Two examples of artistic entrepreneurship: Will The Sheep Come to Be Cleaned, The Wreath

Two recent premieres of works by young Utah artists demonstrate their skills in developing as creative entrepreneurs in the community. Reviews of both are presented. Will The Sheep Come to Be Cleaned – Dat Nguyen In his most recent work Will The Sheep Come to Be Cleaned, Choreographer Dat Nguyen riffs off a metaphor that … Read more

Utah Film Center to present Hale County This Morning, This Evening, with director RaMell Ross attending Dec. 12

Among the most prominent recurring elements in Toni Morrison’s novels are the roots of the small town black community in the South, even when the stories and characters are living and working in the North. Take, for example, Jazz (1992), a story set in Harlem where both main characters left the South because of the … Read more

Sackerson’s The Distance of the Moon is marvelously inventive in word, movement, interpretation

More than the first half of Sackerson’s marvelously inventive premiere production of The Distance of the Moon overflows with magical expectations. Weaving together the lines of Italo Calvino’s short story converted to dialogue, the story line additions of playwright Morag Shepherd, the spot-on choreography of Breanne Saxton and the translucent sound design of Shawn Francis … Read more

Gratitude in three wonderful Utah programs: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Mosaic, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Royal Musings, Spy Hop’s PitchNic

This month, three leading organizations in Utah’s arts and culture scene presented programs: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Mosaic, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Royal Musings and Spy Hop Productions’ 16th annual PitchNic premieres. Reviews of all three programs are presented. REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: MOSAIC It took 93 minutes of dance to create the opulent mosaic of movement … Read more

U of U play “Big Love” reimagines ancient play in time of #MeToo

Can one of the world’s oldest plays be relevant today? It’s a question you ponder while watching the University of Utah Department of Theatre’s production of “Big Love”—a play based on a story that is thought to have originally been performed in 470 B.C. Despite it being about a forced marriage between cousins, the answer … Read more

Utah Film Center to screen new documentary about German design great Dieter Rams, with director Gary Hustwit attending

In Rams, the new elegant, harmonious biographical documentary about Dieter Rams, the great German product designer, there are scenes of him visiting the new factory headquarters for the U.K. furniture brand Vitsœ, located in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire. The new factory, indeed, epitomizes the 10 design principles that sit at the core of Rams’ philosophy … Read more

The lovely Eighties vibe of PYGmalion Productions’ Tigers Be Still

There is a lovely Eighties vibe in PYGmalion Productions’ season opener of Tigers Be Still, a 2010 play by Kim Rosenstock. Each of the four characters struggles to cope with depression brought on by significant events or circumstances. And, in this pleasing production, a Utah premiere directed by Elizabeth Golden, the comedic touches bring out … Read more

Recent SLC art happenings: Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Site Lines, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art presentation of memorial videos

The Utah Review looks at two events from local museums: Site Lines, The University of Utah Art Faculty’s exhibition at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) and a recent video presentation at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) that was held in connection with a national conference of funeral directors held in Salt … Read more

A war story for women: Salt Lake Acting Co.’s “The Wolves” mesmerizes as coming-of-age tale on a soccer field

Scene from The Wolves (dav d daniels dav d photography)

In the Pulitzer-finalist play “The Wolves,” nine teen-agers burst onto a stage made of Astroturf, in braids and pigtails, and launch into overlapping backchat about tampons vs. pads, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, and how to pronounce Hermione, as they stretch for an upcoming soccer game. As an audience member of this mesmerizing play … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s Good Standing is masterpiece of exceptional incisiveness; Matthew Greene play heads to NYC United Solo Festival

At one point in Good Standing, certainly among the top three original plays ever produced by Plan-B Theatre, Curt (played by Austin Archer), facing the 15 men who will decide if he should be excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because he married a man, tells us there are no secrets … Read more