May 16, 2018 | Blog, Script-In-Hand Series
As the only professional theatre company in the United States producing full seasons of new work by local playwrights, we invite you to join us for three public readings of plays-in-progress. Announcing the 2018/19 Script-In-Hand Series! DONNA October 24 by Jenifer Nii A re-imagining of DON QUIXOTE: modern-day women find and face their own windmills – which, it turns out, warrant more than just tilting. SHORT PLAYS FROM THE THEATRE ARTISTS OF COLOR WRITING WORKSHOP at the Edward Lewis Theatre Festival at the City Library (Main Branch) February 10 Plays and playwrights and cast TBA. BALTHAZAR April 3 by Debora Threedy What if Portia’s appearance in court dressed as a man in Shakespeare’s THE MERCHANT OF VENICE was not the first time she’d cross-dressed? An exploration of gender, gender rebels and the nature of desire. Click here for details – tickets (free but required) available September...
Sep 1, 2017 | Blog, Script-In-Hand Series, The Lab
As the only professional theatre company in the United States producing full seasons of new work by local playwrights, we invite you to join us for three public readings of plays-in-progress. Announcing the 2017/18 Script-In-Hand Series sponsored by Lee & Audrey Hollaar (click here to reserve your free-but-required tickets)! THE PRIESTHOOD November 15 by Carleton Bluford author of MAMA (2015) I was thinking about growing up in a place that is predominately occupied by the Mormon religion.“The Church” has always been in the news politically, all of my friends have been affected by it in some way or another, and there really is no escaping it if you choose to live in the Beehive State. Most of my friends are very liberal and have ended up turning their backs to the Church. However I grew up with many Mormon friends who are still Mormon who were kind to me, nice to me, loved and didn’t judge me, and stood up for me on many occasions. Sometimes even saving my life, literally. They have families and jobs and they seem very happy. Whether they are or not is not for me to decide, as there are two sides to every story. So in writing THE PRIESTHOOD, I wanted to discuss a very controversial event in the Church’s history examining those two sides. I also wanted to make it deeply human because, in the end, talking about spirituality and the soul is very personal. The Church’s 1978 decision to allow blacks to hold the priesthood is called a revelation from God. Some people say the Church just bent from heat of...
Jun 9, 2017 | Blog, Script-In-Hand Series
All performances of (in)divisible through June 18 (presented as part of our Script-In-Hand Series) are technically at capacity, but you can still see the show. Free + summer = a certain number of no-shows! Click here for details, waitlist and walk-up info. Below each of the 17 actors share their thoughts on what drew them to participate in (in)divisible. Everything in (in)divisible is rooted in real-life experience and the parameters are pretty strict: no mentioning of Trump or Clinton, or even allusions to them – when those names surface in conversation, listening seems to cease. And listening is the goal. The lack of respect for those with whom we differ is at the root of the quagmire we find ourselves in as a country. Identifying people by labels creates polarity. And the more polarized we become, the less chance there is for real communication and real change. We’re not asking people to agree; we’re asking people to listen to those whom they may normally write off as “the other.” The greatest challenge of (in)divisible has been for each playwright to write their own point of view. The opposite point of view was much easier: it could be looked at objectively as a piece of theatre, as a character to treat as truthfully as possible. But when faced with representing their own point of view, each playwright felt immense pressure to avoid being preachy or didactic. The result is pretty magical: each playwright examined their own biases and fears and is boldly and frankly sharing what they found. Grasping for a wisp of magic, in a thundercloud … – Joe Debevc While growing up Japanese American in Utah,...
May 1, 2017 | Blog, Script-In-Hand Series
(in)divisible is our response to the response to the election. But it’s not about Trump. Or Clinton. Or Sanders. Or Obama. Or any other political figure. As the project took shape, we followed two ground rules: (1) none of the above could be mentioned or even alluded to because when they are mentioned, listening ceases; and (2) everything had to be rooted in real-life experience. (in)divisible is about our country. (in)divisible is about its citizens. (in)divisible is about us. Twelve local playwrights have each created two five-minute pieces: one liberal and one conservative. Scroll down to see who they are and their thoughts on the pieces they’ve created – stories from some people you’ll agree with, some people you’ll disagree with, all who just happen to be just like you. (in(divisible is a reminder of what it means to listen. Click here to reserve your free tickets and see who’s in the cast. We ask that in lieu of a ticket purchase you make a contribution to The Children’s Center at the theatre. Click here to reserve your free tickets...
Apr 10, 2017 | Blog, Script-In-Hand Series
Shauna Brock shared her story of building a family through an LGBTQIA (and allies) lens in a 4-week writing workshop led by Eric Samuelsen at Art Access. She and her fellow writers were then mentored by a playwright from The Lab at Plan-B. Eric then wove their stories together into an evening of theatre, which will be performed as INTERSECTIONS II: FORGING FAMILY FROM MORE THAN DNA on April 28-29 as part of Plan-B’s Script-In-Hand Series at Art Access. Click here for details and tickets ($10 general admission, $5 students). It’s funny when you think about it, and when you overthink it, that the theme of intersections and found family can be applied as much to a writing workshop as to the families we find and create – especially for the queer community. Strangers come together in a room and over time they work together, they bond. Stories, the histories that bind us together, are shared. It’s scary to enter a workshop, to know that you are putting your experiences out there and know they will be judged by everyone at the table. How they are received, how they are welcomed and discussed sets the entire tone and either creates trust or destroys inspiration. Again, how similar to our family structures. Going into this INTERSECTIONS workshop, I had no idea what story I wanted to tell. Surrounded by Mormons expressing the passion of coming out stories and tales of family ties in homeless bonds, I sat there thinking of my own family, my own bonds – because my biological ones are as tight as those I have chosen to create as family. How do I...
Mar 22, 2017 | Blog, Script-In-Hand Series, The Lab
Rob Tennant is a member of The Lab at Plan-B, where his play BOOKSMART enjoyed a sold-out run last season. Rob’s play QUARTER HORSE is the next offering of our 2016/17 Script-In-Hand Series this coming Wednesday, March 29, directed by Robert Scott Smith, stage managed by Joe Killian, with Emma Scotson as the Reader and featuring a cast of Olivia Custodio, Sky Kawaiw, Shawn Francis Saunders and Matthew Sincell. The reading is free and at capacity – click here for details. The hardest I’ve ever laughed was on day four of an ill-advised weeklong outdoor adventure. I was one of eight young men camping beside an ankle-deep “river” in the middle of the most remote piece of desert in the USA, days behind schedule with limited food and silt-clogged water filters. Bone-tired from a 12-hour day of slogging through mud with a small boat in which I was supposed to be riding, someone broke the settled quiet gloom with a simple statement. “We’re all going to die out here,” he said. We all laughed until we cried, our guffaws returning to us off of redrock canyon walls for minutes on end. There’s room for comedy in any situation – gallows humor is a powerful thing. A world in which we have run out of oil and are forced to ride bicycles everywhere isn’t necessarily a dystopia for me. To each their own. What terrifies me is the prospect of a future where we’ve done everything wrong and it’s all for naught because we haven’t learned from our mistakes. A world where individual interest continues to be prioritized above communal good. A world where...
