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

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

A summer rom-com in a new urban park setting in Salt Lake City: Meanwhile Park presents world premiere of Matthew Ivan Bennett’s From June to August

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

Plan-B Theatre’s Singing to the Brine Shrimp spectacular production that magnifies confidence in Utah’s performing arts scene

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

Plan-B Theatre’s Singing to the Brine Shrimp will celebrate Utah as worthy place for creative inspiration through comedy, songs, sock puppets

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

Welcome to the union! Plan-B Theatre’s One Big Union is a Utah Enlightenment jewel

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

Plan-B Theatre’s newest production One Big Union highlights Joe Hill, Wobblies

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

Plan-B Theatre’s Based On A True Story a smart, marvelous time travel experience

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

Plan-B Theatre’s ‘Marry Christmas’ delivers unexpected gift of emotional energy

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

A celebration with many meanings: Plan-B Theatre to premiere ‘Marry Christmas’

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