Latest News


WILL IT GO ROUND @ PTC

My new play WILL IT GO ROUND is going to be part of Pioneer Theatre Company’s 2023 Play-by-Play series, with a staged reading on Saturday, June 10th @ 7:30p.m.

It’s a sort of structural hybrid: not a straightforward historical drama, but vignettes based on true events, with both drama and humor. I’ve been rewriting all week. Playwright Kenneth Jones fully summarizes it here, along with the other pieces.

Click READ MORE for PTC’s ticketing portal.

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A link to THE CASE OF THE MISSING DOG!

If you’d like to listen to an oddball noir comedy — Plan-B Theatre’s RADIO HOUR EPISODE 16: THE CASE OF THE MISSING DOG — have at it! I performed five of the characters in this radio show, if you include dog. 😉 Click on “Read More” for the KUER RadioWest website.

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RADIO HOUR EP. 16: THE CASE OF THE MISSING DOG!

I’ve been acting again this year. First in Pygmalion’s “Mountain Meadows” by Debora Threedy and now in Brandan Ngo’s comedy noir for the radio, “The Case of the Missing Dog.”

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LET DOWN YOUR HAIR @ SLAC

My work-in-progress LET DOWN YOUR HAIR will be a part of the New Play Sounding Series at the Salt Lake Acting Company on Monday, May 1st. It’s a modern retelling of RAPUNZEL through the lens of sex education in America.

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An editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune

The Utah legislature passed a terrible law in their last session: a law prohibiting people from rescuing sick animals from concentrated feeding operations. While it was still being considered, I wrote this editorial for The Salt Lake Tribune.

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“…a refreshing take on the family drama genre”

Another review of THE WHOLE LOT from TVFanatic. THE WHOLE LOT will screen next in September, in Kansas City, and might appear in the West later this year.

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Selected Works



Photo by Doug Carter

PROFILES:

Matthew Ivan Bennett has been Resident Playwright of Plan-B Theatre since 2007, where he’s premiered several stage plays and 10 radio plays in collaboration with KUER’s RadioWest. His work usually focuses on the sociopolitical while centering character with elements of humor. His adaptation of “Frankenstein” won the Best Feature Program award from the Utah Broadcasters’ Association. His one-person play “Eric(a)” won Best Drama at the United Solo Festival in New York. His road trip play, “A\Version of Events” is published with Stage Rights ». His anti-bullying play “Different=Amazing”—for grades 3 to 6—is published with Leicester Bay Theatricals ». With the O’Neill, he’s been a Finalist (“Let Down Your Hair,” 2016) and Semifinalist (“Art & Class,” 2019). He’s won the Best Local Playwright award from PlayUtah and Salt Lake’s City Weekly honored with an Arty for writing Plan-B’s entire season in 2009. In 2014, he received the Holland New Voices award from Great Plains Theatre Commons and returned in 2019 to workshop his play “Art & Class.” His short plays have appeared at Pacific Players in Seattle, the Source Festival in DC, Monkeyman in Toronto, and Theatre Out in Santa Ana. His comedy “A Night with the Family” ran at the Omaha Community Playhouse. His short film “B+A” appeared at Slamdance and his feature-length film “The Whole Lot” was an Official Selection of the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, the Kansas City Independent Film Festival, the Mesa Independent Film Festival, the San Francisco Independent Film Festival, and the Mumbai Indie-Fest in 2022 and 2023. In 2015 and 2016, he was a screenwriting finalist at the Austin Film Festival. In Utah, he’s worked as a playwright and/or actor with the Salt Lake Acting Company, Pygmalion, Sackerson (devised pieces: “A Brief Waltz in a Little Room” and “The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done”), and Wasatch Theatre Company. Matt served 13 years as Assistant Business Manager for Pioneer Theatre Company, as well as reading for their Play-by-Play series, and was previously a part-time Literary Manager for The Constructivists in Milwaukee. His poetry has been published with Sugar House Review, Western Humanities, Utah Life, unearthed, and Organic Ink, Volume 5 ». Matt earned his Bachelors in Theatre from Southern Utah University—where he also acted for the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s educational tours of “The Taming of the Shrew” as Grumio and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as Puck. He is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild, and recently joined Mastodon (dot Social).

UPCOMING PROJECTS: “Tales of Revenge” at Pacific Players in Seattle in June; “From June to August” at Meanwhile Park in July/August; “Art & Class” at Wasatch Theatre in September; “Radio Hour Episode 17: The Final Problem” at Plan-B Theatre Company in October.