Salt Lake Acting Company - SLAC49

Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SLAC's production of HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE has been moved to spring 2021. Updated casting will be announced at a later date.

Casting is complete for Salt Lake Acting Company’s upcoming production of HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE by Sarah Ruhl. The play receives its Utah premiere after an Off-Broadway world premiere at New York City’s Lincoln Center Theater in 2017.

A dinner party gone wild. Two married couples invite a mysterious woman (who hunts her own meat) along with her two lovers to a New Year’s Eve party. From the adventurous and provocative Sarah Ruhl comes a comedy that pushes the boundaries of marriage and the limits of friendship.

The production welcomes the return of SLAC veterans Alexandra Harbold* (HAND TO GOD) as Jane, Jeanette Puhich (RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN) as George, Topher Rasmussen* (FUN HOME) as Freddie, and Matt Sincell* (TRIBES) as Michael.  Making their SLAC debuts are J. Todd Adams* as Paul, Dominque DeFelice as Jenna, Sceri Sioux Ivers* as Pip, and Lance Rasmussen* as David.

The production is directed by Adrianne Moore, whose previous SLAC directing credits include RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN and CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION. She is joined on the creative team by Michael Horejsi (set design), Sara Shouse (costume design), Jaron Kent Hermansen (lighting design), Cynthia Kehr Rees (sound design), and Linda and Glenn Brown (specialty prop design).

HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE plays in SLAC’s Upstairs Theatre April 8 through May 10, 2020. Tickets are available at tickets.saltlakeactingcompany.org, in person at the SLAC box office, or by calling (801)-363-7522.

*Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

Salt Lake Acting Company Presents Free Reading of New Play from DEATH OF A DRIVER Playwright

Summer, 1998. Once popular, Arrowhead Community Pool has seen membership decline for years. Retired pool president Dorothy Wilson blames video games and air-conditioning. But when new pool president Freddie Rosedale abolishes Dorothy's longstanding alcohol ban and installs a frozen margarita machine, the place comes back to life, and a battle begins. SWIMMING POOL is a dark ensemble comedy about American excess and restraint on the cusp of the 21st Century. 

Featured in the one-night-only reading are Sean Carter, Barb Gandy, Tamara Johnson-Howell, Dan Larrinaga, Tito Livas*, Morgan Lund*, Kimiko Miyashima*, Nicki Nixon, and Lane Richins*. Robin Wilks-Dunn (I’LL EAT YOU LAST, GOOD PEOPLE) serves as director, Natalie Keezer will read stage directions, and Katelyn Limber* is stage manager.

Founded in 1994, Salt Lake Acting Company’s New Play Sounding Series (NPSS) continues its record-breaking 25^th year with Will Snider’s SWIMMING POOL. The NPSS is the longest-running play reading series in Utah. Past works that have been workshopped in the NPSS to later receive full productions at SLAC (and elsewhere) include SILENT DANCER and HARBUR GATE by Kathleen Cahill, MERCURY by Steve Yockey, STAG’S LEAP by Sharon Olds, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS by Mike Daisey, A SLIGHT DISCOMFORT by Jeff Metcalf, and THE RECEPTIONIST by Adam Bock. Elaine Jarvik’s FOUR WOMEN TALKING ABOUT THE MAN UNDER THE SHEET, featured during last season’s NPSS, will receive its world premiere at SLAC in 2020.

SLAC's 2019 NPSS reading of FOUR WOMEN TALKING ABOUT THE MAN UNDER THE SHEET by Elaine Jarvik

SWIMMING POOL is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made via SLAC’s website or by calling 801.363.7522.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

SLAC acknowledges the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation for their generous support of the New Play Sounding Series.