Plan B: Censorship Creating Art

Plan B Theater Company ends its 2009/2010 season with a bang! The feature fundraiser, And The Banned Slammed On, is the compilation of two previous Plan B productions–And the Banned Played On and Slam. The production Slam began in 2004 and was made up of five 10-minute long plays that are written, created and performed within a 24 hours. And the Banned Played On started in 2003 and showcased censored literature, plays, music and events.

I was lucky enough to sit down for a few minutes and chat with producing director Jerry Rapier to learn a little bit more about what inspired the merger between the two productions. “As both of the events progressed it was clear that we had the opportunity to more strongly show the connection between censorship and art. That connection between the attempt to silence someone’s voice and how that actually creates new work,” Rapier says.

Every year Utah has a lot of incidents that help drive this creative process. “Unfortunately there is far more material than they could ever use and there’s no shortage of it,” Rapier says. There was a whole line up of incidents within this past year alone that were on the chopping block to be showcased.

Two of the incidents that will be showcased in this year’s show are the legislature trying to ban wolves and the controversy of Judge Memorial’s rendition of Rent. It seems like there is no end to the ridiculous controversies, outrages and uproars to choose from for this year’s production.

It’s educational and controversial, to say the least and gives a liberal point of view to a lot of conservative rhetoric. It also helps raise 10% of Plan B’s operating budget for the following season.

This year Bill Allred and Doug Fabrizio will be hosting the night. Salt Lake City’s mayor Ralph Becker will also be in the mix. Jerry also informed me that “The Kissing Criminals of Main Street” [Matt Aune & Derek Jones] will be present too: “They’re going to tell their story, and hopefully it will include a kissing demonstration to show the lore that was sprung up of what they must have done and what they actually did to get them[selves] arrested.”

These guest appearances will segue into the five 10-minute plays created by local play writes within the 24-hour period leading up to the performance. It seems like a heavy load, but an informative and killer challenge to create these amazing pieces of performance artwork in such a short span of time.

The production will be held at the Jeanne Wagner Theater at Rose Wagner on May 1st. The address is 138 West 300 South. You can get ticket info at 1-800-355-ARTS or at planbtheatre.org/bs. Tickets range from $10 for students to front row orchestra seats for $40. Make sure you get your tickets early as they will sell out!