Acting professor Barta Heiner is retiring this year after spending the past 28 years developing the BFA acting program at BYU and impacting thousands of students’ lives for the better. Heiner was born in Ogden, but grew up in Canada and Arizona due to her father’s career in the LDS Church Education System. Heiner is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA and has performed in more than 100 productions including the recent movie “Once I Was A Beehive,” in which she played the part of Nedra. Read more at the Universe>>>>>

The BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts will present the epic, anti-war drama, Mother Courage and Her Children in the Pardoe Theater of the Harris Fine Arts Center, at 7:30 p.m., on March 17-19, 22-25, 28 and April 1, with 2 p.m. Saturday matinees on March 19 and 26.

There was one important characteristic Director Julia Ashworth was looking for in the student actor playing the lead role in BYU Arts' newest production, The Taste of Sunrise. He needed to be deaf. This month at BYU, the Department of Theatre and Media Arts is putting on a bilingual contemporary drama — opening on March 10 for a 13-show run in the Harris Fine Arts Center's Margetts Theatre — where every line spoken will also be signed. Every character has a shadow signer: an actor who moves and acts with him or her on stage and signs all the lines in American Sign Language. The lead role of Tuc — a man struggling to navigate the path of loss, love and language in his silent world — is played by Ben Featherstone. Feathersone is deaf, but wears a cochlear implant so that he can read lips and hear vibrations. Two other cast members are also hard of hearing: David Hampton (who plays Dr. Grindly Mann and other characters) and Jason Keeler (who plays Roscoe). Many of the cast members are fluent in ASL or have taken ASL classes at BYU. Set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in Illinois, this award-winning drama explores the cultural complexities of deafness with great humor and compassion. Ashworth hopes this significant story will provide equal access to hearing, deaf and hard of hearing audiences in the community. 'I feel privileged to bring together deaf, hard of hearing and hearing actors to find the best way to tell this significant story,' said Ashworth. 'Producing The Taste of Sunriseaddresses issues of equality that are important to me as a theatre artist.' Acting is a new experience for Featherstone. He took on this role to prove to himself that being deaf isn't a limitation. He hopes that when the audience sees him on stage they will feel empowered as well. 'It doesn’t matter if you’re deaf, or if you’re hearing,' said Featherstone. 'What matters is that you are important in God’s eyes. There is no difference, we’re all equal. That’s the message I would share with the world.' The Taste of Sunrise is the second play in Suzan Zeder’s critically acclaimed Ware Trilogy, which will be presented throughout the year in its entirety in partnership with Utah Valley University. Tickets are $8-14, with discounts available for alumni, students, employees, senior citizens and groups. Tickets can be purchased in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com. PHOTO: The Taste of Sunrise: Katie Hyatt, Emma Flynn; Jake Earnest, Jonas Tucker; Katie Jarvis, Nell Hicks; Ben Featherstone, Tuc; Brittni Henretty, Dr. Alexis Graham; Abbie Craig, Maizie. Photography by Mark A. Philbrick/BYU Photo. Copyright BYU Photo 2016. All Rights Reserved. Performance Dates: March 10—12, 16—19 and 22—25 Times: 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday March 19 and 26 Location: Margetts Theatre, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU Price: $8-14 (discounts for senior citizens, BYU students, groups and alumni) Tickets: Available in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com

The BYU Young Company will present William Shakespeare’s comic masterpiece Twelfth Night with a western twist in the Nelke Theatre of the Harris Fine Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Feb. 3-5, 10-12, with matinees on Feb. 6 and 13, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $7, with discounts available for alumni, students, employees, senior citizens and groups. Tickets can be purchased in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com. Shakespeare’s poetry meets rip-roaring action and high-faultin song and dance in this cowboy version of Twelfth Night. Directed by Megan Sanborn Jones and adapted by Rick Curtiss, this production encourages audience members of all ages to look beneath outward appearances and value people for the qualities they have on the inside. “In our production, we decided to foreground this imagined world by presenting our 2016 Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night via a 1950’s vision of the nineteenth century west,” said Jones. “We take you back to this time that never existed–a fitting tribute, we believe– with Shakespeare’s topsy-turvy homage to a world where anything can happen.” Other production members include Amanda Welch as choreographer, Julia Ashworth as Young Company producer, Becky Wallin as Young Company managing director, Dayne Joyner as production stage manager, Rory Scanlon as scenic designer, Alyssa Bybee as costume designer, Sarah Stewart as makeup designer, Scott Jackson as props designer, Christian Riboldi as dramaturge, and Franny Gleave and Karlee Savage as assistant stage managers. Cast members include Sherry Kopischke as Viola/Cesario, Andrew Smith as Sebastian, Cameron Bridston as Feste, Savanah Smith as Olivia, Scott Jackson as Duke Orsino, Costner Henson as Malvolio, Olivia Ockey as Maria and Jacob Baird as Sir Toby Belch. PHOTO: Oliva (Savanah Smith, left) and Duke Orsino (Scott Jackson, right) fight over Cesario (Sherry Kopischke, center). BYU Young Company production of Twelfth Night. Photo by Jaren Wilkey/BYU. © BYU PHOTO 2016. All Rights Reserved. Performance Dates and Times: Feb. 3-5, 10-12, at 7 p.m. Matinees at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Feb. 6 and 13. Location: Nelke Theatre, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU Price: $7 (discounts for senior citizens, BYU students, groups and alumni) Tickets: Available in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com