Photo courtesy of The University of Tampa College of Arts and Letters.
Since the opening of the Ferman Center for the Arts, The Falk Theatre is hosting its first mainstage play, The Blue Planet, a story written for young audiences. UTampa’s rendition of The Blue Planet can be seen across three days and four showtimes.
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By Jacob Tomaneng
TAMPA, Fla. — On April 16–18, the University of Tampa Department of Theatre and Dance will put on its 2026 spring semester mainstage play, The Blue Planet, in the David Falk Theatre.
The Blue Planet is an original Icelandic play that has been reproduced all over the world. The story takes place on a blue planet, which is inhabited by children permanently in their youth who haven’t aged in hundreds of years. They maintain their age using a well of youth that is in each child’s heart, and since the blue planet is magical, the wells never run dry.
Throughout the plot, the children face internal conflict after receiving an opportunity to experience new ways to have fun. However, the new fun also leads to environmental consequences, causing a social divide between the children.
This production falls under the category of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), recommended for ages 7–10. Director Nicole Crowther is a professor of theatre at UTampa. Before she arrived at UTampa, Crowther also spent four years working with Creative Arts Theatre, the City of Tampa’s professional theatre company for young audiences.
“Children will always be your toughest crowd. They are the most honest audiences you can have,” said Crowther.
This is UTampa Theatre’s first mainstage TYA play, so on April 17, 9:30 a.m, 300 elementary students from the Rampello K-8 Magnet School will be packing the venue.
Falk Theatre has the greatest capacity of any campus performance space, containing 1,000 seats. However, since the Ferman Center for the Arts and its Black Box Theater opened in 2021, no mainstage play has been performed in Falk. The premiere of The Blue Planet is special, as it will be the first non-musical, theatre production to return to the Falk Theatre.
Crowther referred to the show as an “immersive style performance” because the entire theatre will be used. Audience members can expect to see puppets and cast members performing around their seats in addition to the stage.
The Cast of The Blue Planet rehearses for the premiere on April 16 at 8 p.m. Photo Courtesy of Elliana Gorecki.
Sophie Kuether, junior musical theater major, plays Hulda, a warrior and leader of the children on the blue planet.
“This show can be very difficult because it’s very physically active,” said Kuether. “We’re running around a lot, and the energy has to be on 100 percent the whole time.”
Kuether has played roles in three other shows during her time at UTampa. Chris Brookes, a freshman musical theater major and another lead actor in the production, will play the role of Brimir, a sensitive and caring child who can be mischievous at times. Brookes has experience with TYA shows before, as he was in The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane in Oct. 2025 with UTampa’s theatre honor society, Alpha Psi Omega.
“I think anyone who sees The Blue Planet will walk out of that theatre and say, ‘ Wow, I don’t know how they pulled that off,” said Brookes.
Admission is free at the door and open to the public, with showtimes at 8 p.m. on April 16, 9:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. on April 17, and at 3 p.m. on April 18.