carnage” via Zoom. Because of COVID-19 concerns, the
Snowy Range Summer Theatre play will only be a virtual production offered online at
7:30 p.m. June 23-27. (UW Photo)
Snowy Range Summer Theatre goes virtual this month with “God of Carnage,” the 2009
Tony Award-winning comedy by Yasmina Reza about the aftermath of a children’s playground
fight.
Presented by the University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance, and directed
by alumnus Jason Pasqua, “God of Carnage” livestreams each night from June 23-27 at
7:30 p.m.
Virtual tickets are available for $5 at www.uwyo.edu/finearts or call the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts box office at (307) 766-6666,
Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., to arrange for “pay-what-you-can” or free
access.
The box office will provide patrons instructions via email on how to access the livestream
performance. The comedy is the only show in production this summer, livestreaming
each night of the run.
“God of Carnage” follows two couples trying to make sense of a playground altercation
between their boys. When Alan and Annette’s son hits Michael and Veronica’s son in
the mouth with a stick, knocking out his teeth, the parents agree to meet to discuss
the incident. What begins as a civilized get-together between the residents of an
upscale Brooklyn neighborhood quickly devolves into a scrappy, laugh-out-loud evening
as the libations flow and the gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than
just their principles in tatters.
“Originally, we had planned a two-show summer season and had requested and received
performance licenses,” says UW artistic Director Scott Tedmon-Jones.
However, when it became clear that an in-person summer season was not going to be
possible due to the coronavirus -- and the closure of the UW campus to large public
gatherings -- Tedmon-Jones was left to consider whether to cancel the season or go
virtual.
“The main challenge in creating virtual theater is that it is not a common experience
or skill that many people have, which, in this case, is compounded by the need to
also create a safe model for working in a social distancing format,” Tedmon-Jones
says.
Tedmon-Jones watched as many virtual performances as possible to see how other theater
professionals were taking on the challenge, including reviewing the main video platforms
being used, with the goal of exploring, creating and producing as strong of a production
as possible in the typically compressed summer theater schedule.
Once he and the company had decided to move forward, they needed to request livestreaming
rights from the playwrights or their representatives. Publishers do not generally
handle these requests, but they have become extremely helpful in facilitating them
due to the pandemic, Tedmon-Jones says. As the economic crisis due to COVID-19 deepened,
and due to the uncertainty of receiving the necessary streaming rights for one production,
Tedmon-Jones and the company decided to produce only one play.
“All members of the company are being challenged in different ways, and this summer
season also is allowing us to test ideas and develop processes should we need to go
virtual when the academic season resumes in the fall,” Tedmon-Jones adds. “It is not
what we had originally planned, but we are gratified to be able to support a company
of actors, designers, crew and director, and to provide some entertainment and laughs
to the community in this time of uncertainty.”
