UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY
The Secret Garden
By Pamela Sterling
Adapted from the book by Francis Hodgson Burnett
Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois
April 3-4, 7-11, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Student Theatre
CAST
Mary Lennox
Martha Sowerby
Mrs. Medlock
Ben Weatherstaff
Dickon Sowerby
Archibald Craven
Colin Craven
Doctor Craven
Robin Voice for Robin
Ensemble
Ensemble
Ensemble
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer
Director
Production Manager
Dialect Coach
Stage Manager
Scenic Designer
Props Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Assistant Stage Manager
Assistant Costume Designer
Assistant Costume Designer
Production Assistant
Production Assistant
Pre & Post Show Music
Harper Clayton
Jenni Ness-Ward
Madel McKinnon
Isaiah Micah Stotesbery
Garrett Frazier
Cooper Garett
Jaxton Romeo Brenner
Hunter Hogan
Mikenzie McIntyre
Taylor Porcelli
Emma Hurst
Fio Pulido
Isabelle Purdie
La Beene
Rodger Sorensen
Shannon Hutchins
Steven Rimke
Alexis Sanders
Sydney Peterson
Cam McBride
La Beene
Tyler Bendixsen
Cilla Harrison
Malena Call
Charity Burnett
Caleb Voss
Eryn Hales
Cam McBride
PRODUCTION SUPPORT
Stagecraft 1 Lab Students
Katie Robison, Charlotte Hatch, Miley Lewis, Gavin McLelland, Levi Nuttall, Avery Rindlisbach, Gemma Valentine, Kamille Odom, Aleah Ostler, Sky Seivane, Maurs Squires, Dorathy Chambers, EJ Lewis, Ashton Skolmoski, Emma Tyson, Sienna Angerbauer, Landon Dee, Sara Glover, Cade Snarr, Mia Clark, Carisa Kentish, Claire Mallory, Madison Arrington, Ashley Downs, Grant Hocker, Gabriel Shafizadeh, Katie Wakefield, Natalie Savage, Chloe Ashby, Gracie Griffin, Kennadi Hill, Ethan Nielsen, Lili Torres Ramirez, Evan De Buck, Thais Hilton, Julia Kerr, Moira McLean, Sabrina Salgado
Intro to Design Lab Students
Mariah Cramer, Madison Dowd, Braden Johnston, Gage Maw, Meg Nielsen, MJ North, Sage Godley, Dominic Guzman, Garrett Roblyer, Dallin Southwick, Liam Quarnberg
PRODUCTION CREW
159R Student Crew
Megan Gwilliam
Charlotte Hatch
Samuel MacDonald
Gage Maw
Gavin Mclelland
Aaron Sticht
DIRECTORS NOTE
The Secret Garden is a place of magic, where love is discovered, where springtime blossoms into beauty, and where Colin realizes he will “life forever!”
Fredrick Neitsche once wrote, "Man's maturity is to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play."
When my first grandchild was three years old, often on a Sunday after dinner, we played together. One evening, it was circus time! Ali was a ballerina, the living room our ring, and I her horse. She sang and danced on my back as I crawled around the room, jumping couch cushions for hurdles. After about fifteen minutes, I told Ali that I was too tired to continue. Hopping off my back and taking my face between her hands, she looked deep into my eyes and said with total conviction, "Believe!"
How can we embrace that kind of maturity, authenticity, and like children, genuinely play? That question is at the heart of our story. Come, it’s playtime! Blankets become mounds of dirt in hidden gardens, a ladder becomes a wall, stuffed animals become woodland creatures, black boxes become trains and coaches and beds and tables and chairs and wheelbarrows and trees . . . All it takes is imagination and believing!
Is it possible for adults to tell simple, truthful stories in imaginative ways, without relying on technology, elaborate sets, and amazing special effects? Can such stories transport us all into that genuine place where children seriously play? Let's find out. Pretend it’s Sunday evening. Pretend this classroom is a train, a marvelous mansion filled with bedrooms, hallways lined with paintings of family figures, a secret garden where beauty comes to life! Come, play with us. Believe!
—Rodger Sorensen
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