Arts
Nerd Alert: Literary Death Match Makes Its Rounds at The...
Founder of the Literary Death Match, Adrian Todd Zuniga, has transformed the idea that literary readings are reserved for the high brow and dull by creating a reading competition that pits local authors against each other to face head to head. The State Room was an excellent choice of venue with ample seating and ease of visibility, and as the booze flowed, the authors took their stance in the corners to meet their opponents. Four authors, three judges, two rounds and an epic finale. Let’s get ready to rumble! … read more
Somebody Else’s Baby: Understanding the Mechanics of Andy Farnsworth
Andy wanted to do a show here in SLC that granted comics the same opportunity to perform a set-list style of comedy. Since the idea is actually somebody else’s baby, he named the show just that: Somebody Else’s Baby. Farnsworth says, “Each time, we feature a picture of a new baby on the screen. Sometimes I steal the pictures from the photography studio on South Temple, the giant babies with the hoods.” … read more
Plan B Theatre’s Nothing Personal Review
Plan-B Theatre’s new show, “Nothing Personal,” plays out like a nightmare––it’s only logic is poetic, it feels at turns both sudden and prolonged, and it reminds you of things you’re really afraid of. … read more
salt 8: Shigeyuki Kihara
Shigeyuki Kihara’s exhibition at the UMFA explores various facets of her identity: the nexus of her Samoan ethnicity, status as transgendered, and the more universal self-reflexivity of being an artist. Her tight, majestic solo performance this Wednesday, as a part of the “salt” series, was the centerpiece of show. … read more
People Productions: David Mamet’s Race
I walked out of last Sunday’s performance of David Mamet’s “Race” at the Leonardo with two conclusions. People Productions, which I’d never heard of before, is one of those groups that is capable of leaving me with a knot it my stomach and something real to think about. And, Mamet’s script, while problematic and manipulative, is also worth discussing, mounting and writing about. … read more
Earth, Skin and Fire: The Playful Sensuality of Samba Fogo’s...
The show opened with a staging of an indigenous Brazilian creation narrative describing the descent of the gods of the air to the watery Earth. This event was staged in the form of a death-defying and gasp-inducing silk acrobatics routine, performed beautifully and (to my relief) expertly by Samantha and Lance Nielsen. To say this overture set a very high standard for the rest of the show to maintain is an understatement. … read more
Halloween is Ruined: Performance Life with Klaus von Austerlitz
Halloween is ruined. Its most treasured sensibilities are under attack. Goths have turned the occult into ridiculous camp and queers have turned ridiculous camp into a cult. So, if Oct. 31 is the only day of the 365 that you’d think of dressing yourself up outrageously, you might be a lamebrain. For local performance artist Klaus von Austerlitz, every costume is a performance, and every performance a carefully constructed vessel of artistry and social critique. … read more
True Horror: Thirteen Years of the Working Dog
Working Dog is an unofficial fixture of the University of Utah’s highly ranked graduate creative writing program. Named after the phrase “working like a dog,” the premise is simple: a once-monthly evening of art, wine and students reading material from their portfolios. … read more
Of Meat and Marrow: a Sexy, Spooky Thriller
Looking for something to do on Halloween that will offer you more than playing dress-up and dancing to “The Monster Mash”? SB Dance has something for you. Of Meat and Marrow will be performed at the Rose Wagner Theatre on October 25–27. A “rock-opera-dance-circus” for a mature audience, the show is equal parts sexy and silly, with horrifying monstrosity. … read more
Time-Based Art Festival 09.12-09.20
The Time-Based Art Festival (presented by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art) is a gathering of musicians, performers, visual artists, and everything in between. I went to cover dance, and was happily surprised by the strength and diversity of the music, theatre and visual art I saw along the way. … read more