My friend Jen loves dogs. And dogs love her. Over the years in which I’ve been lucky to know Jen and call her a friend, she has fostered many, many dogs—lovingly called her pack. One day I ran into her on the street near Liberty Park while she […]
Melissa Leilani Larson’s new play Mestiza, or Mixed is a work that brings together all of the complicated facets of Larson as a person refracted through her characteristically arresting turns of phrase. It tells the story of Lark, a queer, Asian American filmmaker seeking her big break and […]
“What a tremendously hostile world a rat must endure. Yet not only does he survive, he thrives. And the reason for this is because our little foe has an instinct for survival and preservation second to none. And that, Monsieur, is what a Jew shares with a rat.” […]
There is one topic du jour that seems repetitive: devout Mormons, lapsed Mormons, non-Mormons, all appear concerned lately (belatedly) with LGBT rights in the LDS Church. Books like the Mormon mystery His Right Hand by Mette Ivie Harrison, so many newspaper articles and letters to the editor, and […]
I had forgotten she plays the drums. Or that she once wrote the Itty Bitty Salt Lake City feature for the Deseret News. Amazing what you discover while researching a piece on someone you thought you already knew a lot about. Elaine Jarvik is a woman of numerous […]
Been there, done that. Many of us have, I’m sure. “I don’t know the title or the author but I can kinda tell you what the cover looks like. Can you find it for me?” “Well, why can’t you call Barnes and Noble to see if they […]
A husband, his wife – and a sister wife: not such a peculiar scenario in Utah. But LDS Church mandated? Again? That’s the intriguing premise of Plan-B Theatre’s excellent world-premiere play, “Pilot Program.” Set in 2019, the plot centers around a hopelessly childless middle-aged LDS couple who are […]
Grant Fuhst had an idea. He and his wife love attending Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City, so last year he asked the company’s director, Jerry Rapier, if he would be willing to provide season tickets if Fuhst agreed to design the playbills for the company’s 2014-15 season. […]
Family Home Evening it isn’t. But Eric Samuelsen’s world premiere “3” at Plan B Theatre Company is still as Mormon as it gets. That doesn’t mean anyone of any belief system won’t enjoy it immensely. But it will help if you’ve spent some time in Utah. These are three […]
ACT I Eric Samuelsen enters stage right. He’s a broad man with keenly intelligent eyes and an infectious smile. Samuelsen looks surprised to be here. He’s a playwright after all, not an actor. ERIC: Choosing not to act was not a difficult call. He laughs good-naturedly. ERIC: It […]
These broad questions are made digestible because they’re addressed through the experiences of a unique character, Eric. The audience is brought on a striking journey as they learn about Eric, who has recently left behind his life as Erica. His story is compelling not because he is transgender […]
What does it mean to be a man? Plan-B Theatre Company’s resident playwright, Matthew Ivan Bennett, tackles this complex question in his latest work and world-premiere Eric(a). A one-person play that directly engages the audience as participants, Eric(a) is a thought provoking piece filled with challenging questions about […]
Diamonds are a modern tenth-anniversary present, but that seems too unoriginal for Plan-B’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. What would be the right thing for a fantastically outrageous play that bills itself as, “Sex, drag, and rock ‘n roll. The anatomically incorrect, glam-rock musical”? For starters, […]
Twenty-four hours. Five playwrights. Five directors. Fifteen actors. This is the tried and true recipe for Slam, an annual production by Plan-B Theatre Company. In twenty-three hours, five short original plays grow from infancy to full maturity. The twenty-fourth hour is when the audience is invited in to the Jeanne […]
Randy Rasmussen’s new 20 foot painting “Woodside” is smaller than what he’s used to working with. As Technical Director for both Plan B Theatre and Kingsbury Hall his usual canvas is the size of a stage, a scale he’s been working with since his days at Jordan High […]
A review of Eric Samuelsen’s Borderlands, the sold-out play now at Plan B Theatre.
If you hear a riveting chorus of: “Brekekekex! Brekekekex! Ko-ax, ko-ax!” and you didn’t sign up for an evening of Aristophanes, you would be correct in thinking you are in store for another intelligent play from Plan-B Theatre Company. Eric Samuelsen’s AMERIGO is a wicked mixture of “The […]
WALLACE comprises two solo plays about Salt Lake City’s hometown boy, Wallace Stegner (1909-93), and its homeboy (if we only knew it), Wallace Thurman (1902-34). Though Thurman was born here and Stegner in Iowa, both were connected to Utah (even attending the U of U) and both were […]
