Organization: PLAN-B THEATRE COMPANY
Mission: THE ORGANIZATION DEVELOPS AND PRODUCES UNIQUE AND SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS THEATRE, WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON NEW PLAYS BY UTAH PLAYWRIGHTS.
Activities: IN THE BEFORE TIMES, THE FIRST TWO WORLD PREMIERES OF OUR 2019/20 SUBSCRIPTION SERIES, ODA MIGHT BY CAMILLE WASHINGTON AND SINGING TO THE BRINE SHRIMP BY JENNY KOKAI (WITH MUSIC BY KEN PLAIN), ENJOYED JOYOUS, SOLD OUT, IN-PERSON RUNS, WITH ODA MIGHT MAKING THE UTAH REVIEW'S 2019 LIST OF THE TOP MOMENTS OF THE UTAH ENLIGHTENMENT. AND WE DIDN'T THINK TWICE ABOUT THE CRAMPED QUARTERS OF KUER'S RADIOWEST STUDIO AS WE BROACAST RADIO HOUR EPISODE 14: CIRCLE BY MATTHEW IVAN BENNETT LIVE. OUR SCRIPT-IN-HAND SERIES OF FREE READINGS REVISITED BORDERLANDS BY ERIC SAMUELSEN (1956-2019) AS A CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE, WORKSHOPPED JULIE JENSEN'S P.G. ANON, REVISITED JENIFER NII'S SUFFRAGE TO CELEBRATE THE 19TH AMENDMENT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BETTER DAYS 2020, AND GAVE BRANDAN NGO'S WHERE ARE YOU FROM? ITS FIRST AUDIENCE AS PART OF THE EDWARD LEWIS THEATRE FESTIVAL AT THE MAIN BRANCH OF SALT LAKE CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY...ALL WITH IN-PERSON AUDIENCES. THEN THE PANDEMIC TRULY ARRIVED AND WE GOT REALLY, REALLY BUSY WITH ONLINE-ONLY WORK. THE FINAL WORLD PREMIERE OF OUR 2019/20 SUBSCRIPTION SERIES, THE AUDACITY BY JENIFER NII, WAS DEEP IN REHEARSAL WHEN THE ROSE WAGNER WAS CLOSED ON MARCH 13. ON MARCH 16, WE WERE CLEARED TO CONTINUE REHEARSAL WITH A MAXIMUM OF 10 PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE, ONLY TO BE HALTED AGAIN BY THE EARTHQUAKE ON MARCH 18. WE WERE GIVEN CLEARANCE TO CONTINUE REHEARSAL AGAIN ON MARCH 21. WE WERE RACING THE CLOCK ON A COMPLETE SHUTDOWN AND REALIZED WE HAD EVERYTHING WE NEEDED TO FILM FOR STREAMING: ACTOR APRIL FOSSEN WAS INCREDIBLY WELL-PREPARED, AND THE WORK OF THE CREATIVE TEAM (DESIGNERS KEVIN ALBERTS, CHERYL CLUFF, JARON HERMANSEN, CARA POMEROY, STAGE MANAGER JENNIFER FREED, AND DIRECTOR JERRY RAPIER) WAS COMPLETED WAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. BETWEEN MARCH 13 AND OUR FILMING DATE OF MARCH 24 (WHICH WAS MOVED UP TWICE), WE WERE ONLY ABLE TO HOLD SIX REHEARSALS, NONE WITH MORE THAN SEVEN PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE, ALL OBSERVING 6' DISTANCE. THE STAGE UNIONS RESPONDED WITH PERMISSION IN RECORD TIME. BY MARCH 28, THE AUDACITY (WHICH WAS NAMED TO THE UTAH REVIEW'S 2020 LIST OF THE TOP TEN MOMENTS OF THE UTAH ENLIGHTENMENT) WAS STREAMING AS WE MOVED ALL OTHER PROGRAMMING ONLINE. BETWEEN APRIL 1-MAY 8, 2020, WE COMMISSIONED FOUR SHORT RADIO PLAYS FROM ELAINE JARVIK, JENNY KOKAI, MELISSA LEILANI LARSON, AND JENIFER NII THAT WERE REHEARSED AND RECORDED IN COMPLETE ISOLATION, AIRING ON KUAA AS RADIO SLAM (ALL EPISODES AVAILABLE ON OUR FREE APP UNDER RADIO) AND SEVEN SHORT STAGE PLAYS BY TATIAN CHRISTIAN, OLIVIA CUSTODIO, DEE-DEE DARBY -DUFFIN, TITO LIVAS, BRANDAN NGO, IRIS SALAZAR, AND DARRYL STAMP AS PART OF THE NATIONAL PLAY AT HOME INITIATIVE IN RESPONSE TO THE ISOLATION BROUGHT ON BY COVID-19 (ALL SCRIPTS AVAILABLE ON OUR APP UNDER PLAYS). SINCE