UGA Theatre opens the season with “Everybody,” written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by J.L. Reed.
Performances will be held in the Cellar Theatre of the Fine Arts Building on Sept. 20-21 and 25-28 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. A ticketed preview performance will be held on Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18, $6 for students and can be reserved at ugatheatre.com/everybody or by phone at 706-542-4400 or in person at the Performing Arts Center or Tate Center box offices.
From Tony Award-winning playwright Jacobs-Jenkins, writer of “An Octoroon” and “Appropriate,” “Everybody,” is a modern adaptation of the 15th century morality tale “Everyman,” which itself is thought to be an adaptation of an earlier Dutch play, “Elckerlijc.” Despite its archaic origins, however, Jacobs-Jenkins imbues the script with a contemporary edge that maintains faithfulness to the source material while targeting a modern audience.
“I don’t really know what any of that was, but, again, it was based on something very very very old so please be respectful,” says a character near the end of the show, distilling its wryly comedic tone to its essence.
Everybody, the show’s titular stand-in for humanity at large, is called upon by Death to make their final journey. Everybody meets myriad metaphorical figures along the way — Stuff, Kindness, Senses and Love to name a few — and is forced to contend with the age-old question of what truly matters once the end is near.
Reflecting its focus on the unpredictability of both life and death, the script calls for the cast of “Somebodies” to be assigned a new role for each performance based on a lottery system. Each performer is therefore required to know every role in the show, only discovering their assignment once they are on stage. To give the performers ample time to memorize their lines, UGA Theatre’s production was cast at the end of the spring 2024 semester.
“It’s definitely a big undertaking,” said senior theatre major Olivia Vicos. “Coming in at the beginning of the year and going straight into rehearsal was intimidating at first, but with less time devoted to learning lines we were able to hone in on our characters more deeply.”
As an adaptation of an adaptation, “Everybody” serves as an appropriate kickoff for UGA Theatre’s 2024-2025 season, which features four productions inspired by preexisting works. November will see the Fine Arts Theatre stage adorned in 1980s splendor for the musical production of “9 to 5,” with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and book by Patricia Resnick.
In February 2025, “John Proctor is the Villain” opens in the Cellar Theatre. Set in rural Georgia, Kimberly Belflower’s play depicts the ways in which a high school class assignment on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” raises uncomfortable questions amid the school’s salacious rumor mill.
March will feature the annual New Georgia Award show, an original work titled “The Art of Noticing” by undergraduate Dyllon Glaze.
Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” will close out the season in April 2025, helmed by “Little Shop of Horrors” director Daniel B. Ellis. Ken Ludwig’s stage adaptation of the seminal mystery depicts the untimely demise of an American tycoon aboard an opulent passenger train and the subsequent investigation to discover the perpetrator.