13
I n c i t e / I ns i ght
W i n te r 20 1 9
PIOS RESIDENCY WITH GLORIA BOND CLUNIE
AT TUACAHN SCHOOL OF THE ARTS.
was developed by Jordan Long
and his students at Liahona
Preparatory Academy in Pleasant
Grove, Utah. The playwright
reports, “The residency gave me
direction. It also gave me the
hearts of a wonderful cast, the
talent of a thoughtful director,
and an audience willing everyone
to succeed. They knew I wasn’t
there to scrutinize them – I was
there to scrutinize the play.”
Kyle Lewis, who hosted the
development of Gloria Bond
Clunie’s BLU at Tuacahn School
of the Arts in Ivins, Utah, relates,
“We engage in quite a bit of new
work development at Tuacahn,
but I think what this residency
showed us was the importance
of an outside voice. It’s easy
to get lost in local or school-
related issues, but to bring in
an outside voice with similar
yet different references and
experiences, and for that voice
to be as accomplished as Mrs.
Clunie, inspires us to search for
more opportunities like this in the
future.”
Kyle also notes that his students
“were able to share their work
with Gloria and ask questions
about how to overcome
writing obstacles that they had
encountered in the past. The
number of students that left the
experience interested in creating
future work was overwhelming.”
Over the last decade, the PIOS
residencies have been hosted
in Utah schools because a local
funder supports the program.
AATE would like to be able to
host additional PIOS residencies
in other regions if local funders
there could be identified. If a
national funding source could
be found, schools throughout the
United States could apply for the
program, as was the case during
its inaugural year.
Photo Credit: Kyle Lewis
John Newman taught and
directed theatre at Highland
High School in Salt Lake City
and is now an associate
professor of theatre at Utah
Valley University where he
directs the Theatre for Youth
and Education (TYE) Center.
His book Playwriting in
Schools: Dramatic Navigation
was just released by Intellect
Books and includes more
detailed descriptions of
the Utah Playwrights In Our
Schools residencies.