morag shepherd

When becoming uncomfortable is important to finding truth: Morag Shepherd’s Worship in exceptional Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre production

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Earlier this year, playwright Morag Shepherd directed the excellent Pygmalion Theatre Company production of Debora Threedy’s Mountain Meadows, which was about historian Juanita Brooks’ search for the truth behind the Mountain Meadows massacre, one of the darkest stains in Mormon history. With news of the massacre, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints institutionalized … Read more

Reviews: Wasatch Theatre Company’s Melancholy Play, RDT Link Series’ Matriarch by Jaclyn Brown

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WASATCH THEATRE COMPANY: MELANCHOLY PLAY For the Wasatch Theatre Company production, Director Morag Shepherd took to heart Sarah Ruhl’s instructions for Melancholy Play: A Contemporary Farce: “Melancholy in this play is Bold, Outward, Sassy, Sexy and Unashamed. It is not introverted. It uses, instead, the language of Jacobean direct address.” In a very smart, gratifying … Read more

Two outstanding premieres: Salt Lake Acting Company’s Hairy and Sherri, Pygmalion Theatre Company’s Mountain Meadows

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SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY: HAIRY AND SHERRI Watching Hairy and Sherri, Adrienne Dawes’ new play which is receiving outstanding acting performances in a premiere production by the Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC), requires the audience member to focus on the characters’ nuanced body language and nonverbal actions. Those subtleties propel the significant epiphanies of Dawes’ … Read more

When suppressed truth becomes its own lie: Debora Threedy’s Mountain Meadows set for Pygmalion Theatre Company premiere

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In a scene in the middle of Mountain Meadows, a new play by Debora Threedy, Nita tells a Mormon elder, “We can’t put Mountain Meadows behind us if we won’t even admit it happened.” He replies that no one has denied its occurrence and that not talking about it might be the “best thing for … Read more

Ariana Farber’s Dreamers is outstanding two-hander collaboration of Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre, Wasatch Theatre Company

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In a cramped Bronx apartment, the chance encounter between Donatello Angelo Bucci (a/k/a Donnie) and Svetlana Orlova, whose name translates from Ukrainian to “Holy Eagle,” peels away many layers but it really is the quest for self-love that pops in the epiphany of the outstanding two-hander play Dreamers by Ariana Broumas Farber. Directed by Stephanie … Read more

Superb acting, design, directing mark world premiere Plan-B Theatre production of Morag Shepherd’s My Brother Was A Vampire

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In Morag Shepherd’s two-hander My Brother Was A Vampire, the banter between siblings of Callum and Skype is often crisp, tart and sardonic but the music, lighting and sound design in the play are the elements that truly bring forth the darkness, vulnerability and brutality underlying their story. There is nothing milquetoast in the outstanding … Read more

Plan-B Theatre sets world premiere in Nov. 3-13 run of Morag Shepherd’s My Brother Was A Vampire

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In the 2004 novel, Let the Right One In, by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, which later was adapted into Swedish and American films as well as a theatrical production, a preteen boy becomes friends with a new neighbor, whom he realizes is a vampire. It is a fine example of a story that bridges … Read more

Smart direction, strong cast carry excellent Pygmalion Theatre Company production of Annie Baker’s Body Awareness

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Many of us overlook the fact that we do not live in a politically correct world. But, there also are numerous reasons why trying to be politically correct or censoring the words we believe might be too sensitive to discuss the topics that should be discussed ends up being nearly as bad. So we fall … Read more

Standup comedy, world premiere, contemporary Shakespearean adaptation, Utah cabaret spoof highlight Great Salt Lake Fringe 2021

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Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series of reviews from the 2021 Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. For the first part, see here. With the first weekend of the 2021 Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) at The Gateway now in the books, organizers say that ticket sales for live performances are close … Read more

7th Great Salt Lake Fringe brings record 52 shows with live performances at The Gateway, virtual shows, running July 29-Aug. 8

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review will present reviews of nine Great Salt Lake Fringe shows in a two-part series on Aug. 2-3. In a recent Facebook post, Utah playwright Morag Shepherd, who has participated several times in the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, wrote, “For those who do not have the luxury or privilege to … Read more