Plan-B Theatre’s 11th Free Elementary School Tour production to highlight Squeak by Tito Livas; Sept. 9 public premiere at Repertory Dance Theatre’s Ring Around The Rose

Early in Tito Livas’ new play, Squeak, the main character tells the audience emphatically that they have a very active brain. “Sometimes I can’t control what I do or what I say because there’s SO MUCH GOING ON IN HERE and my feelings can be pretty big,” Squeak says. When Squeak feels overwhelmed, they imagine … Read more

A perfect trinity of playwright, actor, company: Revival of Jenifer Nii’s Fire!, about Wallace Thurman, set for Plan-B Theatre production run

FIRE . . . flaming, burning, searing, and penetrating far beneath the superficial items of the flesh to boil the sluggish blood. FIRE …  a cry of conquest in the night, warning those who sleep and revitalizing those who linger in the quiet places dozing. FIRE . . . melting steel and iron bars, poking … Read more

With strong performances, Melissa Leilani Larson’s Mestiza, or Mixed, is outstanding season closer for Plan-B Theatre

After a long talk with Alex, her girlfriend, Lark seems she can barely stay afloat, wondering if she will ever find success as a filmmaker. She speaks to her absent Filipino father: “It makes sense, Dad. That you wanted to fit in. The westerns are all about this idea of finding a place to belong … Read more

A mixed Filipina filmmaker adrift about her identity in American society: Melissa Leilani Larson’s Mestiza, or Mixed, set for Plan-B Theatre premiere June 9-19

In Melissa Leilani Larson’s newest play Mestiza, Or Mixed, thirty-something Lark Timon is a struggling filmmaker hoping to make a big break with one of her six screenplays. Lark, who identifies as a mixed Filipino female, believes her script set in the American West is a sure bet. Lark describes her female protagonist as Reyna, … Read more

An unsurpassed, extraordinary opening night performance for the premiere of Carleton Bluford’s The Clean-Up Project, Plan-B Theatre’s newest production

Just slightly past the midway point of the opening night performance in the world premiere of Carleton Bluford’s The Clean-Up Project, it was evident that another Plan-B Theatre production was having the usual very good opener. Bluford’s script, about a swift revolution that has transformed the country and flipped the power structure, is complex in … Read more

Free Plan-B Theatre offerings of Radio Hour Episode 15: Sleepy Hollow, Alli and #3 signify strengths of two of company’s outstanding programs

RADIO HOUR EPISODE 15: SLEEPY HOLLOW For Plan-B Theatre’s Radio Hour series, in addition to his original science fiction episodes, playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett has penned outstanding adaptations of Frankenstein, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s only Christmas-themed short story The Blue Carbuncle.  But, his latest adaptation, which premiered last week in … Read more

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

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

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

Plan-B Theatre’s premiere of Matthew Ivan Bennett’s Art & Class sets new height of excellence, maximizing impact of audio production format

One of many richly textured epiphanies in Matthew Ivan Bennett’s Art & Class, the audio-only production receiving its Plan-B Theatre world premiere, occurs shortly after Lucía confronts Mindy, the parent of a student in her art class, at a Christmas tree lot in Hyrum. Mindy is pushing for Lucía to be fired from the school … Read more

More than a story of censorship: Plan-B Theatre to launch April 15 world premiere audio-only production of Matthew Ivan Bennett’s Art & Class

In Utah, many contradictions confound in their complexities. Mormonism champions its cosmopolitan outreach through its mission service, where members proselytize about the virtues of perfection, prosperity and duty of faith. Meanwhile, while immigrants and refugees are welcomed in the state, many also feel isolated and vulnerable, seeing clearly how lip service and posturing barely mask … Read more