Announcing Plan-B's 2015/16, 25th Anniversary Season

Continuing our unique legacy of producing new plays by Utah playwrights, Plan-B Theatre Company announces its 25th season with a slate of world premieres. The season offers a peek into the mind of a madman and the music that created it, a spooky radio play, a humorous look at the dreariness of holiday retail, a journey through relationships past and future, and Plan-B's first-ever new musical that features a housewife who dreams of something more.

"Plan-B is committed to telling stories from a local point of view. Our 25th season takes that a step further, exploring how comfortable we feel inside our own narratives," says Jerry Rapier, Plan-B's producing director. The season begins October 18, 2015, and runs through April 10, 2016. Season tickets, only $70 (a 20% savings) are available now at Plan-B's website, planbtheatre.org.

THE KREUTZER SONATA by Eric Samuelsen

October 18-November 9, 2015

(Also November 4, 2015, at New York's United Solo Theatre Festival)

The season opens with a harrowing exploration of the mind of a murderer, of a man driven mad by Beethoven's music. "Music, like marriage, is but a violence and a falsehood," says the madman (Robert Scott Smith) and both torment him to the point of no return. This cautionary tale is interwoven with a live performance of Beethoven's entire sonata by Kathryn Eberle (violin) and Jason Hardink (piano). Freely adapted from Leo Tolstoy's short story. Directed by Jerry Rapier. A co-production with NOVA Chamber Music Series.

RADIO HOUR EPISODE 10: OTHERWHERE by Matthew Ivan Bennett

October 30, 2015

Live at 11am, rebroadcast at 7pm on KUER's RadioWest

Plan-B takes audiences back to the RadioWest studio where it all began a decade ago. Doug Fabrizio becomes another kind of host when he interviews the author of a new book on paranormal activity (Jay Perry). Original music by David Evanoff, directed by Cheryl Cluff.

BOOKSMART by Rob Tennant

December 3-13, 2015

The holiday rush has hit the bookstore. Casey (Tyson Baker) has had it up to here with his job, as well as the crowds and rude customers, and makes a momentous decision. Will his equally harried co-workers (Anne Brings, Joe Crnich, April Fossen, Sarah Young) join him in his protest or will they talk him back onto the sales floor? This dark comedy is all about sticking it to The Man, provoking change and taking action-by doing nothing. Directed by Jerry Rapier.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY by Elaine Jarvik

February 25-March 6, 2016

Megan (Nell Gwynn) is stuck. She may never get back to her husband (Mark Fossen) and life and bemoans her bad fortune. But when fellow refugee Chuck (Jason Bowcutt) befriends her, it's clear that his story is even more complicated and intriguing than her own. This tale examines relationships and irreparable choices and delves into the ways narrative-both personal and historical-can affect the future and our sense of who we are. Also featuring Colleen Baum and directed by Cheryl Cluff.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN by Jenifer Nii (book & lyrics)

and David Evanoff (music & lyrics)

March 31-April 10, 2016

Plan-B's 25th anniversary season concludes with the company's first-ever new musical. It deals with the quest for self-acceptance in a culture focused on perfection and one Mormon housewife's desire to do it in drag. Featuring Jeanette Puhich, Kirt Bateman, and Susanna Florence Risser, this is a poignant portrait of one woman who realizes her true nature and has the courage to give it a voice. Directed by Jerry Rapier.

Additional Information

Learn more about Plan-B Theatre Company or the upcoming season by contacting Jerry Rapier at (801) 297-4200 or visiting planbtheatre.org.

About Plan-B Theatre Company

Plan-B develops unique and socially conscious theatre, which means sharing stories with a local point-of-view as well as global stories from a local perspective. The company strives to create and nourish a pool of local playwrights to rival that found in any other city in the country, to assist local theatregoers in valuing the work of local playwrights alongside that of nationally prominent playwrights.

Plan-B is the recipient of the 2015 Governor's Leadership in the Arts Award (Organization) and Salt Lake City's Mayor's Artists Award for Service to the Arts by an Organization.