UT will stream spring play online for free to public

The University of Tampa was originally scheduled to do live, in-theater performances of Richard Wilbur’s English verse translation of Molière’s Les Femmes Savantes (The Learnéd Ladies) between Thursday, March 26, and Sunday, March 29, but the global pandemic has caused UT to change its plans.

Rather than cancel the production entirely, UT will now offer a free, virtual production of the play, a staged reading performed remotely by the students from their computers and streamed through Zoom conferencing software on opening night: Thursday, March 26, at 8 p.m. This streamed, virtual performance will be recorded, and the recording will be played during the successive nights of Friday, March 27, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 28, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 29, at 2 p.m.

“All entire production members are thrilled to be able to stream our performance of The Learnéd Ladies remote and live, thanks to the generosity and support from Dramatists Play Service. For over a month, our student actors, crew and designers worked diligently and skillfully to prepare a traditional stage presentation before a live attending audience,” says Robert Gonzalez, associate professor of speech, theatre and dance and the director of the play. “While streaming with actors performing from their computers is not the ideal venue, nevertheless the students will now be able to share their talents with as wide a virtual audience as possible. Our university is proud to produce a work of art that will demonstrate that this crisis will not silence or defeat the human spirit.”

David Gudelunas, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, says that even though the season of recitals, performances, exhibits, screenings, lectures and everything else that make the College of Arts and Letters so vibrant was cut short, “the faculty and students are creative, technologically adventurous and resilient, and they know that the show must go on. This is a wonderful example of that.

“Faculty throughout the College of Arts and Letters are working to bring some normalcy to this very unusual semester by exploring new ways to celebrate the arts and creativity in ways that also protect the health of faculty and staff,” says Gudelunas. “The arts are so important to the health of a community, and we are doing our part.”

This link will allow anyone to view one of the four presentations. 

• Thursday, March 26, at 8 p.m. (live)
• Friday, March 27, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, March 28, at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, March 29, at 2 p.m.

Alex Amyot, a technical production coordinator in the Department of Speech, Theater, and Dance, went from working lights and sound in the Falk Theatre to facilitating the online presentation using tools supplied through the University’s Office of Information Technology and Security.

For more information about the performance, email Robert Gonzalez.

Eric Cárdenas is Director of Public Information at The University of Tampa, a private university located on 110 acres on the riverfront in downtown Tampa. Known for academic excellence, personal attention, and real-world experience in its undergraduate and graduate programs, the University serves approximately 10,000 students from 50 states and about 130 countries. For more information, visit UT’s website.