One of the consistent aspects of seeing the plays produced by the Plan-B Theatre Company, for me, is the feeling at show’s end that I really need to learn more about Utah history.
That’s not a complaint–that’s an endorsement, and it certainly is true once again after watching a final preview performance of the world premiere of Jenifer Nii’s Suffrage.
Nii’s story is equal parts family drama, political treatise and religious history, and the trajectory of sister-wives Ruth and Francis as they deal with life in a polygamist family as women fight for the right to vote and Utah efforts toward statehood is remarkably deft in interweaving all its disparate elements.
Nii manages to find a passionate personal story between Ruth (Sarah Young) and Francis (April Fossen) that also covers a lot of historical turf, including the U.S. government’s strong-arming of Utah to outlaw polygamy in exchange for statehood. The sister-wives are dealing with raising their extended family when their husband is put in jail, and Francis’ focus on maintaining the family while Ruth works for the greater good of winning women the vote makes for inherent, enthralling conflict between the two women.
Both actresses give strong performances, with Fossen’s tortured Francis a particularly noteworthy one as she acts as a mother figure to Ruth, even though she is truly a peer. The story manages to illustrate the far-reaching effects of the polygamy-for-statehood tradeoff, and of a woman like Ruth fighting for equal voting rights, on a “typical” polygamist family in which acting in such a rebellious manner is not necessarily embraced.
As always, the Plan-B team creates a striking production out of a spartan stage, creative lighting and sound design–I loved the battle drums acting as markers between scenes, emphasizing all that is at stake for Ruth and Francis as their pursue their respective destinies.
As Nii’s plot winds its way to a conclusion that is both inspiring and somewhat sad for Ruth and April’s personal stories, I found myself hungry to know more about the issues addressed over the course of Suffrage‘s 80-minute running time. If that’s not a testament to a play’s power, I don’t know what is.
Suffrage runs at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center through April 14. Tickets and showtimes are available through the Plan-B Theatre Company Website. (All photos by Rick Pollock)
JEDEDIAH CAESAR ARTIST TALK, UTAH MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, Thursday, April 4, 6 p.m., Free
Every year since forming in 2005, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Friends of Contemporary Art group (formerly known as the Young Benefactors) have bought a piece to add to the UMFA’s permanent collection. This past November, the group selected a piece by Los Angeles-based artist Jedediah Caesar. The piece has a name I can’t even begin to try and pronounce–it’s a sculpture called “*|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_”–and on Thursday Caesar will present a free artist talk at the UFMA auditorium to introduce the new addition. Caesar typically works with found materials, fusing the parts into a distinct new object full of layers and capable of being viewed as a whole, or a series of smaller works. The piece will be on display at the UMFA through July.
Jedediah Caesar (b. 1973). “*|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_,” 2011. Remnants, polyurethane, pigments, stone. 19 1/8 X 13 1/8 X 13 inches, comprised of twenty panels. Purchased with funds from the UMFA Young Benefactors. UMFA2012.10.1A. Courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, California; photo credit Robert Wedemeyer.
IVAN & ALYOSHA, KILBY COURT, Thursday, April 4, 7 p.m., $12
All you folks who fell in love with The Head and the Heart over the past year or two, get ready to meet your next musical dream date. Also hailing from Seattle, Ivan & Alyosha’s debut album, All the Times We Had, arrived this winter, and it is full of killer vocal harmonies and some seriously strong folk-rock songcraft. Lead singer Tim Wilson’s way with a lyric would do other, older Wilsons of the Beach Boys variety proud, and together with his bandmates, he’s concocted what is already one of my favorite albums of the year so far. I have a feeling, again much like The Head and the Heart, that Ivan & Alyosha might only be able to fit into Kilby Court now–they’ll be playing bigger digs on return trips to SLC. Fort Atlantic and L’Anarchiste open the show.
Patterson Hood finished off his two-night stand at The State Room Saturday night with a show that captured everything that makes him one of the most engaging American songwriters and performers of the past two decades.
Mixing songs from his solo albums, Drive-by Truckers’ tunes from his back catalog, and brand new, yet-to-be-recorded works being performed for an audience for the first time, Hood turned his simple man-with-an-acoustic-guitar approach into a show as entertaining as an electrified Truckers gig. And the between-song banter and storytelling, as always, provided essential humor and emotion to the evening.
