A SONDERimmersive experience
In collaboration with Utah Arts Alliance and The Gateway
Created by Graham Brown and Rick Curtiss
ORIGINATING CAST:
ROMEO - Jacob Baird
JULIET - Nadia Sine
LORD MONTAGUE - Rick Curtiss
LADY CAPULET - Catherine Mortimer
TYBALT - Emma Sargent
MERCUTIO - Hannah Fischer
FRIAR LAURENCE - Tyler Fox
NURSE MARIA - Scout Smith
In collaboration with Utah Arts Alliance and The Gateway
Created by Graham Brown and Rick Curtiss
ORIGINATING CAST:
ROMEO - Jacob Baird
JULIET - Nadia Sine
LORD MONTAGUE - Rick Curtiss
LADY CAPULET - Catherine Mortimer
TYBALT - Emma Sargent
MERCUTIO - Hannah Fischer
FRIAR LAURENCE - Tyler Fox
NURSE MARIA - Scout Smith
Choreography - Graham Brown
Writing - Rick Curtiss, Graham Brown
Art Director - Jake Buntjer
Scenographer - Joseph Wheeler
Composer - Wachira Waigwa-Stone
Additional Musicians:
Laurie Hite - violin, viola, vocals
Will Roney - guitar
Mason Petersen - tenor saxophone
Gus Bogdanow - trumpet
Graphic Design - Kimberlee Curtiss
Marketing - Hannah Fischer
Business Manager - Camila Rosas
Owner - Molly Chrisman
Utah Arts Alliance Liaison - Jonathan King
The Gateway Liaison - Jacklyn Briggs
Through Yonder Window was created in intense collaboration with all of the above
Special thanks to:
Umbrella Theater Company, Sackerson, The Chocolate Conspiracy, Ann Brown
Writing - Rick Curtiss, Graham Brown
Art Director - Jake Buntjer
Scenographer - Joseph Wheeler
Composer - Wachira Waigwa-Stone
Additional Musicians:
Laurie Hite - violin, viola, vocals
Will Roney - guitar
Mason Petersen - tenor saxophone
Gus Bogdanow - trumpet
Graphic Design - Kimberlee Curtiss
Marketing - Hannah Fischer
Business Manager - Camila Rosas
Owner - Molly Chrisman
Utah Arts Alliance Liaison - Jonathan King
The Gateway Liaison - Jacklyn Briggs
Through Yonder Window was created in intense collaboration with all of the above
Special thanks to:
Umbrella Theater Company, Sackerson, The Chocolate Conspiracy, Ann Brown
Guide to Verona
Through Yonder Window is a blend of an immersive experience and a theatre-in-the-round play:
There are times when action will be right in front of you, there are times that the performers you can see are responding to something you cannot see. There are times when everyone will leave your view entirely. Rather than worrying about what you are not seeing, we encourage you to fully embrace what you do experience, not unlike trusting the camera when watching a film.
Upon arrival, you will be guided into Verona. Someone will greet you to explain which environment you will be placed in, and who your primary characters of focus will be for the evening. They will guide you into a specifically angled spot which has been designed to give you a front row seat. It is a very large space, and by design there is more that you don’t see than you do see. Each spot presents different aspects of the stories.
If you are placed:
- It is a very large space
- There are multiple things happening at the same time
- By design, there is a lot that you will not be able to see
- Each parking spot reveals and conceals different aspects of the many stories
- The show has been designed so that each car has a full, albeit a very different, experience
There are times when action will be right in front of you, there are times that the performers you can see are responding to something you cannot see. There are times when everyone will leave your view entirely. Rather than worrying about what you are not seeing, we encourage you to fully embrace what you do experience, not unlike trusting the camera when watching a film.
Upon arrival, you will be guided into Verona. Someone will greet you to explain which environment you will be placed in, and who your primary characters of focus will be for the evening. They will guide you into a specifically angled spot which has been designed to give you a front row seat. It is a very large space, and by design there is more that you don’t see than you do see. Each spot presents different aspects of the stories.
If you are placed:
- In the top of the garage, you are in the church and will see a lot of Friar Laurence and Maria, Juliet’s nurse.
- In the middle, you are in the city and will see a lot of Tybalt and Mercutio.
- At the bottom, these are the Montague and Capulet homes right next to each other, and you will see a lot of Lord Montague and Lady Capulet.
- Romeo and Juliet move evenly throughout the entire space.
Scene By Scene
Verona is going through a tough time. Generations of disease have decimated the population, and life is now driven by a language of quarantine and distance. To touch another person risks bringing ruin to yourself and your household. Which means love must be controlled, and The Montagues and The Capulets are determined to control it.
But love is a disease far more insidious--far more contagious than any other, and Verona is just about due for an outbreak.
Scene One - Good Morning
One by one, the characters enter the streets of Verona.
Scene Two - The Party
Mercutio holds a masquerade party where everyone can hide their faces and show their true desires.
