"Stuck" Hits the Stage

By Ashley McKell

Put four actors, a band and letters from a deceased friend together and you get a play written by BYU Alumni Elizabeth Leavitt.

'Stuck on the Edge' will be performed in the Margetts Theatre in the Harris Fine Arts Center through March 24, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $14 with a discount by showing a BYU or student ID. There are no performances Mondays or Sundays.

The play, which originated with Leavitt''s feelings on people and relationships, began in December 2005 as an assignment for a beginning playwriting class. It explores the relationships between four individuals who were all friends in college and once gifted artists. While in college they had a fifth friend, Peter, who died. Peter wrote them letters to be opened every year after his death so as not to be forgotten. The play opens with the friends opening the ninth letter. As the play continues the friends react to falling short of their college goals and what they ultimately decide to do in response.

'The style of acting is very realistic,' said Shelby Pinney, a senior studying acting from Granite Bay, Calif., and actor in the play. 'The characters are people with real issues making them totally relatable.'

Stephanie Breinholt, director of the play and part-time faculty member in theater, worked extensively with Leavitt in order to create a performance unlike others at BYU.

'The approach is different because it is so interactive making the play very theatrical,' Breinholt said. 'There is also a live band playing throughout the show.'

Local band, Forgotten Charity, auditioned for the part and became the perfect fit for the play.

'Their music is the heart and soul of the production,' Pinney said. 'It centers the actors and creates an emotionally rich play.'

With themes such as hope, friendship and success, this play strives to help the audience redefine who they are and who they want to be.

'This is an incredibly relatable play. There are parts of each character that everyone can relate to,' Breinholt said.