“They can’t pee free in Urinetown.” This is a line from a real song in “Urinetown,” one of the musicals in this year’s University of Idaho theatre lineup.Written by Greg Kotis after seeing a pay-to-use toilet in Europe, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, there’s just as much potty humor as you’d expect.
The show previewed on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hartung Theatre on the UI campus. They’ve performed the show four times so far, with the rest of the showtimes occuring on Nov. 13, and 14 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday Nov. 15.
Opening with exposition from Officer Lockstock, played by Cory Williamson, the audience is told about a town where a 20-year water shortage has caused the government to impose water usage restrictions, leading to all toilets becoming controlled by the Urine Good Company (UGC), making them pay-to-use and unaffordable for some. Lockstock comes back often throughout the show to talk directly with the audience about what is happening, referencing the fact that it’s a musical in a meta way. His character helps reinforce what the director and choreographer, Jess Hirsh, said in her director’s note: “This is a show that is not intended to be realistic or subtle.”
The rest of the plot follows Bobby Strong, played by Jonson Brotnov, as he fails to stop the arrest of his father, Old Man Strong, played by Rylan Love, when he is taken away for public urination to the mysterious “Urinetown.” Bobby later meets the daughter of UGC President, Hope Cladwell, played by Elise Von Bargen, whom he falls in love with and who influences him to follow his heart. Being moved by Hope’s words and the arrest of his father, Bobby starts an uprising in his community against UGC. This eventually ends Bobby up in “Urinetown.”
All the actors do excellent jobs playing cartoonish, dramatic, and satirical characters. Hirsh commented on the importance of this absurdity to the show in her letter, saying “the show is an absolute feast of a playground for young actors to learn that making the big, bold choice is something that can lead to incredible character discovery and storytelling.” Even the costumes and set design were big and bold, with plenty of yellows and browns paired with other pops of color that show the dinginess the citizens live in while keeping the audience engaged in the world of “Urinetown.”
The props in the show played a huge part as well, enhancing that over-the-top spirit. When assistant prop designer for the show Jack Aitchison was asked what his favorite prop was by the Argonaut, he said, “The one that I thought was really funny to make was the ticket to Rio. I thought that was fun, or the cash suitcase.” Lead props designer Macy Korsten said that “The Bobby Puppet is pretty funny.” The ticket, suitcase, and puppet were just another layer of visual comedy on top of the humor found throughout all layers of the show. Bringing all parts of the production together enhanced the blatant satire of the story as well making it hard for the audience to not notice the themes in the show.
In the front of the house before “Urinetown,”, the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee also had a table set up that talked about the importance of the Palouse Basin Aquifer for the community as the source of drinking water for places on the Palouse. They also showed ways people can conserve water other than private toilets.
There are also two post-show talkbacks: one on Sunday, Nov. 8, directly after the show, where audience members could participate in a panel with the cast and crew of the production. As well as a Zoom discussion on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m., where Hirsh, the show’s costume designer, Abigail Mansfield Coleman and the Scenic Designer, Michael Brandit, go over sustainability within the production process.
In a closing thought after the show on Friday, Nov. 6, Atichison shared what was on his mind after watching “Urinetown,” saying, “The actors did an incredible job. I am so proud of every single person who’s worked on this production. Actors and designers, it’s been an incredible process, and everybody has worked so hard, and it shows.”
McKinley Forth can be reached at [email protected].