In just a couple of weeks, the curtain rises on New Kid, the latest play presented by the UVU Theatre Youth & Education Center. The plot centers on a young girl named Nick who has recently moved to not only a new school, but a new country. To help the cast be familiar with the unfamiliar situation Nick is in, Director Scott Savage had one assignment for them; attend a higher-level language class for a day to experience what it would be like to be the New Kid.
An assignment that Savage had in his own undergraduate years, the goal was for the cast of the show to empathize with the situation Nick was navigating. “I wanted them to feel awkward and anxious,” Savage explained. “The assignment is meant to help the students understand the characters better and understand how the audience might feel during the performance.”
The students were able to choose from a variety of classes to attend and had to coordinate with the faculty on when their attendance would be least disruptive. Genesie Smith, who already takes higher-level French classes, decided to attend an American Sign Language class, ASL 2010 taught by Marlene Malm, where she relearned how much energy it takes to learn a new language. “I had to give 100% of my focus just to grasp a little of what was happening,” Smith explained.
A handful of the six-person cast, two of whom understudy for multiple roles, chose to attend an advanced French class together. Liliann Sampson, who plays Nick, shared how isolating the experience of being unable to communicate fully was for her. “It was wild to not understand people and very, very isolating to be so lost,” explained Sampson. “At the same time, it was eye-opening and gave me a lot of empathy for Nick. She’s got no choice but to figure it out. It gave me a much better understanding of the experience of children from other countries and what they have to do to make it work.”
Tyla Engstrom, who is one of the swing understudies, also attended the French class with Sampson. “I felt so intimidated at first,” explained Engstrom. “I didn’t even understand people’s names, let alone the jokes they were sharing!”
Another swing cast member, Tyler McCabe, struck off on his own and attended an advanced German language class, GER 2020G taught by Elizabeth Moye-Weaver. He found that his experience allowed him new insights into the ways we communicate nonverbally. “There are so many nonverbal ways to communicate,” said McCabe. “Eye contact, body language, facial expressions — we express ourselves with so much more than our words.”
Assignments like these don’t happen at every higher education institution. But the collaboration between UVU programs and the hands-on learning approach is a highlight of attending UVU and a product of the university’s goal of providing engaged learning opportunities. “We want the students to have every chance to learn and grow,” said Savage. “Working with other programs is just one of the ways we give our students more avenues to achieve their goals.”
These student actors will get to put their class experience and weeks of rehearsal to the test when New Kid is on the UVU Noorda Center for the Performing Arts stage October 24 and 25. And while the cast might be college-aged, the play is perfect for families and younger audiences to attend. You can purchase tickets online or at the Blair Family Box Office.
