BYU Theatre hosted its 11th annual Microburst New Play Festival from Oct. 24-26.
The festival is a way for students to showcase their best playwriting to the community. Alexandra Johns, the director of the production, expressed her deep love and admiration for these students and their work before the show took place.
There were four original plays presented, each with a unique storyline and actors from BYU Theatre. After the performance, they held a 10 minute post-show discussion to address any comments or feedback from the audience.
One of the plays showed two elderly best friends waiting in the lobby of a theater for a production of "Waiting for Godot." The elderly best friends were played by Margaret Reynosa and Megan Furness.
It was revealed in the post-show discussion that Reynosa and Furness have not known each other for long. When asked how they were able to portray such a deep friendship, Reynosa shared that the pair was directed to “spend some time with each other and just hang out.”
Furness added that they spent one specific rehearsal “just walking, so that (they) can nail how it looks,” referring to their slow and hunched waddles meant to exaggerate the walk of an elderly person.
Nathan Holley, the playwright for "Waiting for Waiting for Godot," said that one angle of this play was meant to be a playful jab at those who watch performing arts often.
“I love metatheatricality. I feel like I include it every single time, like something in the show that pokes fun at the audience," Holley said. "I mean, it's kind of ridiculous what we do here. We come in and gather in the hundreds and watch some people play around on stage. I think there’s some comedy in that.”