Marty has Cancer
“Choi will lose the keys and Rhoul will talk about oatmeal. But my hope is that audiences will find something in this play that they need to hear, too,” said Madeleine Rex, director of “Marty Has Cancer.” If this isn’t an interesting description of a play, I don’t know what is. The script was written by Austin Archer. You might have seen him in “Newsies” at Pioneer Theatre or “Hir” at Salt Lake Acting Company, or even heard him in “Jump” with Plan B and Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory. This guy is famous in Salt Lake City for his work, and it turns out this script was just sitting in his drawer! It’s much more suited to the light where you can laugh and lament about all the up and downsides of having friends.
Rex loves not only her play but also the cast. “‘Marty has Cancer’ is funny,” she said. “The experience of creating it is fun. I think people will laugh.’ However, this show is not all levity and lightness. It also deals with suicide and depression, as many Fringe plays have this year. “Marty has Cancer” is about the bad times as much as the good. It first premiered earlier this summer at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and now journeys to the Great Salt Lake Fringe. According to Rex, there might be a little more “creative pixie dust” here with a strong theater community. So let’s welcome this “heartfelt” and “unsentimental” dark comedy with a crowd. After all, it’s the perfect show to take your friends to.
The Tempest: O Brave New World
This experimental play based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” features a host a familiar characters and themes presented in an unfamiliar context. Enjoy exploring the value of human virtue or the satisfaction of revenge in an entirely new way. Love, freedom and justice are in there as well, but those are less fun, right?
Triple Threat
The traditional triple threat takes on a new meaning in this active and fun piece. Follow a dancer’s experimental growth through dancing, acrobatics and tumbling. This will be a show everyone can enjoy with an inspiring array of impressive feats.
Zoo Story
Two strangers meet on a bench. One is a put together publisher reading a piece of literature. Another is a tripping transient just come from the Zoo. Anything is possible in New York, but what happens next?
50 Memes in 50 Minutes
50 plays in 50 minutes. This sounds ambitious enough, but the audience also gets to participate in this performance. Choose which meme-based play you want to see Brighton High School students perform and enjoy the chaos that ensues.
Little One
Adopted siblings battle past trauma in a heartbreaking tale. This show will explore how memory and guilt affect us long after the physical scars fade.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
Can’t decide what to see? Well, great news. This piece is composed of all the comedies, tragedies, romantic and problem plays that Shakespeare ever wrote. It literally has it all, thirty-seven plays, in 60 minutes. You might need a deep breath after to calm your spinning head, but it’s sure to be fun.
m.slack@dailyutahchronicle.com
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