By Samantha Baird
With Coronavirus news all over social media, life can seem a little dreary. Have no fear, An Other Theater Company is here with their first exclusively streamed performance of Odd Shaped Balls. Located in Provo, UT, An Other Theater Company strives “to create pieces of art that are unique, fresh, empathetic, and inclusive.” I had a moment to sit down, via phone call of course, with the director of Odd Shaped Balls (and one of the artistic directors of An Other Theater Company), Kacey Spadafora.
Samantha Baird (SB): As a reviewer for Front Row Reviewers, I wanted to do an interview with you about An Other Theater Company and then a little more specific into Odd Shaped Balls. You opened An Other in 2017 with Taylor Nelson. Why did you want to open your own theater and what led the two of you to open it together?
Kacey Spadafora (KS): We met in a new script workshop class at UVU. We did a show in that class and then we did a couple of other shows together. Then I did a Platform Series show at UVU, which is basically a student produced show and that was my first foray into producing my own theater. Taylor was kind of around helping me with that and then we started doing other shows. We produced The Laramie Project up at an amphitheater up at Canyon Glen Park (in Provo). We did a couple of shows at the Fringe Festival in Salt Lake. So, we just kind of had a short history and then Taylor did his own Platform Series, and we kind of had a short history of already producing our own shows. We’d always noticed and commented on the fact that Utah Valley theater has a specific brand for the shows that they do here. It’s all very family friendly, which is great. It’s needed, but we noticed there wasn’t really any adult oriented theater, specifically, in our case, LGBT theater. People would always comment, “Oh, people go up to Salt Lake to see these types of shows,” or “Wish someone would do shows here instead of having to go to Salt Lake.” So we thought, “Okay, well, let’s do that. Let’s start our own theater and do it here.”
SB: I’m very appreciative of you bringing, like you said, more adult oriented theater down to Utah Valley, because it’s true. I don’t have time to go up to Salt Lake all the time to see different theater. So are you both acting as co-artistic directors? How does picking a season work for the theater?
KS: Taylor and I are co-artistic directors. Our first year we just kind of worked with a few company members that helped us get started, that aren’t members of the company anymore. We picked out our first season in kind of a hodgepodge kind of way. From then on, we kind of found this process where we pick a season selection committee, we meet together for the first time, everyone pitches a few shows, and we talk about those ideas. We have certain stipulations: at least three of the seven shows have to be written by women, at least two of the shows have to have queer themes, and at least one of the shows has to have a queer author. From there it’s how the shows fit together and more than just bringing LGBT and women’s theater, it’s also the type of theater that’s in the national canon that just isn’t getting produced here. So we meet together, we pitch some shows, we talk about it, we kind of separate, let it marinate, come back, dwindle down, and then it’s democratic in that we have a voting system we go through. Then Taylor, our literary manager Chelsea Hickman, and I have the final say what that season looks like.
SB: How many of those shows have you directed?
KS: First season I did Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, then we did that add-on SantaLand (Diaries) that wasn’t a part of our official season, Angels in America, and Next Fall. Then I did Curious Incident (of the Dog in the Night-Time) in our second season, Perfect Arrangement, Hedwig (and the Angry Itch), and Mr. Burns I co-directed with Taylor. This season I directed SantaLand, Trifles/A Number (which got cancelled), Normal Heart which is kind of still in the upcoming, and now I guess our new show Odd Shaped Balls.
SB: So, quite a few then, do you have a favorite?
KS: I have lots of favorites. Angels in America will probably always have a special place in my heart. It was our first season, we were really finding our footing, and that really difficult show to pull off and I feel like we were able to do it. So I’ll always be proud of that one.
SB: So, it’s not a secret that the arts, and artists in general, are being hit pretty hard economically by all the recommendations of social distancing and stay-at-home orders during this pandemic. What can patrons of the arts do to support artists and to support their local theaters?
KS: There’s a couple of ways I feel like you can do that. First of all, I mean, we have our show. We kind of made the decision that we wanted to provide something rather than nothing. If we were able to find a way to do that, we really wanted to do that. Most local arts organizations have donation pages you can go to and donate directly. As far as local artists, I would reach out to them. A lot of them have Etsy shops or have gig jobs or are visual artists that take commissions. That’s a great way to support them. Lastly, I would say, just talking about shows, particularly if there are streaming shows going on: Plan B‘s doing The Audacity, Ziegfeld is doing Newsies, SCERA just announced Peter Pan’s Great Adventure, Hale Orem is doing Daddy Long Legs, we are doing Odd Shaped Balls. I would encourage people, just talk about them. Get the word out. Even if you’re not able to watch or you’re not interested in watching, forward the news on because we really need the support right now to hopefully reopen again when the time comes. If we don’t get the support now, then it might just be too late for a lot of arts organizations, particularly at this moment.
