Theatre

A prized chamber theater jewel: Outstanding acting invigorates Plan-B Theatre’s production of Melissa Leilani Larson’s Bitter Lemon

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The two actors in the fabulous Plan-B Theatre production of Melissa Leilani Larson’s Bitter Lemon persuade the audience to reconsider Shakespeare’s Macbeth, not just as a chronicle about the fatalistic machinations of power but also as the moral conflict about good and evil. This conflict is manifested in Larson’s character creations of Lady Helen Macduff … Read more

Enemy fiction: Melissa Leilani Larson’s Bitter Lemon set for Plan-B Theatre’s (sort of) world premiere this week

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In February, Plan-B Theatre mounted a world premiere production of Balthazar, Debora Threedy’s fresh reimagining of The Merchant of Venice’s Portia. As The Utah Review noted at the time, Threedy’s play is a well-crafted piece of fan fiction. In her two-hander script, she successfully sustained the broader integrity of Shakespeare’s literary world while reconfiguring characters … Read more

Setting the bar of theatrical excellence in a history-making moment for Utah theater: Pioneer Theatre Company christens Meldrum Theatre with The Lehman Trilogy, powered by virtuosic acting

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When the history of 21st century theater in Utah is written, it will be noted that actor Jeff Talbott, in the role of Henry Lehman, spoke the first words in performance on the thrust stage of the new Meldrum Theatre at The University of Utah. It also will be noted that Talbott, along with actors … Read more

A brief but significant note: The omission of the history of slavery in The Lehman Trilogy

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A friend who works in many roles in the performing arts community joined me for the opening of The Pioneer Theatre Company’s Utah premiere production of The Lehman Trilogy in The University of Utah’s new Meldrum Theatre. He agreed with the assessment in the accompanying review at The Utah Review, especially regarding the outstanding performances … Read more

Pioneer Theatre Company set to christen new Meldrum Theatre with Utah premiere of The Lehman Trilogy

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A new chapter for both the The University of Utah’s 85-year-old Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse and Pioneer Theatre Company opens this week with the Meldrum Theatre, Salt Lake City’s newest venue for chamber theater, being christened by the Utah premiere of the Tony Award winning The Lehman Trilogy. The run opens March 29. “It is the … Read more

Utah-based In The Now Productions releases astute, sensitive, heartfelt film featuring The Gaza Monologues

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Childhood is sacred, as one of the young Palestinian contributors to The Gaza Monologues stated. But, the evidence of how that humanitarian principle has been and continues to be denied to the children of Gaza is reiterated and reinforced continuously in the dozens of short monologues that were created by Ashtar Theatre in 2010, after … Read more

Utah’s first professional mounting of Bonnie & Clyde musical is stupendous in Pioneer Theatre Company production

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The 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde was one of New Hollywood’s best artistic triumphs, in setting the story of two Great Depression Era rural bandits to reflect upon the social and cultural attitudes of the Sixties. Arthur Penn, who directed the Academy Award winning film, talked about why he was drawn to the story of two … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere of Debora Threedy’s Balthazar is a crown jewel of intimate chamber theater

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Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere production of Debora Threedy’s Balthazar is a crown jewel of intimate chamber theater, in every measure. Directed by Cheryl Ann Cluff, the 70-minute production is gratifying in the finest sense, with Threedy’s well-grounded fanfiction take on Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice, the ebullient elegance of Lily Hye Soo Dixon and Jason … Read more

Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick receives smartly directly, solidly acted regional premiere at Salt Lake Acting Company

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Rich in metaphors rooted in fantasy, Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick opens up a compelling creative perspective on the taboos, stigmas and the silence of avoidance when someone realizes they have been diagnosed with a serious illness. Desperate to conceal the stigma of his debilitating illness and avoid telling those who know him, a … Read more

PYGmalion Theatre Company’s golden run in chamber theater excellence continues with exceptional production of Julie Jensen’s Last Lists of My Mad Mother

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PYGmalion Theatre Company has been on a golden run in recent productions stretching to last season and its latest featuring Julie Jensen’s Last Lists of My Mad Mother is stellar in every measure.  Directed by Morag Shepherd, this one-act gem is carried by the perfect chamber theater ensemble chemistry of actors Reb Fleming, Tamara Howell … Read more