Classics, holiday treats on stage

Classics by Shakespeare and Chekhov, one of the season's first Christmas offerings and a couple of Halloween treats are on this week's calendar for theatergoers.

• KING LEAR, Shakespeare's drama about an abdicating king dividing the kingdom among three daughters, will get an unusual spin by Salt Lake Community College's Department of Performing Arts.

Directed by Frank Gerrish, who has a knack for pushing the envelope, the title role will be played by Reb Fleming — an actress on SLCC's theater faculty.

So will it be "Queen Lear" sitting on the throne? Gerrish's press release states that "Lear, aging king of Britain, decides to abdicate and divide her kingdom between her three children."

The cast will also include Tom Jacobsen as Gloucester and Margo Watson as Goneril, Tim Maness as Edmund and John Lawrence as Edgar.

Performances will be Thursday-Saturday this week and Wednesday-Saturday the following week, all at 7:30 p.m. The Black Box Theater is on the third floor of SLCC's South City Campus, 1575 S. State. Tickets are $10 each. SLCC students, staff and faculty are admitted free with valid I.D. (957-3322).

• THE SEAGULL, Anton Chekhov's tale of anguish and unrequited love, will play from Wednesday through Nov. 17 in the Margetts Theatre of Brigham Young University's Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo.

Directed by Barta Heiner, the cast includes Jason Purdie as aspiring young playwright Konstantin Treplev, Lauren Noll as his mother and famous actress Irina Arkadina, David St. Julien as Boris Trigorin, Irina's lover, and Caitlin Wise as Nina Zarachnaya, the girl who spurns Konstantin.

Tickets are $7 for the discounted dress rehearsal previews Wednesday and Thursday and for the 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 10. Tickets for all other performances are $14 for general admission and $9 on weekdays or $10 on weekends for those with a BYU or student I.D. Evening performances are 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Saturdays (422-7664 or www.performances.byu.edu).

• TWO HALLOWEEN events this week include Plan-B Theatre Company's annual theater-of-the-mind "Radio Hour" broadcast and West Jordan Youth Theatre's holiday production.

—"Radio Hour," broadcast live at 11 a.m. and repeated at 7 p.m. on KUER (FM-90), will showcase two original scripts by Plan-B Theatre's resident playwright, Matthew Ivan Bennett. Both "Lavender" and "Exile" are based on Utah ghost stories. Performers are Jay Perry, Teresa Sanderson and Chelsi Stahr, with sound design by Cory Thorell. Cheryl Ann Cluff is directing.