Grassroots Shakespeare’s KING LEAR lacks bite, but manages
SALT LAKE CITY — “Come not between the dragon and its wrath,” shouts King Lear after his youngest daughter, Cordelia, displeases him. The aged king’s wrath and his powerless responses…
UTBA reviewers sound off: Excellence in 2016
The social media consensus is that 2016 was a rough year for America. With a surplus of celebrity deaths and a chaotic presidential election, many people are ready to put…
Report on the 2016 Theatre Olympics (Wrocław, Poland)
WROCŁAW, POLAND — Thanks to the generous financial support of the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association (and the kindness of my boss to let me miss a few…
Westminster’s TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA is how it’s meant to be seen
SALT LAKE CITY — When choosing a Shakespearean play to perform, most theaters choose a well-known play like Romeo and Juliet or Love’s Labour’s Lost. But Westminster College didn’t go…
Direction makes HENRY V falter at the Utah Children’s Theatre
SOUTH SALT LAKE — Theatre is the most collaborative art; even the most basic shows require the creative input from several people. That is why it is remarkable when a…
Be enter-tamed by Utah Childen’s Theatre’s TAMING OF THE SHREW
SOUTH SALT LAKE — I keep coming back to the Utah Children’s Theatre’s Shakespeare Festival for Kids and Adults with Short Attention Spans. Having reviewed this festival’s productions since 2013,…
Utah Shakespeare Fest’s JULIUS CAESAR has nothing to fear
CEDAR CITY — It is a season of changes and transitions for the Utah Shakespeare Festival as they move into the new Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts. One…
Too much missing in Dark Lady Shakespeare’s MAD OTHELLO
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…
HAMLET AND OPHELIA GO SWIMMING treads water
SALT LAKE CITY — The black box theater on the second floor of The Fringe Factory is dark, except for the projection of water rippling on the panels backing the…
An endearing match in Utah Shakespeare Fest’s MUCH ADO
CEDAR CITY — Some of my very best friends have been people whom I initially didn’t like at all. For whatever reason, I doubted I would ever esteem that particular…