Saturday’s show seemed looser than Friday’s; at various points, Hood described the ribald proceedings as a concert version of the Smokey and the Bandit plot, “when Burt is off in the country, WAY off the road, and all hell’s breaking loose.” With boozed-up Truckers fans demanding to hear old favorites, Hood managed to satisfy them while still delivering plenty of his solo stuff along the way. He seemed to enjoy the challenge, bringing a bottle of tequila on stage and sharing shots with some of the front-row fans around mid-show.
Remarkably, Hood was able to refocus the entire room shortly after the boozy interlude with an emotional performance of the Truckers’ “Tornadoes,” followed by a beautiful new song called “Grand Canyon” that he wrote after the death of his long-time friend and Truckers’ merch guru Craig Lieske in January. Hood introduced the song by telling the crowd about Lieske’s life and sudden death, noting that the only time he’d played it was at Lieske’s funeral.
Those two songs provided the emotional high point of a show that was strong from the start. Hood opened with “Depression Era,” a song he wrote for 2009 indie flick That Evening Sun. “Leaving Time” from his new Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance followed, along with another solo tune, “Pollyanna.”
Hood’s first new songs of the night one he also performed Friday. On Saturday, he dedicated “If I Was Jimmy Page” to the folks from The Heavy Metal Shop, where he did a meet-and-greet earlier in the day. The song is hilarious, and Hood introduced it with a story about going to see Led Zeppelin flick The Song Remains the Same at a midnight movie with his dad back in the ’70s. Hood loved it, of course, and the memories seared in his mind make up great one-liners through the tune, each starting with “If I was Jimmy Page,” as in, “If I was Jimmy Page, I’d woo you with my voodoo.” Or, “I’d do cocaine off hooker’s asses.” Or, “I’d wear those dragon pants EVERYWHERE.” You get the idea.
Hood described the Jimmy Page tune as a contender for the next Drive-by Truckers album, as long as his co-conspirator Mike Cooley approves. He followed it with a song he was performing for an audience for the first time, “Grandpa Rock City,” another funny song that he introduced by mulling over the merits of old rockers who continue taking their shirts off well into their later years. (The Hood verdict? Okay if you’re Iggy Pop, but not if you’r Roger Daltrey.)
Among the other highlights Saturday night: a take on his Truckers’ song “Goode’s Field Road,” a massive singalong to Truckers’ oldie “Steve McQueen,” the title track of Heat Lightning in the Distance, a killer version of the Truckers’ “Sinkhole,” “The Buford Stick” and “Better Than the Truth” from Heat Lightning.
Hood mentioned wanting to bring the Drive-by Truckers to The State
Room to “blow the doors off the place.” That’s something I’d love to see. But it says a lot that Hood was able to deliver a consistently excellent show with just an acoustic guitar, a microphone and a stool. Oh, and that bottle of Patron didn’t hurt.
JANIVA MAGNESS, EGYPTIAN THEATRE, Park City, Saturday, March 30, 8 p.m., $15-$25
Janiva Magness is a serious powerhouse blues singer, and for proof, look no further than the five 2013 Blues Music Awards she’s nominated for, including the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award. She’s won it before, and it wouldn’t be shocking for her to win it again. Her latest album, Stronger For it, includes her first self-penned songs, as well as covers of artists like Tom Waits, Buddy and Julie Miller and Shelby Lynne. Magness can convey so many emotions via her supple instrument, you’ll be pinned to your seat in awe–especially in a small environment like Park City’s Egyptian Theatre.
LOW, VELOUR, Provo, Saturday, March 30, 8 p.m., $18
I can think of a lot of worse ways to celebrate your 20th anniversary as a band than holing up with Jeff Tweedy at Wilco’s Chicago recording studio to create your 10th album. That’s what Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and Steve Garrington did to make The Invisible Way, the latest set by Minnesota’s favorite slowcore stalwarts. It wouldn’t be Low if the album didn’t have plenty of slow, churning melancholia, as well as some stunningly beautiful passages. Parker sings lead on about half the tracks, a departure but a welcome one, and there’s more piano than some longtime fans might expect. But it’s full of great new Low songs, and the fact the band is still going this strong after two decades is a testament to them. Thalia Zedek opens the show.
Daniel Nailen 