Editor’s Note: The Plan-B Theatre Company will hold its sixth annual fundraiser — And The Banned Played On — Monday, July 21, in the Jeanne Wagner Theater of the Rose Wagner Center for the Performing Arts. The event is also a celebration of the freedom of artistic expression afforded by the First Amendment. Company members will perform scenes and songs from plays and musicals that have been banned occasionally from community stages including The Importance of Being Earnest, The Drag, The Normal Heart, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Romeo And Juliet, West Side Story, The Mikado, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Miss Saigon, and The Who’s Tommy.

The evening also will include emcees Bill Allred from X96’s Radio From Hell Show and Doug Fabrizio of KUER-FM’s RadioWest. Presenters from the media and city hall will include Salt Lake City’s five most recent mayors: Ted Wilson, Palmer DePaulis, Deedee Corradini, Rocky Anderson, and Ralph Becker. Others include Angela Brown, editor and publisher of SLUG magazine; Greta deJong, editor and publisher of Catalyst; Holly Mullen, editor of City Weekly; Dan Nailen, arts and entertainment editor for Salt Lake magazine, and Ivan Lincoln, former theater critic for Deseret News.

Food and a cash bar will be provided by Cali’s Natural Foods. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased here.

The Selective Echo is pleased to share this Q&A with Jerry Rapier, producing director of Plan-B.

SE: How did the motivation/impetus develop to use the concept of banned plays and theatrical censorship as a primary backdrop for a fundraising event?

JR: At a board meeting in early 2003, we realized it was time to implement a fundraiser. But we wanted it to be mission-based, Above all, we didn’t want to unleash another dinner on the community. Martha Ertman, an attorney who was on the board at the time, spent her summers in Provincetown and mentioned a fundraiser she’d attended the previous summer with Norman Mailer, his wife Norris, Gore Vidal and J. Michael Lennon reading the third act of George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman - “Don Juan in Hell” - as a fundraiser for Provincetown Repertory Theatre. With that as a springboard, we quickly landed on the idea of featuring banned literature. That led to the idea of having local luminaries and politicians read excerpts from banned books alongside local actors performing scenes from banned plays. The board chair at the time, Michael Mitchell, suggested we spin off the title of Randy Shilts’ novel about the AIDS crisis, “And the Band Played On,” and title the event AND THE BANNED PLAYED ON. It stuck.

We focused on literature the first two years, music the following two years. Last year we did half and half. We’re doing the same this year but the difference is there’s no popular music - all the literature and the music featured are from the theatre.

SE: Clearly, the involvement of public officials and media in the event suggests a larger theme about the viability of a community theater that takes risk and encourages provocative — yet constructive — dialogue about issues that are controversial in any community. How does the event serve to help Plan-B recommit to this central artistic mission annually?

JR: We are a community-based professional theatre. What does that mean? It means that we are fully aware of where we are and the need to encourage dialogue on any level. I’ve said many times in the past and I still hold firm: I’m not concerned about people agreeing with any particular point of view we present. What I am interested in is creating theatre that creates conversation. I want the experience at the theatre to be the beginning of something. Not the end. If you leave a Plan-B production with something to talk about, we’ve done our job, fulfilled our mission. And with BANNED in particular, there’s so much to talk about because people have very intimate relationships with literature. And who better to involve in that conversation than those we elect to represent us and those in the media who share their observations and opinions for a living.

SE: What is the fundraising goal for this year’s event? In fact, the company appears to be quite sensitive about sustaining a business model that ensures its capacity to deliver original theater consistently to Salt Lake City audiences. What are your thoughts about the business aspects of managing a viable theatrical company and their impact upon the artistic directions and impulses of the company?

JR: Our goal is $23,000 between ticket sales, contributions, merchandise (i.e. copies of our book PLAN-B THEATRE COMPANY: PLAYS FROM BEHIND THE ZION CURTAIN) and, of course, wine. We will also be selling 2008/2009 season tickets.

The business side is a non-stop balancing act. Cheryl Cluff (Managing Director) and I ensure that every business decision stems from our mission to “develop and produce unique and socially conscious theatre.” And our board is fully supportive of that. Making decisions in that manner relieves a lot of stress and second-guessing. If it doesn’t connect to our mission, there’s no point in pursuing it or talking about it. It’s a great way to simplify. And focus. And stay afloat when there are only 24 hours in a day with 1.5 administrative staff.

We strive for our patrons to feel a sense of ownership over Plan-B. We want each person who attends a Plan-B show to feel like we’re speaking to them, for them, with them.

When we shifted our focus to original plays by Utah writers in 2006, I was scared shitless that the seats would be empty. But the opposite has happened - our audience has grown. That’s an indication of the power of regional stories. There’s so much fear surrounding the production of new works in the American theatre. But it’s what keeps us alive.

SE: In general, for those exploring the edgier, controversial boundaries of original theater, what counsel do you offer to those exploring the creative landscape within the opportunities of expression afforded by the First Amendment and the desire for an enlightened artistic statement?

JR: Don’t be afraid to take a risk. Know your mission statement. Live your mission statement. If you can’t speak it, it’s not fully present in your decision-making and there’s simply no way to fulfill it.

SE: Are there plans to merge the fundraiser and SLAM in the future?

JR: Yes, actually. We want to keep things fresh. So next year, we’re going to present AND THE BANNED SLAMMED ON. What better way to mark the sixth year of SLAM and the seventh year of AND THE BANNED PLAYED ON than by combining them into one event. Utah’s only fundraiser-featuring-five-10-minute-plays-created-in-24-hours-celebrating the-First-Amendment.

SE: How would you assess the state of artistic freedom in Salt Lake City and Utah? How does it compare to other communities and locales?

JR: I think there’s definitely more artistic freedom in Salt Lake City than in other areas of the state. And although there’s clearly a conservative majority here, we are not the only state in the country where that is the case.

The greater issue for me is how frequently audiences are underestimated. And funding is always an issue. There’s so much competition for philanthropic dollars - now more than ever.