Plays

PERRY — The city of Perry turns 100 this week and is throwing itself a party.

DETROIT -- Ernie Harwell's life and legacy is about to take the stage.

Mitch Albom wrote "Ernie" as a love letter he hopes does justice to the late Detroit Tigers broadcaster.

"I just hope people like it," said the Detroit Free Press columnist, best-selling author, WJR radio host and playwright.

What's it like to pretend to be perfect? What's it like to be a Mormon but question your faith? What's it like to be gay and LDS? What's it like to live in the "Borderlands"?

A new play exploring those questions premiered this week in Salt Lake City and continues its run through April 10 at the Wagner Center.

"Borderlands," written by Eric Samuelsen, who teaches playwriting at Brigham Young University, takes a funny but dramatic look at the process of coming out in Mormon culture -- but not in the usual sense.

A play written by a Weber State University student will be one of four from across the country competing next month at the national Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C.

WSU student Chris Shenefelt's play "Reality Fallacy" is among those vying for the John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play.

Shenefelt wrote the book for "Reality Fallacy," along with the piano music that underscores the play. It was originally performed last fall at WSU and directed by Stephanie Purcell.

The play tackles the nature of reality, and whether it is open to interpretation. The story is about a couple, Cadence and Kaleb, who live with multiple realities -- one in which their son Casey is alive and one in which he is dead. Casey also has his own take on reality.

An aging ruler of a brutal regime is not quite ready to let loose the reins of power. Yet political and personal forces beyond his control are forcing him to examine the hard choices of succession in the face of revolt.

Sound like a story drawn from today's headlines? It is, in fact, the sketch of the plot from "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman. The play is set in Old England in 1183, exploring the intrigue and the power behind the throne of an aging Henry II and his dysfunctional family.

Weber State University is presenting the production in a run beginning next Friday, under the direction of Tracy Callahan, associate professor of theater arts.

Composer and playwright Jill Santoriello was thrilled when she learned that her "baby" would wake up in Utah.

Her musical "A Tale of Two Cities" opens for its regional premiere Wednesday at Hale Centre Theatre's state-of-the-art theater in the round in West Valley City.

"Every time there is a new production of the show, it's like your baby that has been sleeping comes back to life and it's a great thing," Santoriello said. "I was also thrilled that it was going to be in the round, which is extremely challenging but very exciting. I think it is going to open up a whole different way of looking at the show."