MARCH 13, THE LAB AND THEATRE ARTISTS OF COLOR WRITING WORKSHOP - OUR COMMUNITIES FOR LOCAL PLAYWRIGHTS - HAVE COLLECTIVELY HELD TEN ZOOM READINGS OF NEW PLAYS BY RACHEL BUBLITZ, OLIVIA CUSTODIO, MELISSA LEILANI LARSON, IRIS SALAZAR, MORAG SHEPHERD, DARRYL STAMP, DEBORA THREEDY, AND CAMILLE WASHINGTON. WE'VE ALSO HELD A ZOOM WORKSHOP OF A NEW PLA Y BY SUE BERGIN & SCOTT SUBLETT AS PART OF OUR SCRIPT-IN-HAND SERIES. THE FINAL TWO MONTHS OF IN-PERSON PERFORMANCES OF OUR 2019/20 FREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TOUR OF FLORA MEETS A BEE BY MORAG SHEPHERD HAD TO BE CANCELLED. SO WE ADAPTED THE PLAY INTO A PICTURE BOOK (FEATURING ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRENDA HATTINGH) THAT WAS SENT DIGITALLY TO EVERY K-3 TEACHER IN THE STATE, ACCOMPANIED BY A READ-ALOUD VIDEO, WHICH THE ACTORS FILMED IN COSTUME IN ISOLATION TO ACCOMPANY THE ARCHIVAL VIDEO OF THE PLAY ITSELF. THIS LED TO AN INVITATION FROM SALT LAKE CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY TO SHARE OUR EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS THROUGH THE BIBLIOBOARD SECTION OF THEIR WEBSITE. CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT BIBLIOBOARD (YOU'LL ALSO FIND VIDEOS OF ALL FREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TOURS + STUDY GUIDES + RADIO SLAM) WE CREATED ACCOMPANYING AUDIO RECORDINGS, VIDEOS, AND WORKSHEETS IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH TO SUPPORT "PLAYWRITING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE," OUR IN THE CLASSROOM PLAYWRITING CURRICULM BY JULIE JENSEN (THANK YOU PENNY CAYWOOD, ARIANA BROUMAS FARBER, KALLIE FILANDA, SHARAH MESERVY, AND ISABELLA REEDER). TEACHING ARTISTS LATOYA CAMERON, TITO LIVAS, DARRYL STAMP, AND YOLANDA STANGE GUIDED STUDENTS IN GRADES 11-12 FROM BURMA, CAMEROON, CONGO, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GUATEMALA, IRAQ, KENYA, MEXICO, PALESTINE, RWANDA, SOMALIA, SOUTH SUDAN, TANZANIA, THAILAND, UGANDA, ZAMBIA, AND ZIMBABWE THROUGH THE PROCESS OF CREATING ORIGINAL MONOLOGUES AND SCENES AS PART OF OUR ANNUAL PLAYWRITING RESIDENCY AT UTAH INTERNATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL. AND OUR 2020/21 FREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TOUR OF PRESENTING: SUPER CAT AND REPTILE ROBOT BY RACHEL BUBLITZ, WHICH BECAME A PODCAST COMPLETE WITH COLORING PAGES (ALSO AVAILABLE ON BIBLIOBOARD AND ON OUR APP UNDER RADIO) THESE THREE PROGRAMS SERVED HUNDREDS OF TEACHERS AND THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS STATEWIDE IN BOTH IN-PERSON AND AT-HOME LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. WE ALSO REAFFIRMED OUR COMMITMENT TO BLACK LIVES MATTER IN MAY, BEAUTIFULLY ARTICULATED IN AN ORIGINAL SONG CREATED BY MOTHER/DAUGHTER DUO OF DEE-DEE DARBY-DUFFIN AND DARBY MEST FOR THE STREAM OF ROSE EXPOSED: I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, OUR ANNUAL AUGUST CO-PRODUCTION WITH GINA BACHAUER INTERNATIONAL PIANO FOUNDATION, PYGMALION THEATRE COMPANY, REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE, RIRIE-WOODBURY DANCE COMPANY, AND SB DANCE (ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR APP UNDER ...MORE/VIDEO).
Religious classification: None