Utah Theatre Bloggers

PTC’s KING CHARLES III is intriguing take on “future history”

Posted by Megan Crivello | Mar 27, 2017 | Reviews, Salt Lake County |

SALT LAKE CITY — What happens when Queen Elizabeth II dies? How will the newly minted King Charles III reign over the vastly different country and commonwealth that he has been waiting so long to inherit? What about the more popular and younger William inheriting instead? How will they solve a problem like the image of Camilla? Playwright Mike Bartlett answers almost all of these questions with his 2014 play, a “future history” written entirely in blank verse and owing many thanks to much of Shakespeare‘s cannon. The Queen is dead. Charles is now king and mourning son. His family...

Director Penelope Caywood on fresh perspectives from SLAC’s DIARY OF A WORM, A SPIDER, AND A FLY

Posted by Megan Crivello | Dec 16, 2016 | Directors, Interviews |

Since 2009, Salt Lake Acting Company has given it’s holiday schedule slot to a production for young audiences. Beginning with Go, Dog, Go! based on the book of the same title, this annual event has become a beloved tradition for families, school groups, and those who are young at heart. This year’s offering is Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly (adapted from the Diary of a Worm series by Doreen Cronin), an uplifting musical adventure providing a “bug’s eye view” to the world. Youth Theatre at U artistic director Penelope Caywood is returning to SLAC to helm her...

Perfectly Portioned: Playwright Melissa Leilani Larson on mixing food and body image in Plan-B’s THE EDIBLE COMPLEX

Posted by Megan Crivello | Sep 26, 2016 | Interviews, Playwrights |

Plan-B Theatre Company extended its mission to produce socially conscious theatre pieces to include a new and younger generation by launching FEST ( the Free Elementary School Tour) in 2013. This six year initiative has included a half hour version of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Matthew Ivan Bennett’s DIFFERENT= AMAZING, and last year’s RUFF! by Jenifer Nii. 2016 brings us Melissa Leilani Larson’s The Edible Complex, a piece about a 10-year old who dreams of becoming a chef, but is also confronted with societal expectations about her body. Larson gives UTBA the skinny on how her new play came about and...

Too much missing in Dark Lady Shakespeare’s MAD OTHELLO

Posted by Megan Crivello | Aug 3, 2016 | Reviews, Salt Lake County |

SALT LAKE CITY — Producing a Shakespeare play is a traditional go-to for up and coming theatre companies. There are no royalties; the play can be staged anywhere on a minimal budget; and the company can easily showcase whatever ensemble has been assembled. There is also a great deal of freedom to layer a concept onto a classical text. These concepts are usually applied to make the antiquated nature of Shakespearean language accessible for modern audiences. Entire theses have been written on the relative effectiveness of conceptual Shakespeare, but in my experience, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. The Dark Lady...

Be moved by INNOVATION at Great Salt Lake Fringe Fest

Posted by Megan Crivello | Aug 2, 2016 | Reviews, Salt Lake County |

SALT LAKE CITY — Originally created in 2008 and premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Innovation – A Physical Theatre Piece is just that: physical. Using movement set to music in place of dialogue, creator and director Jared Larkin blends classical elements of clowning, mime, commedia dell’arte, and modern dance to tell a sweet story about two women as they grow from childhood through all the milestones and pitfalls of adulthood. The 15-person cast, led by Felicia Anderton and Maggie Haight, cleverly use frames, planks of wood, strips of fabric, small props, minor costume changes, and their own bodies to create locales ranging from the schoolyard...

Author: Megan Crivello

PTC’s KING CHARLES III is intriguing take on “future history”

Director Penelope Caywood on fresh perspectives from SLAC’s DIARY OF A WORM, A SPIDER, AND A FLY

Perfectly Portioned: Playwright Melissa Leilani Larson on mixing food and body image in Plan-B’s THE EDIBLE COMPLEX

Too much missing in Dark Lady Shakespeare’s MAD OTHELLO

Be moved by INNOVATION at Great Salt Lake Fringe Fest

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