The voices of a man and a woman, yelling in unison, “Help, I’m being attacked!,” ring out on a hot summer night from a backyard near Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park.
Neighbors are starting to learn not to worry about such outbursts. The shouting is from the opening scene of “From June to August,” a new summer rom-com from Utah playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett.
The theater where it’s being performed is in a place called Meanwhile Park, a venture started by Jeff Paris in his backyard.
The launch has had its interesting moments. After one dress rehearsal, someone in the neighborhood called the police. The crew had a sign made, and hung it on the other side of the backyard fence, which faces Herman Franks Park, just southeast of Liberty Park. The sign reads, “Performance in Progress. No humans are in danger.”
The idea for Meanwhile Park started, Paris said, six years ago when he was renovating his backyard.
“Meanwhile Park is actually a moment of grief for me,” Paris said, adding that it was inspired by someone close to him who had died. “I wanted to do something that would bring people together, and would be a place you could do all kinds of fun stuff.”
The space is small for an outdoor theater, with seating for 28 to 30 people. Attendees follow a string of lights alongside the brick house to the backyard. A concrete wall, with the word “Meanwhile” spelled out on it, greets visitors. To the right is a staging area, where actors change costumes, gather props or have a quick drink.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brenda Hattingh Peatross and Josh Richardson during rehearsal.
The audience area has rows of gray and pink chairs. Theatergoers will be treated to complimentary snacks from Elizabeth’s Catering, and drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. (Because there’s alcohol, ticket holders must be 21 or older.)
Small stage lights illuminate the space in purple and pink tones. The stage is concrete, bare except for the props needed for each scene, and lighting equipment from Umbrella Theater Company. There’s a pack of Crayola chalk nearby, stage markings scribbled in various colors.
Emily Kitterer, the stage manager for “From June to August,” works furiously in the back corner.
Above, big open skies offer views of Utah’s summer sunsets. A slight breeze cuts through the summer air. The show starts at 9:30 p.m., to beat the heat and to show respect for Paris’ neighbors.
Paris said he wanted to create a place to gather, and a place where surprising things can happen. After the first performance in the Meanwhile Park area, by SBDance through their program Curbside Theater, Paris decided to take a risk.
“I like doing things that push me out of my comfort zone,” Paris said. “I’m fascinated by the idea of producing theater and no one’s gonna let me produce a play.”
So, he said, he decided to do it himself.
Like storytellers ‘around the fire’
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The idea for Meanwhile Park started, Paris said, six years ago when he was renovating his backyard.
This weekend and next — July 27-29 and August 3-5 — Meanwhile Park is presenting six performances of Bennett’s work, which won the first Meanwhile Park Playwright Prize, out of 60 submissions from around the world. (One, Paris said, was from a 17-year-old playwright.)
Paris set some parameters for submission. The play could be only one act, because of lighting limitations — and because Paris wanted to give people an hour to mingle and meet before the show started. The play also had to be a new work, and Paris gave prompts for possible topics: A ghost story, a summer romance, or a local historical story.
The idea, Paris said, was to create something that would work for an outdoor gathering of storytellers, something they could tell “around the fire.”
Bennett, Paris said, wrote to those specifications exactly. “The title is ‘From June to August,’ and the way the characters relate to that, it really felt to me like it was a story that belonged outdoors in a surprising setting.”
Bennett said the play “feels out of character for me, in a way.”
It’s his first romantic comedy, and the first one-act, hourlong play he’s ever written. Bennett noted that his plays usually have socio-political themes; for example, his recent play “Let Down Your Hair” is, as he describes it on his website, “a modern retelling of Rapunzel through the lens of sex education in America.”
When he saw “summer romance” on the submission form, Bennett said, he knew he finally had found a place to put together an idea he had been kicking around.
“Everyone has different sides to them,” Bennett said, adding that he and his wife have a ritual every Christmas, to watch the romantic movies “The Holiday” and “Love Actually.” “I’ve been nursing this desire to write a rom-com for a long time,” he said.
The cast features Brenda Hattingh Peatross as June and Josh Richardson as August, the romantic leads. Also performing are Calbert Beck and Tamara Howell. They’re assisted by a soundtrack of nighttime grasshoppers. (The production team includes director Jason Bowcutt, associate director Holly Fowers, Lee Hollaar on lighting, costume designer PJ Kelsch, graphic designer Steve Hansen, and Paris as a producer.)
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Josh Richardson and Calbert Beck during rehearsal.
“It’s a theater production without a company,” Bennett said. “But it turns out, you don’t need a company if you have a bunch of passionate people.”
Paris said he was nervous, as one might be with any new venture, wondering if the idea would work out. Within three weeks of social-media marketing and placing flyers at such locations as Woodbine Food Hall, the production sold half of its tickets. The first weekend was sold out days before the opening.
The tickets are $25, with all the proceeds going to support the creative staff and the actors. (Paris, who works in branding, also sells a merchandise line on the Meanwhile Park website.)
Paris credited the ticket sales in part to Bennett’s local fans, the enthusiasm of Utah’s theater community, the laidback marketing strategy, and people’s intrigue over how and why a play is being performed in someone’s backyard.
So far, Paris said, he’s been having fun getting Meanwhile Park launched. He said he envisions more plays, as well as art exhibits and maybe an open-mic night. “Ultimately, I hope it’s a space for arts of all kinds,” he said.
Tickets for Matthew Ivan Bennett’s one-act romantic comedy “From June to August,” are $25, and can be purchased online at MeanwhilePark.com. Sales are limited to 28 to 30 tickets, which are general admission. Tickets will be mailed. No one will be admitted without a ticket; no one under 21 will be admitted at all.
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