Matthew Ivan Bennett

Live blog and review: Otherwhere presented by Plan-B Theatre, KUER-FM’s RadioWest

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Listen live at: http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/otherwhere) 12:01 p.m. Otherwhere, the spell-binding valedictory episode of Plan-B Theatre’s popular Radio Hour series, which just aired on KUER-FM’s RadioWest program, is unquestionably a bold, even controversial, venture. Crafted with the utmost attention to persuade listeners – almost up until the climactic moments of the story – that RadioWest host Doug … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s 25th season set to explore unique forms, spaces and places

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NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series on the opening of Plan-B Theatre’s 25th anniversary. Tomorrow’s installment looks at The Kreutzer Sonata, the first production which opens Oct. 18. For nearly half of its existence, Plan-B Theatre has produced new socially conscious works by Utah playwrights almost exclusively, often with solid success both … Read more

Doing things a little differently on tap for Plan-B Theatre’s 25th season

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NOTE: This is Part Two of a series about Plan-B Theatre, which offers a glimpse of the five premieres for the silver anniversary season. For Part One, see here. True to its mission of keeping programming as fresh and innovative as possible, Plan-B Theatre will mark its silver anniversary season with two world premieres that … Read more

Many thrilling moments of intimacy in Plan-B Theatre’s 24th season

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NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series about Plan-B Theatre. The first looks back at the company’s 24th season. In every production for its recently completed 24th season, Plan-B Theatre brought many thrilling moments of intimacy to audiences. The visceral, emotional punches between a young Mormon couple trying awkwardly to process the grief … Read more

Magnificent, searing performances carry Plan-B Theatre’s outstanding premiere of ‘A/Version of Events’

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From several notable vantages, there has been a great infusion of artistic energy in the blossoming Utah Enlightenment, a creative movement that demands courage in the making of art. And, especially in Utah’s peculiar environment that gives civility, docility and adherence to faith much higher value than often deserved, courage becomes critical in ensuring the … Read more

Grief, love, marriage will pack emotional punches in Plan-B Theatre’s ‘A/Version of Events’

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“The problem was that the disasters showed all the signs of arousal—of being in fight-or-flight mode—in their relationships. Having a conversation sitting next to their spouse was, to their bodies, like facing off with a saber-toothed tiger.” —Emily Esfahani Smith, June, 12, 2014, The Atlantic In Matthew Ivan Bennett’s newest play ‘A/Version of Events,’ the married … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s Radio Hour adaptation of Grimm tales is exquisitely creepy

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If anyone needed to get in the mood for Plan-B Theatre’s exquisitely creepy rendition of three Grimm Brothers tales prior to the live broadcast on KUER-FM’s RadioWest show, the news lead-in at the top of the hour did the trick. In less than four minutes, audience members in the downtown Jeanne Wagner Theatre heard news … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s newest Radio Hour production will spin ‘ze right version’ of three Grimm fairy tales

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“If the Brothers Grimm were not trying to tell charming bedtime stories, what were they trying to do? Why are the original versions of their stories so often violent and disturbing? The first answer to these questions is that the Brothers Grimm were simply being true to the stories as they existed in the early … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s 24th season’s seven new plays explores vast territory of family values

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NOTE: This is the first installment in a two-part series about Plan-B Theatre’s 24th season and a preview of Matthew Ivan Bennett’s ‘Radio Hour Episode Nine: Grimm.’ In certainly its most ambitious season during its 24-year history, Plan-B Theatre has programmed seven new plays by Utah playwrights that explore a vast territory of family values. … Read more

For Utah school children, Plan-B Theatre’s ‘Different=Amazing’ aims to create new spaces for addressing bullying

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Plan-B Theatre 'Different=Amazing'

The literary arts have emerged as a potent platform for addressing bullying. Recent books such as the compilation ‘Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories;’ ‘One,’ a picturebook by Katherine Otashi, and ‘The Misfits,’ in which one of the main characters is inspired by her interaction with J. K. Rowling’s books to form a political … Read more