The show has a cast of 27 actors, making it one of the largest casts Studio 58 has had in recent years. Photo by Ashley Burgoyne
Studio 58 returns to the stage with ‘Everybody’
Studio 58 students are currently in rehearsals for their next play "Everybody"
By Ashley Burgoyne
Studio 58’s newest production, Everybody, is a philosophical journey about death that questions what it means to be alive.
The show has a cast of 27 actors, making it one of the largest casts Studio 58 has had in recent years.
This play is the first in over two years of being practised on campus and performed in front of a live audience on Nov. 25-Dec. 3rd.
The COVID-19 pandemic shut down in person production for Studio 58 since March 2020.
The play Everybody was written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and is a witty take on the 15th Century morality play Everyman. Jacobs-Jenkins was nominated as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2018 for Everybody.
Actor’s excitement
“It touches on these really big, profound questions about what it is to be alive and how do we as human beings navigate that,” said Tristen Foy, actor and third year student at Studio 58.
Foy spent 2020 at his home in Manitoba to be with his family through the pandemic.
“Being able to get back into the theatre, and be able to perform a show, in front of actual human beings in the same room is really emotional,” said Foy.
Assistant director and third year student Harmony Yen thinks that the audience will resonate with the play because of the losses people experienced through COVID-19.
Kim Collier, a Studio 58 alumna of 1994, is directing the production.
Yen praised Collier and the experience of getting to work alongside her.
“Every time she comes into rehearsal, she brings a very fresh perspective into how she sees this play,” said Yen.
Expect surprises
“It presented an opportunity to actually create a chorus,” said Foy, who is one of the nine chorus actors.
Costume designer Donnie Tejani, who is working at Studio 58 for the first time, said the audience can anticipate some surprises from the show.
“I think you can expect a lot of new experiences from this play. It’s such a wild script,” he said.
Tejani continued, saying the costumes are aimed at reflecting the existentialist theme of the play.
“I just hope when people watch it, they get something from it, or some reminder about the way they live their life,” said Yen.
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