Sundance 2021: Utah film industry weathers pandemic with resilience, resourceful risk taking

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Part I is an overview of the Utah film industry in the current moment. Part II (tomorrow) will offer a summary preview of the Sundance 2021 feature-length and short films, which The Utah Review will cover. In several hopeful signs, given its size, Utah’s film industry has weathered the pandemic with enough resilience … Read more

Torrey House Press marks 10th anniversary with robust momentum spreading beyond its Utah, Intermountain West roots

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series about Torrey House Press marking its 10th anniversary. Part II presents a roundup of reviews from some of THP’s recent releases in 2019 and 2020. Of all the impressive developments in the Utah Enlightenment of the last 10 years, the broadest and most consequential is … Read more

Expanding the theatrical library during the pandemic: Plan-B Theatre adds 7 short plays from Utah theatrical artists of color to the national Play At Home initiative; its free, public app

One of the most formidable challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic, where live productions have ground to a near-complete standstill, is to keep the engine of creating new work going, especially when it still is unclear when the performing arts will return to an appreciable state of producing work. One national project has been the #PlayAtHome … Read more

Dan Higgins: A profile of an emerging choreographer in Salt Lake City

In explaining the unrelenting discipline of training, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote, “Then when the contest comes on, you have to ‘dig in’ beside your opponent, and sometimes dislocate your wrist, sprain your ankle, swallow quantities of sand, sometimes take a scourging, and along with all that get beaten. After you have considered all these … Read more

Eric Samuelsen (1956-2019): A titan of the Utah Enlightenment

NOTE: Plan-B Theatre will present a free reading of Eric Samuelsen’s Borderlands, featuring the original cast of the 2011 premiere, on Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. in the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts. While the performance is free, tickets are required and can be obtained at this Plan-B page. For details about funeral services … Read more

Interview with director: Gracefully, Iranian documentary, set for world premiere at Utah Film Center’s 16th annual Damn These Heels LGBTQ+ Film Festival

The 16th Utah Film Center’s Damn These Heels LGBTQ Film Festival will feature a world premiere of Gracefully, a documentary by Iranian filmmaker Arash Eshaghi, which has been banned in Iran. The Utah Review was privileged to screen this documentary, as mentioned last week in the preview of the film festival, which is set in rural Iran and … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2019: National Student Poet Darius Atefat-Peckham on juxtapositions of joy, grief in poetry

When he was 12, Darius Atefat-Peckham started writing poetry. “I grew up in poetry and it felt like it had to happen, whether I liked it or not,” he says in an interview with The Utah Review. Through a crack in the bathroom door, he read his first poem to his dad who was taking … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2019: Thatch Elmer, 15, heralds new generation of cowboy poetry

Cowboy poets, a unique tradition in the American West literary scene, have a sizable presence at this year’s Wordfest literary arts program for the Utah Arts Festival. They include well-known veterans including C. R. Wood, from Delta, Utah whose business card reads simply, “auctioneer,” and Sam DeLeeuw, who is a rancher with her husband. However, … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2019: Brian Hennesy’s unique take on ‘Screw You Art’

Many artists have succeeded at turning upcycled materials into wonderful art pieces. Brian Hennesy (Booth 43), one of the record 177 artists at this year’s Artists Marketplace at the Utah Arts Festival, finds metal objects including screws, washers, nuts, and bolts and combines them into unique mirror frames and guitars. A musician as well as … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2019: Four commissions set to premiere in chamber and jazz music, dance

Four commissioned world premieres – chamber music, jazz and two in dance – are part of this year’s Utah Arts Festival. The Utah Review highlights each of the new works. KATLYN ADDISON, JOSHUA WHITEHEAD DANCE COMMISSIONS, RUUDDANCES — June 21, 5:45 p.m., Festival Stage For the annual dance commission concert at the Utah Arts Festival. … Read more