SLAC's 'Fearless Fringe Festival' offering 3 new works

To further Salt Lake Acting Company's commitment to new works, the first annual Fearless Fringe Festival kicks off on Friday.

"We would like this to be a new thing each year," said Cynthia Flemming, SLAC executive producer. "To be able to give these artists a space to rehearse and perform, that in itself has been such a gift."

The festival is the result of happenstance.

"Stephen Brown approached us and was wondering if we had a space that he could rehearse his latest play," Flemming said. "And around that time, Sam Wessels came in and was looking for a space to work on his new musical. So (executive producer) Keven (Myhre) thought we might as well have a festival."

The Fearless Fringe will feature three new works:

"Yoga Confidential," Stephen Brown. A self-proclaimed 'pipsqueak' in the yoga world, Brown wrote a "glorified monologue" about his 10-year yoga career. A pleasant mix of high-brow and low-brow humor.

"sam i was," Sam Wessels. A musical memoir about Wessels' diagnosis and treatment for leukemia in 2009. The musical was chosen to be workshopped at the inaugural year of the Yale Institute for Musical Theatre.

"The Harvey Girls," Julie Jensen. A topsy-turvy look into the lives of the women who "civilized the West." This will be the first reading of Jensen's new work.

"The three works are highly staged readings — meaning more movement than a regular reading — and we're very excited about it," Flemming said. "This is the type of theater we are, and that's what we produce — brave new work."

The other exciting aspect for avid theatergoers is the chance to be in on the process of creating a new play. There will be "talk-backs" after each play.

"The audience could help shape the work," Flemming said. "Performers and playwrights get to a place where we need an audience to see if we're telling the story or not. The audience is so important.

"New work is so important to the longevity of theater. And we're so happy to be part of allowing new voices to be born and to create."

e-mail: ehansen@desnews.com

If You Go:

What: Fearless Fringe Festival, featuring three new works

Where: Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North

When: "Yoga Confidential," Aug. 27 and 28, 7 p.m.; "sam i was," Aug. 27, 9 p.m.; Aug. 28, 2 p.m.; "The Harvey Girls," Aug. 29, 1 p.m.

How much: $12 per play, or a $24 festival pass that includes all three shows.

Phone: 801-363-7522

Web: www.saltlakeactingcompany.org