From left to right: Harrison Lind, Allison Billmeyer, Benjamin Young, Morgan Werder, Mary Nikols and Skyler Smith Credit: Todd Collins
The University of Utah’s Department of Theatre ends the fall season with Charles L. Mee’s “Big Love,” an elaborate, updated retelling of one of the oldest plays in Western history, “The Danaids” by Aeschylus. Directed by Robert Scott Smith, the production runs Nov. 9-18 in the Babcock Theatre in the lower level of the Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 South and University Street.
“Big Love,” which has nothing to do with polygamy or the late cable TV series, tells the story of 50 brides who flee their 50 grooms and seek refuge in an Italian villa. Mayhem ensues, complete with grooms in flight suits, women throwing themselves to the ground, occasional pop songs, romantic dances and even a bride falling in love.
Written originally for the Humana Festival, Louisville, in 2000, this play is topically relevant by tackling the issue of sexual misconduct that prompted the #MeToo movement and challenging the many misconceptions of gender and sexuality that still exist today. In a 2003 interview with Open Stages newsletter, Mee explained, “…it’s all about refugees and gender wars and men and women trying to find what will get them through the rubble of dysfunctional relationships, and anger and rage and heartache.”
“Big Love” is timely, important and a spectacular theatre piece the audience won’t forget.
Previews
Nov. 7 and 8 | 7:30 p.m.
Show
Nov. 9, 11, 15, 16, 17 and 18 | 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 11, 17 and 18 | 2 p.m.
Post-performance discussions
Nov. 16
Located at The Babcock Theatre.
General admission: $18
U faculty/staff are $15
U students with UCard: Free
Other students with valid student ID: $8.50
Tickets can be obtained by calling 801-581-7100, online at tickets.utah.edu or at the Performing Arts Box Office, located at Kingsbury Hall.
Content warning: Recommended for patrons ages 15 and up. Mature audiences only. This production explores adult themes and contains nudity.
salt 14: Yang Yongliang
Oct. 26, 2018-June 2, 2019
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of the artist
Yang Yongliang, (Chinese, 1980), The Path, 2016, film on light box, 20 x 20 cm.
A new exhibition presents the ancient tradition of Chinese landscape painting (shanshui) through a twenty-first-century photographic lens. salt 14: Yang Yongliang opens Friday, October 26, and will be on view through June 2, 2019. Admission is free to U faculty, staff, and students. Yongliang will give a free artist talk Wednesday, April 3, at 7 pm at the UMFA.
Digital photography is Yang’s ink, and editing software is his brush. Trained in classical calligraphy and painting as well as in emergent digital technologies, Yang constructs his imaginary landscapes by densely layering thousands of black-and-white digital photographs that he has taken on the busy streets of Shanghai and in other expanding cities across Asia to create a new, yet reminiscent, landscape.
salt is the UMFA’s ongoing program of exhibitions that showcase work by emerging artists from around the world. salt aims to reflect the impact of contemporary art, forging connections to the global and bringing new and diverse artwork to the city that shares the program’s name.