Salt Lake Acting Company: Hairy & Sherri
The trope of the "Austin hipster" has been part of the popular culture for decades, but for Austin native Adrienne Dawes, the concept can take on a slightly darker tone. That's the undercurrent of Hairy & Sherri, a new play by Dawes making its world premiere at Salt Lake Acting Company.
The satirical story deals with an interracial couple—Harold and Sharon (David Knoell and Wendy Joseph, pictured)—living in gentrified East Austin. They decide to welcome in Ryshi, a 12-year-old foster-care youth with special needs, only to discover that their "good intentions" might not be good enough. Dawes said in an interview with Crosstown Arts of Memphis, "I grew up as the 'resident big sister' in a rehabilitative foster home, so even though I didn't personally go through foster care, almost all of my siblings did. ... Then, the frosting on top was unpacking a complicated conversation about race, class and privilege. In many ways, Hairy & Sherri is a horror story. This is the most fucked-up thing I could imagine—a couple taking in a vulnerable kid, abusing them, and then throwing them back into the system. ... I think comedy is a great strategy for disarming the audience a bit, opening us up to difficult conversations and experiences.
Hairy & Sherri runs Feb. 8 – March 5 at Salt Lake Acting Company (168 W. 500 North), with performances Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. & 6 p.m. Special accessibility performances include Feb. 26 (open captions), March 4 (ASL interpreter) and March 5 (audio described). Tickets are $34; visit saltlakeactingcompany.org. (Scott Renshaw)
Ballet West: The Sleeping Beauty
As much as it sometimes feels like the Disney company owns the entirety of popular culture, plenty of stories that are identified with the Mouse House have rich histories across multiple creative art forms. So while Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland exists as one of the most photographed places on earth, the 1959 animated film is only one of the interpretations of a tale that dates back several centuries, from the courtly romance Perceforest to the Grimm fairy tales. And in 1889, Tchaikovsky turned it into a glorious ballet.
The basic elements of the narrative are familiar ones: a princess named Aurora, a vindictive fairy who places a curse on the infant princess, and another fairy who turns that curse into a century-long sleep that will affect the entire royal court and hide the castle away in a forest of thorns. Ballet West's current production accentuates that well-known tale with beautiful new sets—the first such new sets for a Ballet West Sleeping Beauty production in 30 years—created by French artist Alain Vaes. According to Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute, "[Vaes'] vibrant vision for the sets is designed to work with [David] Heuvel's magical costumes to create a dynamic new look for this beloved classic. ... "[W]e reinvented Ballet West's The Sleeping Beauty in a way that maintained and honored the historical stylistic details but brought a contemporary energy to the storytelling."
Ballet West presents The Sleeping Beauty at the Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) for five performances Feb. 10 -18. Tickets start at $25; visit balletwest.org for tickets and additional event details. (SR)
Naomi Oreskes: The Big Myth
After decades of progressive Federal action in America from Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal through Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and even through the Nixon administration, a hard rightward shift was initiated during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. But it would be a mistake to believe that it emerged fully-grown in the 1980s. Instead, it was part of a long-developing plan by American business interests to denigrate "big government," one that spans the entirety of the 20th century.
In The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market, Harvard professor Naomi Oreskes and Jet Propulsion Laboratory historian Erik Coway trace the long history of libertarian-leaning rhetoric, including campaigns to undercut early 20th-century social justice movements against child labor and supporting organized labor. They chronicle the libertarian roots of the Little House on the Prairie books, and tune into the General Electric-sponsored TV show that beamed free-market doctrine to millions and launched Ronald Reagan's political career. Most tellingly, they address how both major political parties became infatuated with anti-government ideas, and the damaging results up to and including the response to the opioid crisis and the COVID pandemic.
Naomi Oreskes appears through the Tanner Humanities Series on Monday, Feb. 13 at the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law Moot Courtroom (383 S. University St.), at 7 p.m. Oreskes will be joined in conversation by Tanner Humanities Center executive director Erika George. The event is free to the public, but ticketed reservation is required; visit kingsenglish.com for the Eventbrite link. (SR)