SB: What made you choose Odd Shaped Balls as your show to stream?
KS: I have an interesting history with this show. I went on a study abroad with Utah Valley University in 2014 where we went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Our UVU company took our own show, and we were in a little venue. Typically, when you’re a part of a venue you get a venue pass and you’re able to see all the shows there for free, provided there’s space. There was a one-man show there called Odd Shaped Balls and I instantly fell in love with it. So I went back again, and then I brought more people and I went back again. I think I saw it four times. It’s a one-man show, so there were like five people in the audience every night. They noticed me. So after that last time, the actor who was in it came up to me and gave me a hug, like, “Hey, thanks for supporting us.” It was Chris Sheridan, and his brother Richard Sheridan was the writer and he was also there. I chatted with them for a bit, just about the show. I talked with him about the possibility of producing Odd Shaped Balls as a student produced show at UVU for my senior project, and Richard was very supportive of that. Fast forward to the night we had to cancel Trifles/A Number, we were thinking, “What can we stream? What can we do?” Instantly, Odd Shaped Balls came to mind. It’s a one-man show, no one has to get close to each other. So I emailed Richard and asked if he’d be interested. I think it was 9:00 PM Mountain time, so 3:00 AM there. Within 10 minutes, he answered. He said, “Yes, absolutely. I won’t charge any type of royalty. I want you to just make theater. All I ask is that you let me know how I can support you.” Just like that, we’re off to the races.
SB: That’s amazing, I hope I get a chance to see it.
KS: It is pick-your-price. We just want to get art out there where we can. If people are able to pay $1 we’d love that. If they’re in a place where they are financially stable and they want to help pitch in a little extra, that’s great too. Mostly we just wanted to provide something when everything’s kind of getting taken away.
SB: What can you tell our readers about the plot of the show?
KS: Odd Shaped Balls is about James Hall. He’s a rugby player for one of the minor league rugby clubs in the UK, and he has a secret boyfriend while he’s in a relationship with a woman. He’s not open about it. He’s never really identified as gay until he met this guy. At one point, he is outed on Twitter and the news media swarms in, his teammates aren’t sure what to do, his girlfriend has to deal with that, then his coach, and then it’s him coming to terms with himself, the situation, the toxic masculinity of the way that world works, and him just navigating through all of that, with this unsuspected swarm of attention that you’d never anticipate.
SB: What have you found to be the most difficult part of preparing to stream?
KS: There’s a lot of things. As far as the streaming aspects, specifically, there’s always the whole, “We’re putting together a one-man show, memorize that material, and prepare it in a short amount of time.” That’s its own thing. Then as far as streaming it, we made the decision not to actually do a live stream because those tend to be choppy. So we are doing a pre-recorded performance and making available to stream, which comes with its own set of challenges. It’s like it’s a film production, in a sense, and we aren’t film people.
SB: What’s your favorite part? What are you most excited about?
KS: I’m excited that we’re able to bring something to people when we’ve had to cancel Trifles/A Number. Honestly, I’m so in love with this script itself. I have been for years and it’s so unknown, but I’m just so glad that I get to bring it in a way that honestly has a nearly unlimited audience size. We’re usually limited to 48 people at any given time, where with this show we can have hundreds of people watching at once.
SB: Is there anything else that you want to share with our readers?
KS: I’d just like to stress how important it is for people to do what they can to try and support the theaters locally. There’s a lot of excitement about the National Theatre and Broadway shows providing free streaming. That’s all wonderful and great, I just don’t want people to forget about their local theaters who need their support as well. The National Theatre in London is supported by the government. They’re providing a wonderful service, but I would hope that people would still support their local theaters who, once this is all over, are going to be the people who can perform for them again. We just need to support all of the nonprofit theaters locally who we rely on for that art.
An Other Theater Company Presents Odd Shaped Balls by Richard D. Sheridan. (Streamed)
An Other Theater Company Towne Centre, 1200 Towne Centre Blvd, Provo, UT 84601
April 10-12, 2020, See Website for Streaming Time Availability
Tickets: Pay Your Price
An Other Theater Company Facebook Page
Odd Shaped Balls Facebook Event
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