Theatre

Plan-B Theatre’s newest Free Elementary School Tour production, Alli and #3, featuring alligator and heron characters, introduces K-3 children to basic science of nature and climate

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Children attending school in Utah or the Intermountain West region might be surprised to learn that even in the southernmost Rio Grande River Valley, alligators and herons have been known to congregate together. In Alli and #3, the latest children’s play in Plan-B Theatre’s Free Elementary School Tour program (FEST), Alli is an alligator who … Read more

#SLACabaret, Salt Lake Acting Company’s summer debut, shows plenty of examples about leveraging comedic punch celebrating Utah’s peculiarities

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Provocative comedy is an underappreciated, underutilized art form in Utah. The state’s social character and pop culture are sufficiently peculiar, offbeat and unusual to produce spot-on satires and farces. Some segments of Utah’s independent film industry (think of the HaleStorm comedies, for example) have aspired to achieve crossover appeal by highlighting weird, quirky aspects of … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2021: Five local companies set to perform on Festival Stage, The Round, highlighting Utah’s numerous strengths in dance.

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This year’s Festival Stage and The Round programming at the Utah Arts Festival, as customary, includes some of Utah’s most influential dance institutions. In addition to the dance commissions being presented by artÉmotion (see accompanying feature at The Utah Review) in collaboration with Ballet West (Aug. 27, 4:45 p.m.), there are five performances by Repertory … Read more

Standup comedy, world premiere, contemporary Shakespearean adaptation, Utah cabaret spoof highlight Great Salt Lake Fringe 2021

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Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series of reviews from the 2021 Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. For the first part, see here. With the first weekend of the 2021 Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) at The Gateway now in the books, organizers say that ticket sales for live performances are close … Read more

First weekend of 2021 Great Salt Lake Fringe offers strong slate of solid productions

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Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series of reviews from the 2021 Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival.  With the first weekend of the 2021 Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) at The Gateway now in the books, organizers say that ticket sales for live performances are close to and will likely exceed 2018 … Read more

7th Great Salt Lake Fringe brings record 52 shows with live performances at The Gateway, virtual shows, running July 29-Aug. 8

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review will present reviews of nine Great Salt Lake Fringe shows in a two-part series on Aug. 2-3. In a recent Facebook post, Utah playwright Morag Shepherd, who has participated several times in the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, wrote, “For those who do not have the luxury or privilege to … Read more

A socially conscious theater in full bloom: Plan-B Theatre’s Local Color audio production ends 30th season on outstanding note

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Take the title of one of the four short plays in the premiere audio production of Local Color, and a listener can appreciate the organic commitments that Plan-B Theatre has made in bringing original plays that reflect a more genuine sense of the creative place at the core of the Utah Enlightenment. For closing out … Read more

Plan-B Theatre set to close out its 30th season with Local Color, featuring works by playwrights in its Theatre Artists of Color Writing Workshop

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In the final show — a quartet of short plays — to close out its 30th anniversary season which has featured audio productions, Plan-B Theatre highlights two strengths that emphasize the small company’s leadership in producing original work with incisive timeliness and relevance. From playwrights in Plan-B’s Theatre Artists of Color Writing Workshop come four … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s video production of Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster receives outstanding rolling world/Utah premiere

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Peculiar yet approachable, alternating between effulgent and piercing, complex and elucidating, Audrey Cefaly’s play Alabaster on paper, at first glance, might not be the ideal candidate for a filmed theatrical production, especially as part of the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere program. Alabaster’s intricately woven elaborate character textures make for ideal stage pyrotechnics … Read more

Spring theatrical news: Salt Lake Acting Company’s The Amberlee Fund campaign, SONDERimmersive’s The Lost Generation, Pygmalion Productions’ If This Wall Could Talk

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Spring 2021 news from three independent theatrical companies in Salt Lake City include a $1 million capital campaign, a fine update on the dinner theater genre and a video piece highlighting the multifaceted legacy of Utah women. SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY: THE AMBERLEE FUND: ACCESSIBILITY ELEVATED   Capital campaigns can be a formidable undertaking for small … Read more