APRIL 10, 12, 13 & 18 AT 7:30 PM
APRIL 20 AT 2:00 PM
ANES STUDIO THEATRE
World Premiere Commissioned and Produced by The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Bill Rauch, Artistic Director; Paul Nicholson, Executive Director)
Excerpts from “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” by Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne used with permission of the Owners;
© 1959 (Renewed) Stratford Music Corporation (ASCAP) and Williamson Music, Inc. (ASCAP);
All rights administered by Chappell & Co., Inc.; All rights reserved
ROE is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)
Director......................................................
Sco C Knowles
Assistant Director........................................
Intimacy Choreographer......................
Sophia Weaver
Dr. Lisa Quoresimo
Scenic Designer...........................................
Brian Swanson
Costume Designer..........................................
Malin Sender
Lighting Designer..................................................
Sound Designer................................................
Hair & Makeup Designer..................................
Dramaturg.................................................
Ash Bisek
Kolby Clarke
Bria Hansen
Joseph Sandoval
Stage Manager...........................................
Arianna Monson
Norma M......................................
Nash Kenning-Ballestros
Actor 1...............................................
Kolton Keetch Nielsen
Actress 7.............................................
Maya Reese Williams
Connie..............................................................
Sarah W.................................................................
Actor 2...............................................................
Actress 4.....................................................
Actress 6.......................................................
Con Guerrero
Emma Cox
Austin Fronk
Kendra Pugmire
Rue Devenport
Child..................................................................
Actor 3............................................................
Actress 5...................................................
Kira Woo on
Ethan Akester
Brooklyn Remick CAST
Assistant Stage Manager.............................
Tiana Edwards
Electrics Supervisor.............................................
Technical Director..........................................
Light Board Operator.............................
Kyle Cook
Daniel Traner
Harriet Jill Parnell
Sound Board Operator....................................
Costume Shop Manager..............................
Wardrobe Crew.............................................
Hair and Makeup Head...............................
Beau Barre
Caitlin Leyden
Kyleen Doman
Elley White
Dean Salvesen
Sara Barre
Annie Hancock
Hair and Makeup Crew.................................
Olivia Willden
Jaydea V Price
Emma Chapman
Ashley Halls
Luke Elison
Changeover Crew Head...........................
Keira Jolie Miller
Changeover Crew............................................
Jacob Merrill
Veronique Jun Li Robledo
Tabatha Heart
Ashley Thormahlen
Oliver Keawe Soul Estrada-Brown
Tyler Dean Benne
Graphic Designer..........................................
Sophie Stilson
Ben Hohman
Ann Oberhelman
Marielle Boneau
Richard Girtain
Danielle Davis
The Utah Shakespeare Festival
Eliza Rose Greiner
Dean Rice
SPONSORED IN PART BY
While there’s much information that you will gain through your a endance of Roe, there is li le mention of the Supreme Court case that spurred Loomer’s revision of the play in 2022, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This case was brought to the Supreme Court a er Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s only licensed abortion clinic, and one of its doctors filed a lawsuit to challenge the recent Gestational Age Act, which prohibited abortion past 15 weeks. The court ruled for the clinic and placed an injunction on Mississippi, prohibiting the enforcement of the Gestational Age Act due to the precedents of viability set by Roe v. Wade and the undue burden standard added by Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, another Supreme Court Case. A er its appeals questioning the laws’ constitutionality and hearing before the Supreme Court, however, both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were overruled on the basis that the Constitution did not confer a right to abortion; instead, the authority of regulation belongs to state representatives. The majority opinion of the Court was based on the following:
1) a “short-circuited... democratic process” that excluded Americans who dissented from the Court’s decisions;
2) abortion’s absence from the nation’s history and tradition;
3) that pre- and post-viability were insufficient distinctions and undue burden could not define permissible and unconstitutional restrictions;
4) that “a empts to justify abortion through appeals to a broader right to autonomy and to define one’s ‘concept of existence’ … could license fundamental rights to illicit drug use, prostitution, and the like;” and
5) that ge ing an abortion is generally an “unplanned activity,” and “reproductive planning could take virtually immediate account of any sudden restoration of state authority to ban abortions.”
The dissenting opinion highlighted that “[as a] Nation, we do not believe that a government controlling all private choices is compatible with a free people” and echoed Roe’s placement of the right to abortion within the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, but the 6-3 decision removed federal claims to this right. Several laws suddenly fell into effect in some states, commonly called trigger laws, or trigger bans in the case of abortion regulation. Such laws had been wri en a er the announcement, in May 2021, of Dobbs’ upcoming hearing in the Supreme Court, and more followed the release of the leaked opinion dra in May 2022, a month before Dobbs’ official decision. Some states prohibit abortion and limit access in various ways, with the most extreme being total bans regardless of the number of weeks since the last menstrual period (LMP), the unit used to determine abortion regulation, and regardless of instances of rape, incest, lethal fetal anomalies, or risk of health. Other states, in efforts to maintain abortion rights, provided protections and increased accessibility to abortions, with the most extreme being recognition of abortion rights under state constitutions and legislative action.
The implications extend past abortion itself, however. Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Idaho have similar bans on traveling to assist a minor in ge ing an out-of-state abortion. Alabama in vitro fertilization clinics are pausing services to clients a er their Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under law. Texan mother Kate Cox was forced to leave her home state in search of an abortion despite a diagnosis of Trisomy 18 in her unborn daughter, dangerous future health and fertility risks, and wanting her daughter Chloe to join her family. Abortion is currrently legal in Utah before 18 weeks LMP, with exceptions for rape, incest, some fetal anomalies, and risk of life of the mother.
-Joseph Sandoval
Originally from upstate New York, Dr. Helen Boswell-Taylor received her Ph.D in Biological Sciences from the University at Buffalo in the areas of evolution and animal behaviour. She joined the faculty at Southern Utah University in 1999, where she teaches Evolution, Biomedical Ethics, and General Biology. She has authored the nonfiction work My Fish Ate Your Fish, the Young Adult Mythology trilogy, and several scientifica articles. Helen loves living in southern Utah and enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and mom, and caring for her small zoo of dogs, snakes, lizards, and tarantulas.
This pre-show talk will take place in the Frehner Rehearsal Hall on April 20 at 1:00 p.m.
For all patrons’ enjoyment, please turn off or silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. There is no texting permi ed during the performance.
Children under six years of age may be too young for live performances at SUU. Parents with young children are asked to take seats near the exits. In the event your child becomes disruptive, we request that you and the child exit the theatre during the live performance.
NOTE TO AUDIENCE: The videotaping or audio and/or visual recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
Titus Andronicus
Sept. 27, 28, & 30; Oct. 3, 4, & 5
Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre
Faculty Dance Concert
Nov. 1, 2, & 4
Eileen & Allen Anes Studio Theatre
The Secret Garden
Feb. 14, 15, 20, 21, & 22
Randall L. Jones Theatre
Student Dance Concert
March 20, 21, & 22
Randall L. Jones Theatre
Three Sisters
April 9, 11, 12, 17, & 19
Eileen & Allen Anes Studio Theatre
The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women
April 10, 12, 14, 18, & 19
Eileen & Allen Anes Studio Theatre
8am - 10am
End of the year fun and games all day!
12pm - 2pm 3pm - 5pm
Carnival
8pm - 11pm Hot Air Balloon
Goat Yoga and Stu -a-plush
SIlent Disco
Live Music! Free Food! Hot Air Balloons!
