Penny Caywood performing in Youth Theatre’s production of “Señora Tortuga” by Roxanne Schroeder-Arce at the Theatre of the World Festival in San Diego, 2006.

WRITTEN BY AARON ASANO SWENSON

If Youth Theatre at the U’s (YTU) website had a directory, it would contain one listing: “Caywood, P.” Since 2006, Penny Caywood has served as Artistic Director, Program Manager, and lead teaching artist. She directs productions, handles marketing, maintains the website, manages the social media, runs YTU’s summer sessions and year-round classes, and occasionally coordinates travel: every year, students from her award-winning Conservatory program head to the Utah Shakespeare Festival Competition. In 2019, they took “Death of the American Teenager” — a student-written show about lockdowns and gun violence — to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. When she isn’t facilitating new work, she’s writing it: not only for YTU, but also an original show for every class partnership. She’s written more than 400 of these since 2004.

There’s more, of course. It’s nearly impossible not to leave something out. It’s also nearly impossible to overstate the impact: conservatively speaking, YTU serves over 1,800 students annually. Some remain involved from elementary school through high school and beyond. YTU’s variety of classes, flexible approach, and range of opportunities make it impossible to outgrow. 

“How I Became a Pirate” at Salt Lake Acting Company directed by Penny Caywood and featuring Michael Tao, a YTU student.

All of these factors make youth theatre successful. Caywood’s influence makes it extraordinary. The experience is surprisingly personal; YTU meets students where they are because of her profound interest in who they are. They don’t have to wait to be taken seriously, or to benefit from theatre’s greatest gifts: empathy, self-worth, curiosity, collaboration, the importance of possibility, the possibility of joy. By exploring other characters, we see ourselves more clearly. The more we understand our own stories, the better equipped we are to tell them, and to change them.

Penny Caywood adjusting Piper Salazar’s costume prior to performing at the annual Utah Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare Competition.

There’s no question that “Penny” and “Youth Theatre” are inextricably linked: for most of her tenure, Caywood has been YTU’s only full-time employee. The impact of COVID-19 guarantees that this won’t change anytime soon; in spite of its reputation, its importance to the Arts Teaching Program, and her own stature as a leader in her field, YTU covers all of its own bills — including Caywood’s salary. Aside from employer-paid benefits for their only employee, Youth Theatre at the U is entirely self-funded.

But that’s not without great support, and Caywood is never fully alone. Phenomenal instructors, student leaders, friends, family, and community partners are part of YTU’s breath and blood. But the potential for growth remains. Without stable funding, even simple, urgent goals — compiling her plays for use by other educators, re-hiring an assistant, securing transportation for school tours and outreach — are merely dreams. Every minute Caywood spends chasing funds is a minute taken away from students who are here, now.

After COVID-19 shut them down, YTU’s online programs were up and running within two weeks.

Caywood understands the importance of continuity and connection. People understand themselves better because Youth Theatre at the U — and Penny Caywood — showed them what you can learn by being someone else:

If you make space, no one has to worry about fitting in. You are worth taking seriously, no matter how old you aren’t. Find joy and make memories; if you get lost, they can lead you back. Your story deserves to be told, and someone is listening. Being human is lonely. Growing up is rough. No one should have to do it alone. ▪