In a season where consumers exchange expectations of peace and goodwill for short-lived marketing ‘magic,’ Rob Tennant’s impressively on-point Booksmart is an entertaining call beckoning us back to a sane conscience for the holidays. Plan-B Theatre’s production, which has sold out the house in every performance, is as pitch perfect as an original holiday show … Read more
In last year’s Plan-B Theatre production of Julie Jensen’s Christmas with Misfits, the stage overflowed in an mini avalanche of cheap, gaudy, motley Christmas decorations including the memorable ‘Baby Jesus Collection’ display created by local steampunk artist Arika Schockmel. In Booksmart, this year’s holiday season offering by Plan-B, the employee breakroom is haplessly drab. Plan-B … Read more
At one point in The Kreutzer Sonata, the obsessively mad Pozdnyshev breaches the taboo of chamber music etiquette by invading the space of the violinist and pianist who are in the midst of communicating a rare serene moment in this famous Beethoven work. His stance is almost menacing and he walks away resuming his blistering … Read more
NOTE: This is the second part of the preview of Plan-B Theatre’s 25th season. See Part I here. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Matthew 5:28). His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man … Read more
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
“Big as them and twice as smart.” In Jenifer Nii’s Ruff!, a short play (30 minutes) about two dogs in a shelter which is geared toward children in K-3, Axel and Buddy become friends, sharing experiences that offer plenty of lessons about bullying, identity, self-esteem and confidence, and the challenge of stepping forward without fear. … Read more
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
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
“It doesn’t make sense, I know it doesn’t. Forty-five minutes later, I’m tied in knots. I’m angry and confused and all over the place. But the moment that he asked, in that second, that breath hanging in the air between him and me— There was a blossom of warmth. A burst of— I don’t know. … Read more
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