BYU’s International theatre Festival Off the Map Returns for Its Fifth Season

This year’s festival brings in two theatre productions from the U.K.   For the fifth year running, Brigham Young University presents Off the Map, its international theatre festival. This year, the festival brings two innovative theatre productions, “The Other Mozart” and “The Man Who Planted Trees,” to the Harris Fine Arts Center’s stages, both of which utilize unique set pieces and interesting subject matter. The Off The Map Festival is one of my favorite weeks every year,” said Bridget Benton, curator of the Off the Map festival and BYU’s Bravo! Series. “These plays aren’t seen in massive performance spaces, and are often unknown.  Yet, their role in challenging us, generating thought and enlisting us to examine things differently is a commonality shared by all of these works.” “The Other Mozart,” one of the  shows running during this year’s festival, was written by Sylvia Milo, who also performs the lead role. The play unfolds the story of Mozart’s sister, a musical genius largely forgotten by history. “Sylvia crafted the text for this piece based on correspondences that Mozart had with his sister,” said Benton. “His letters to her were saved and preserved for posterity, however, none of the letters that Nannerl Mozart wrote were preserved. Sylvia combed through Mozart’s responses to his sister to gain a deeper insight into what might have been contained in her letters, and to fill in her story which has been lost to history.” “The Other Mozart” relies on a minimalist set and cast to tell the story. The one-woman show’s only set piece consists of an 18-foot dress and a corset, which Sylvia Milo wears during the show. “‘The Other Mozart’ is one of the most thought-provoking pieces of theatre I have seen in the last year,” Benton added. “It challenged me to think about expectations, ambition and desires.” The other show presented at Off the Map is “The Man Who Planted Trees,” a show that combines live action and puppet performances into one show. “This wonderful show featuring puppetry and live action is sure to capture the hearts of young and old audience members alike,” Benton said. “The Man Who Planted Trees” tells the story of a shepherd who, with the help of his dog, reforests a desolate area of the French Alps in the early 20th century. Over the years, as world wars rage and trouble brews, they work together to make the world a better and more beautiful place. Puppets are used during the course of the play, the most notable of which is the puppet used to portray the shepherd’s dog. Three movable platforms are used as stages for the puppets, and are shifted throughout to represent changes in setting. More information about the Off the Map festival can be found here.