Plan-B Theatre’s 35th season
Plan-B Theatre Company is launching its 35th season in 2025–26 with a bold slate of world premieres and community-centered programming, continuing its decades-long commitment to developing original plays by Utah playwrights. All performances take place in the intimate Studio Theatre at The Rose, where subscriptions are available for $42, a 25% savings over single ticket prices. Subscriptions guarantee seats to the company’s frequently sold-out productions and include free access to the acclaimed Script-in-Hand Series and the educational EB & FLO tour.
The season opens with JUST ADD WATER, a whimsical and thought-provoking cli-fi dramedy by Matthew Ivan Bennett and Elaine Jarvik, running October 2–19, 2025. The play imagines the Great Salt Lake as a human character venturing into the city to understand the changes overtaking her environment. Filled with humor, dust, hope, and unexpected encounters — including a brine shrimp in a bar — JUST ADD WATER blends environmental awareness with lively theatricality.
In February, Plan-B presents DUMBED DOWN, a world premiere by Darryl Stamp running February 12–March 1, 2026. Inspired by Stamp’s career as an educator, the play follows Kevin, who is finally leaving teaching after 25 years, as he grapples with what will become of the students at risk of slipping through the cracks. DUMBED DOWN explores language, learning, and the subtle ways love and mentorship shape young lives, offering both humor and heartfelt reflection.
EB & FLO, Elaine Jarvik’s free touring production for K–3 students, runs September 2025 through May 2026. Flo, a spirited flamingo seeking adventure, teams up with Eb, a cautious seagull concerned about the shrinking Great Salt Lake. Together, they inspire young audiences to understand the environmental impact of their actions. Part of the Wake the Great Salt Lake public art initiative, the production is supported by Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge.
The Script-in-Hand Series also makes a triumphant return after two online seasons and a hiatus, offering free public readings of plays-in-progress in the Studio Theatre in February 2026. This series gives emerging works their first audience and a chance to refine performances in front of the community. The titles for this season’s readings will be announced on Giving Tuesday, December 2.
For over 35 years, Plan-B Theatre has been a hub for socially conscious, original theatre that reflects Utah’s diverse voices. The company has been recognized with Salt Lake City’s Mayor’s Artist Award for Service to the Arts by an Organization and Utah’s Governor’s Leadership in the Arts Award. It has also championed LGBTQIA2S+ stories, earning honors from Equality Utah, the Human Rights Campaign, and Transgender Education Advocates of Utah, while offering continuing education credits to local therapists for productions that enhance professional perspectives. Since 2015, Plan-B has staged Utah premieres of works by Asian, Black, Diné, Latina, and Persian playwrights, underscoring its ongoing commitment to inclusivity and artistic innovation.
With a mix of provocative world premieres, educational outreach, and community engagement, Plan-B Theatre Company’s 2025–26 season promises to be both entertaining and socially meaningful, inviting audiences to experience the state’s most original theatrical voices.
