Urinetown tells the dystopian story of city so affected by a drought that the citizens must pay to use public restrooms. The show ran at Bing Theatre from March 30 to April 5.
A musical that is pertinent to current social issues and expresses satirical humor with a dark twist, “Urinetown,” one of the USC School of Dramatic Arts’ spring productions, amazed the audience with impressive performances and stage design. The show was staged at Bing Theatre and ran from March 30 to April 5 and was live-streamed on selected days.
Written by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis and directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Practice Scott Faris, “Urinetown” takes place in a dystopian, drought-stricken city. To save water, the city worked with a private company and took extreme measures by requiring all citizens to use public restrooms for a steep fee. This forced the poor and oppressed people to start a revolution to change their situation. SDA’s rendition was quirky and entertaining while providing witty commentaries on serious societal issues including environmental protection, political corruption and corporate greed.
Students who participated in the production mentioned that “Urinetown” was one of the biggest productions that the University has done in quite some time. Ethan Clayton, a junior majoring in theatre with an emphasis on acting, believed this provided them with real professional experience.
“SDA hasn’t invested this much in a show in a really long time,” Clayton said. “It was really cool to get to be in a higher-budget, very technologically advanced show because it introduced us to what we will see professionally post-grad [and] really get familiar with that.”
“Urinetown,” with support from USC Visions & Voices, also broke new ground by including online streaming and a 360-degree virtual tour of the venue, offering audiences access to immersive experiences beyond the traditional stage.