Scene Three - Falling
Romeo and Juliet fall in love on a balcony. Lady Capulet and Lord Montague unwittingly fall in love. Mercutio falls for a misunderstood enemy. Maria and Friar Lawrence share a love they fell for long ago. Tybalt wonders why everyone has fallen.
Scene Four - Rising
Maria rises in the morning to find Juliet ready to marry Romeo—who tells Father Lawrence his plans to marry Juliet—who’s mother raises her suspicion that Lord Montague considers their night together as more than a fling—which Lord Montague can’t stop thinking about as he keeps crossing paths with Lady Capulet—who fails to realize that her daughter is secretly getting married, her maid is secretly helping her daughter, and Tybalt is plotting to purge the world of her daughter’s secret fiance.
Mercutio spends one final day in life finding joy.
Scene Five - Killing
Mercutio intercepts Tybalt and tries to kill a lifetime of rage and replace it with love. Lord Montague and Lady Capulet try to kill their attraction through confessing to Maria and Father Lawrence. Romeo watches his best friend die and kills his best friend's killer.
Juliet feels powerless to stop any of it.
Scene Six - The Other Side
Mercutio and Tybalt realize that death is not the end of their story. Lady Capulet and Lord Montague realize that they have blinded each other to tragedy they should have prevented. Romeo and Juliet realize that there is no returning and fall deeper into the unknown together.
Maria and Friar Lawrence realize that if they want to be together, it can only be on the other side of Verona’s walls.
Scene Seven - Breaking
Romeo is a broken person who was hoping that Juliet could fix him. She couldn’t. Romeo abandons Juliet on their wedding night. Mercutio tries in vain to help Romeo see that love can make things right.
Juliet’s heart is broken; refusing to accept that she is powerless, Juliet hatches a plan to force Romeo to return to her. Tybalt assists her.
Maria and Friar Lawrence prepare to abandon Verona, but feel obligated to the community they have served for years. Maria wants to see Juliet one last time and break the news that she is leaving.
Lord Montague and Lady Capulet break their vows.
Scene 8 - Facing
Maria catches Lord Montague and Lady Capulet in bed together, a secret that could destroy them both. Romeo turns to Friar Lawrence for help finding peace within himself. Mercutio and Tybalt face off. All turn to face the balcony where Juliet has killed herself.
Scene 9 - Perchance to Dream
Each couple reunites.
Few survive.
All leave, as night descends on Verona’s empty streets.
But love is a disease far more insidious--far more contagious than any other, and Verona is just about due for an outbreak.
Scene One - Good Morning
One by one, the characters enter the streets of Verona.
Scene Two - The Party
Mercutio holds a masquerade party where everyone can hide their faces and show their true desires.
Scene Three - Falling
Romeo and Juliet fall in love on a balcony. Lady Capulet and Lord Montague unwittingly fall in love. Mercutio falls for a misunderstood enemy. Maria and Friar Lawrence share a love they fell for long ago. Tybalt wonders why everyone has fallen.
Scene Four - Rising
Maria rises in the morning to find Juliet ready to marry Romeo—who tells Father Lawrence his plans to marry Juliet—who’s mother raises her suspicion that Lord Montague considers their night together as more than a fling—which Lord Montague can’t stop thinking about as he keeps crossing paths with Lady Capulet—who fails to realize that her daughter is secretly getting married, her maid is secretly helping her daughter, and Tybalt is plotting to purge the world of her daughter’s secret fiance.
Mercutio spends one final day in life finding joy.
Scene Five - Killing
Mercutio intercepts Tybalt and tries to kill a lifetime of rage and replace it with love. Lord Montague and Lady Capulet try to kill their attraction through confessing to Maria and Father Lawrence. Romeo watches his best friend die and kills his best friend's killer.
Juliet feels powerless to stop any of it.
Scene Six - The Other Side
Mercutio and Tybalt realize that death is not the end of their story. Lady Capulet and Lord Montague realize that they have blinded each other to tragedy they should have prevented. Romeo and Juliet realize that there is no returning and fall deeper into the unknown together.
Maria and Friar Lawrence realize that if they want to be together, it can only be on the other side of Verona’s walls.
Scene Seven - Breaking
Romeo is a broken person who was hoping that Juliet could fix him. She couldn’t. Romeo abandons Juliet on their wedding night. Mercutio tries in vain to help Romeo see that love can make things right.
Juliet’s heart is broken; refusing to accept that she is powerless, Juliet hatches a plan to force Romeo to return to her. Tybalt assists her.
Maria and Friar Lawrence prepare to abandon Verona, but feel obligated to the community they have served for years. Maria wants to see Juliet one last time and break the news that she is leaving.
Lord Montague and Lady Capulet break their vows.
Scene 8 - Facing
Maria catches Lord Montague and Lady Capulet in bed together, a secret that could destroy them both. Romeo turns to Friar Lawrence for help finding peace within himself. Mercutio and Tybalt face off. All turn to face the balcony where Juliet has killed herself.
Scene 9 - Perchance to Dream
Each couple reunites.
Few survive.
All leave, as night descends on Verona’s empty streets.
