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
There has been a heartening trend in the last five years or so, thanks to small theatrical groups in Salt Lake City and elsewhere in the state who have been enterprising in pop-ups, site-specific productions, outdoor venues and places where a proscenium is unnecessary. There have been productions in retail spaces such as a chocolate … Read more
Any “confident-sized” playwright would have envied the spectacular opening of Plan-B Theatre’s premiere of Jenny Kokai’s Singing to the Brine Shrimp, directed by Jason Bowcutt. The rhythm was sharp, precise and natural in a brilliantly written comedy with a smart set of songs. It is the model marriage of aquaculture and the theatrical arts. Perhaps … Read more
In the upcoming comedy Plan-B Theatre premiere of Singing to the Brine Shrimp, Lorina, a rather unhelpful dramaturg, asks Allison, a playwright from Utah who is in New York City for a Meet the Playwrights event, “So what size playwright do you want to be?” Allison, 35, is unsure about what that means. So, Lorina … Read more
Come, all ye workers, from every land, Come join in the grand Industrial band. Then we our share of this earth shall demand. Come on! Do your share, lend a hand! – Joe Hill At the beginning of One Big Union, the cast of six actors walks through the audience, welcoming members to the evening’s … Read more
In the century since Joe Hill, the Swedish immigrant miner, musician and union activist who was executed in Salt Lake City after being wrongfully convicted of murder, there have been only a very few plays about this figure who recently has emerged from the footnotes of history in relevant ways. Last year, John McCutcheon, an … Read more
The art of writing a good time travel story can be difficult to the point of confounding, tentative, and enigmatic. The pilot script for Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone series was titled The Time Element, concerning a man who is in therapy with a psychoanalyst. Serling’s script lay untouched for a year before producers decided to … Read more
In a year of many high marks for Plan-B Theatre, the month of December, normally a quiet period for this performing arts company, has become especially memorable. Julie Jensen’s smashing ‘Christmas with Misfits’ played a sold-out run drawing much well-deserved acclaim. Likewise, tickets also sold out for Elaine Jarvik’s ‘Marry Christmas,’ an ensemble piece celebrating … Read more
NOTE:This is the second part of a preview featuring a pair of Plan-B Theatre holiday productions. In 2013, during U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments for the landmark Windsor case on same-sex marriage, Chief Justice John Roberts remarked that activists had really found their political momentum. Writing the day after the hearing, The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf … Read more