LOGAN – While rehearsals are underway for its mid-April main-stage production of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, the Theatre Arts Program at Utah State University will offer a play-reading of Tiny Beautiful Things for local audiences.
Adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos, that play is based on the 2012 self-help book Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed.
The adaptation will be read by USU Theatre Arts students at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 29 and Saturday, Mar. 30 in the intimate Black Box Theatre.
The book Tiny Beautiful Things was a collection of essays from “Dear Sugar”, which was Strayed’s advice column on The Rumpus, an online literary magazine.
Strayed was still a struggling writer when she was asked in 2010 to take over the unpaid, anonymous position of advice columnist for the publication. In that role, Strayed found her own voice, using empathy and her personal experiences to help those seeking guidance for obstacles both large and small.
As “Sugar,” Strayed responded to anonymous questions with searing honesty.
Critics praised her for drawing on her own life experiences in her letters and sharing them in explicit detail, both the good and the bad.
Strayed’s advice has lived on long after Sugar’s columns in The Rumpus ended in 2012. Her thoughts were collected first in the book of the same name that year, followed by the debut of Vardalos’ stage adaptation off-Broadway in 2016. The advice column also inspired a television show on Hulu and a podcast.
Vardalos’ stage adaptation of Tiny Beautiful Things includes a heartfelt compilation of three columns chosen by Strayed, including both her personal favorites and most popular essays from a diverse range of advice-seekers.
The letters to “Dear Sugar” are epistolary vignettes rather than dialogue and interaction between characters, yet this adaptation has drawn praise from critics as far away as Australia for capturing the urgency and compassion of the original columns.
The USU Theatre Arts program describes Tiny Beautiful Things as “a play about reaching when you’re stuck, healing when you’re broken and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answers.”
The play readings are slated for 7:30 p.m. nightly on Mar. 29 and 30 in the Black Box Theatre of the Chase Fine Arts Center.
Admission to Tiny Beautiful Things is free, but patrons are advised that seating in the Black Box Theatre is limited.