SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) has announced the lineup for its 2019-20 season. For the first time in the theatre’s history, each production in the season will have a female director. Additionally, the six works are all Utah premieres.
“When looking to further SLAC’s dedication to showcasing exciting new works for Utah audiences, we knew we must continue to be thoughtful about the current political and social climates,” executive artistic director Cynthia Fleming said in a statement. “My team and I sought stories that would continue to captivate, touch the heart, illuminate, and ultimately inspire our very discerning audiences. We’re confident that these six new plays accomplish that goal and then some.”
Will Snider’s Death of a Driver (Sept. 11-Oct. 20) will kick off the season. The political drama follows an American engineer who moves to Kenya for a road-building project and her trusted friend, an African driver who lands in jail following a dispute over a local election. Alexandra Harbold will direct.
Following will be the world premiere of Form of a Girl Unknown (Oct. 16-Nov. 17) by Charly Evon Simpson. Melissa Crespo will direct the atypical coming of age story about a wise 12 year-old girl navigating adolescence.
A stage adaptation of the children’s book series Pete the Cat (Dec. 6-30) will be next. In the play, adapted by Sarah Hammond and Will Aronson, the title character helps an extremely organized second grader conquer art class. Penelope Caywood will direct.
The season will continue in the new year with A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Feb. 5-March 8, 2020) by Lucas Hnath. A sequel to Ibsen’s 1879 play of the same name, Part 2 picks up 15 years later with a knock on a previously slammed door. Nancy Borgenicht will direct.
Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage (April 8-May 10) will follow. On New Year’s Eve, two couples invite a mysterious woman and her two lovers to a dinner party. Shannon Musgrave will direct the comedy, which pushes the boundaries of marriage and the limits of friendship.
The season will close with the world premiere of Saturday’s Voyeur 2020 (June 17-Aug. 23), the annual musical satire written for SLAC by Allen Nevins and Borgenicht. Cynthia Fleming will direct.
Founded in 1970, Salt Lake Acting Company’s mission is to engage and enrich community through brave contemporary theatre.
