In a world where “water is worth its weight in gold” due to a 20-year drought, Urine Good Company controls the rights of citizens’ use of water, and the government has banned the use of private toilets so no one can use the restroom freely.
In a futuristic world, a greedy corporation holds a monopoly on water and forces its citizens to pay a price for the right to pee.
The dark comedy Urinetown explores the question of sustainability in a dystopian society. As the first mainstage production of Spring Semester, the musical will be performed for two weeks at 8 p.m. in the Forum Theater in the Radio-Television Building.
In a world where “water is worth its weight in gold” due to a 20-year drought, Urine Good Company controls the rights of citizens’ use of water, and the government has banned the use of private toilets so no one can use the restroom freely. Facing violence and fear perpetrated by the police, the poor come together to rise against that injustice.
The show, an equal display of acting and musical talent, required close collaboration between the Division of Theater and the School of Music. Daniel C. Dennis, a visiting professor of voice and movement in the Division of Theater, directs the show. The cast includes students from both the Division of Theater and the School of Music, and a pit accompanies each live performance.
“What’s really wonderful about it is that the moments that are heightened emotionally are the musical ones,” Kristin Conrad, who plays Penelope Pennywise, said.
Conrad, a first-year graduate actor, said music adds another layer of complexity to the show and requires more collaboration among actors.
Jarahme Pollock, who plays the rebellion's idealistic leader Bobby Strong, said it was a great opportunity to both learn from and teach the music students.
The show’s humor stems, in part, from the characters’ ironic awareness of the musical aspect of their story. Described as a meta-musical, the show is self-referential.
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The narrator, Officer Lockstock, often interjects to poke fun at the audience, as well as the writers of the show. He teaches Little Sally the true pessimistic nature of the world. After all, he says dreams only come true in happy musicals, and Urinetown is in fact not one of them.
Pollock, a senior studying theater performance, said the cast had to give into the melodrama of the show by perfecting gasps, dramatics and timing.
But Urinetown has more than comedy on its side. A budding romance injects heart into the sometimes bleak story.
The show’s set and use of lighting present a full world on the stage. The set consists of tunnels and alleyways, allowing the audience to explore the city in which the characters live, Pollock said. An array of clean, colorful hues used in the rich parts of city contrast the dirty yellow-green lighting of Public Amenity No. 9, the setting of Bobby’s revolution.
“This show in particular has got to be a lighting designer’s dream,” Conrad said.
In keeping with the theme of the College of Fine Arts' year-long series “EARTH: Arts in the Anthropocene,” the play connects to current environmental struggles. Pollock paralleled the story of the musical to the drought in California and the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
“I think that the show speaks to the overuse and abuse of the resources we have. The human race takes everything we have for granted,” Pollock said. “But it’s not necessarily our right to squander (the resources).”
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