by Phil Darg

Show Description

Sandwiched between apathetic students and an unresponsive administration at Folwell University, History lecturer Edward Hyard laments his powerless position and heavy workload. When student apathy and budget cuts cause him to snap, he confronts his students about their lack of engagement - leading to a resolution not just to study history, but to actually make history by pursuing social change at the college. The students - inspired by Hyard's historical examples - then start a project to undertake reform at Folwell. However, when the administration brushes aside their initial efforts, the project spins out of control and it becomes a protest that soon engulfs the entire university!

Running Time: ca. 100 minutes in two acts

Selected Songs:

• 02 - Climbin' On Up the Ivory Tower
  
• 03 - Academic Wasteland
  
• 04 - The Socratic Method
  
• 06 - Dissertation! Dissertation!
  
• 07- Publish or Perish
  
• 08 - And I'm Proud to Be a Republican Male
  
• 10 - We Can Do Anything!
  
• 12 - Start With Nothing
  
• 14 - Bricks and Mortar
  
• 15 - Occupy It!
  
• 16 - I Can't Hold On [excerpt]
  

Why Hyard Ed is a great choice for development and production:

• The show is fast-moving, the songs are melodic and short; the running time of the show itself is about 100 minutes
• The show can be performed with a cast of 12 actors (with some doubling for 17 speaking roles); more actors can be added if no doubling is used, and/or if a larger student chorus is desirable
• The show has significant popular appeal: a light comedy with an optimistic and energetic style, set in a contemporary context. The show is appropriate for general audiences
• The musical instrumentation is relatively simple, and can be played in full with a band of 5 persons (piano, keyboards, bass, drums. guitar); theoretically, it could also be played by a smaller ensemble, or even just a single pianist

Origins of the Show

Hyard Ed was conceived beginning in early 2013 in the wake of the advancement of Sasquatched! The Musical becoming a 2013 NYMF Next Link selection. The show itself was authored and developed between March 2013 and September 2017.

Hyard Ed was a 2019 semi-finalist for the B Street Theatre's New Comedies Festival (Sacremento, CA), and an excerpt from the piece was published in The Best Men's Monologues of 2019 (True Acting Institute).