THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR OCT 5 - 11 

• Sharon Kain

Repertory Dance Theatre: I Am ...
Creative work that aims to change minds and hearts is a tricky business, running the risk of being too literal and didactic to work as art, even if it may work as rhetoric. Modern dance allows for ideas in the form of movement to approach challenging subjects from a different angle, which is what choreographer Natosha Washington was able to accomplish in her 2018 Repertory Dance Theatre commission Say Their Names (part 1). RDT gives Washington a chance to expand on those concepts in an evening-length work called I Am ..., investigating the human experience through the lens of life as a Black woman.

The RDT dancers are accompanied by veteran local actor/singer Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin in work that, according to RDT's press release, asks "are we part of the problem, perpetuating misunderstandings and divisions, or are we actively seeking solutions? ... By witnessing the stories unfold on stage, audiences are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences, biases and responsibilities." Washington adds, "We invite you to immerse yourself in this journey with us. Our storytelling aims to wash over you, to inform you, and to inspire you to be part of the change our world desperately needs. By sharing this experience, we hope to create not only a better world for ourselves, but also for the person next to us."

Repertory Dance Theatre's production of I Am runs at the Rose Wagner Center Jeanne Wagner Theater (138 W. 300 South) Oct. 5 – 7 at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $30, $15 for students and seniors; visit arttix.org for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Courtesy Photo

Immigrant's Daughter: Worship
A provocative premise lies at the core of playwright Morag Shepherd's Worship, inspired by a real-life incident involving a Brigham Young University faculty member accused of sexual assault involving spiritual manipulation. It's the kind of scenario where contemporary audiences are looking for the predator to be clearly identified as evil, but for Shepherd, it was more interesting to investigate the perpetrator in all his humanity.

"In the first iteration, he was a monster," Shepherd says. "Then you read it, and it's not believable. I already have had pushback, in workshopping situations; people want it to go further, [to show] that he really knows what he's doing. That's not how it goes. ... He's a product of the tradition he was raised in. So I feel a lot of sympathy for him. I didn't want to turn him into this villain, because I don't think it's as easy as that."

The production of Worship will be presented in an intimate setting with just 27 audience members at a time, which Shepherd believes also fits into the story's framework: "We thought about producing it in a church, because of the sexual nature, it didn't seem appropriate. I went to church when I lived in Scotland when I was young, we met in little rooms in public buildings. Just a little group of people in a small space."

Immigrant's Daughter presents Worship at SLC Arts Hub (663 W. 100 South) Oct. 6 – 21, with performances Fridays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 via Eventbrite.com. (SR)

• Andrew Max Levy

Taylor Tomlinson
Being an open book about awkward things has been part of Taylor Tomlinson's on-stage persona for the entirety of her comedy career, which remarkably covers nearly half her life even though she's still just shy of 30 years old. But she acknowledged recently—in her 2022 Netflix special Look At You—that she wasn't sure about opening up in her act about her mental-health diagnoses. "Then I realized I needed new material," she says, "and it was like 'fire sale, everything goes.'"

Not surprisingly, as she has often done in the past with relationship drama, Tomlinson takes the parts of herself that might be difficult for most people to share, and turns them into laughs. That's part of the appeal when she compares having bipolar disorder with not knowing how to swim: "It might be embarrassing to tell people, and it might be hard to take you certain places. But they have arm floaties. And if you just take your arm floaties, you can go wherever the hell you want. And some of you are saying, 'But Taylor, what if people judge me for taking arm floaties?' Well, those people don't care if you live or die, so maybe who cares? Maybe fuck them, a little bit."

Taylor Tomlinson brings her "Have It All" tour to the Delta Hall at the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) for three shows, Saturday Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $24.75 - $154.75; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional information. (SR)