CEDAR CITY — The Tony Award Winning Utah Shakespeare Festival is well-known for its exciting musicals, emotionally riveting plays, great humor, and exciting pre-show entertainment such as the Greenshow, Play Seminars, and even backstages tours. What is not as well known is the annual Words Cubed, where the festival takes their audiences on a journey to look at two staged readings of new works, seeking out new stories and talent, helping us not only spend time with the great writers of the past, but also foster the writers of the future.
The first entry into 2026’s Words Cubed series was a show called Morphology, written by New England playwright Jillian Blevins. The setting is described as a small city or large suburb in a landlocked state. The cast consisted of four players, Claudia played by Kathryn Tkel, Nico played by Jacob Rosengren, and Arlene played by Evelyn Carol Case. The last player was Chloe McLeod, who read the stage directions.
If you have never attended a staged reading, it is a very interesting experience. The players sit on stage with their scripts, and the action is not fully realized. Because of this, one person, in this case McCleod, reads the stage directions to help give a fuller picture of what would happen if the show was fully produced.
While this was a staged reading, the direction by Patrick Vest and the beautiful writing by Blevins had me forgetting at many times that this was not a full production. The story follows Tkel as Claudia, a single mother who dropped out of grad school to raise Nico, a non-verbal yet very intelligent teenage young man on the autism spectrum. Nico loves reading science magazines, and gets lost in the world of oceanic ecosystems, something that makes a lot more sense than the confusing neurotypical world.
During the day, Claudia works at the bank, and sometimes she has to call for help from her mother, Arlene, played by Case. Arlene worries about her daughter and does not understand the ecosystem that Nico and Claudia have developed.
As a theatre critic, one of the most common questions I ask as I walk into a performance is, “Why this story now?” This often has a different answer based on the story being told. If the show I am seeing is a community production of the Music Man, and it has been produced five times already this year in the state, the reason is going to be different than a new play. In this case, Blevins answered my question with her powerful story.
As a therapist, one who has a background in disability and diversity studies, a parent of several children who are neurodivergent, and someone who is neurodivergent myself, I found several personal why’s within the story. One of the most beautiful moments was when Tkel as Claudia discussed going to a support group for moms, and she felt out of place because she did not feel she could actually share how she really feels. She could not say how hard it is to be a mom of special needs, and the true challenges she faces. I know that I have helped clients through dark, challenging days where they have shared very similar thoughts in the safety of my office. The real, raw, deep sorrow of that moment was beautiful.
Rosengren as Nico did such a great job showing the balance between a non-verbal person, and entering the space where the audience got to enter into his mind. The way Nico and Claudia interacted without words also showed the amazing ability of these two actors to work together. Scenes like this made me long for a fully realized production, yet I felt like the performance was well worth the price of admission, and I was quite glad to be there.
I loved the initial entrance line of Arlene, and Case delivered it so well, “Something is wrong with that boy.” The level of judgment was felt throughout the theater, and that is something that a parent of a child with a disability deals with all the time. Arlene’s character arch was important, because she did begin to feel very much like a villain, so I was glad to see a moment where she was able to have a monologue where she explains more of her inner thoughts.
I hope to follow Blevins as this play grows. As the show ended, one of the strongest lines of the show was when Claudia says, “The world is built for one kind of person…” Nico through the magic of communication at the end says in response, “That is what adaptation is for.” I for one cannot wait to see more adaptations of Morphology.
MORE INFO: The Words Cubed Series for this year at the Utah Shakespeare Festival has ended. For information about all the other shows at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, please visit bard.org.
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