THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR MAR 24 - 30 

• Courtesy Photo

Ron Linn: gridding the west & Jesse Meredith: So That We May Fear Not
Much of the mythology of the American West is built on assumptions about the superiority of a particular white European mindset, being superimposed on landscapes and peoples that existed here centuries before any white Europeans. Two new exhibitions at Finch Lane Gallery investigate colonialism and white supremacy through lenses that still, sadly, have resonance today.

Ron Linn's gridding the west is based on the notion of the earliest white settlers of the west viewing this region as a place to be divided up, owned by and exploited by those who were to come and "claim" it. They laid the "gridded plat"—for them, an indicator of a divide order of things—as a way to identify who would own what particular space. Through the interaction between images of the unspoiled landscape and various forms of grids (pictured), Linn uses imagery that recognizes the violence involved in deciding that this place could be tamed and contained.

Jesse Meredith takes on a different side of this Eurocentric sensibility in So That We May Fear Not, which springs from the artist's experience going "undercover" with a midwestern militia organization. The espoused ideologies of so-called "patriot" movements intersect in Meredith's worth with photographs punctured with holes, as well as militia artifacts, to investigate the fragility at the heart of white nationalism.

Both exhibits run through April 22 at Finch Lane Gallery (54 Finch Lane), open to the public Tuesdays 9:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. and Wednesdays-Thursdays 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. For health & safety information and additional exhibition images, visit saltlakearts.org/finchlanegallery. (Scott Renshaw)

• Camille Washington

Good Company Theatre: Man and Moon
One of the miraculous things about art is its capacity to introduce you to the lived experience of people you'd never otherwise understand. As all of the arts become more open to stories outside of the mainstream, those deeply individual tales reveal something beyond the specific, through basic human relationships.

That's the foundation for Man and Moon, a National New Play Network rolling world premiere from California-based playwright Siena Marilyn Ledger that receives its local production from Ogden's Good Company Theatre. It tells the story of two people who meet in a hospital oncology unit: Aaron (Jordan Danielle), a trans man who is receiving treatment for breast cancer; and Luna (Annie Soleil Potter), a 12-year-old girl whose principal passion is the universe beyond our planet. As the two people spend time together on simple pastimes like playing cards, they share information about what motivates and scares them, including the mysteries of their own changing bodies. As Chicago director James Fleming describes it, "Like Thornton Wilder, Siena invites us to contemplate our place in the universe, and reminds us that the only constant in live is change."

Good Company Theatre's production of Man and Moon runs March 24 – April 10 at the company's theater space (2404 Wall Ave., Ogden). General admission tickets are $25, with performances Fridays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m.; the Saturday, April 2 performance includes ASL translator. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and masking during performances is currently required of all attendees. Visit goodcotheatre.com for tickets and additional information. (SR)

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Carol Burnett
The internet age has made hyperbole part of the background noise of our lives. Every athletic performance is the GOAT; every new movie released is the most amazing thing in the history of ever. So it's understandable if we should take it with a grain of salt when someone is called a "legend"—unless that someone happens to be Carol Burnett, in which case no salt of any kind is required.

If it feels like Burnett has been part of the entertainment landscape forever, it's easy to understand why; she literally grew up in Hollywood, graduating from Hollywood High School in the 1950s, before moving to New York and launching her career with talk shows and game shows. Over the course of nearly 70 years in show biz, she has done virtually everything one can do: from cabaret singer to Broadway Tony Award nominee, from movie roles to animated voice-over work. Yet her greatest impact came from her 1967-1978 comedy-variety series The Carol Burnett Show, with its classic ensemble including Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. With her tradition of starting the show with an impromptu Q&A session with members of the show's studio audience, she became more than a television personality. She felt like America's kooky friend.

Burnett brings that same dynamic to the stage of the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main) for two evenings of reflection on her career and audience participation, March 28-29, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $67-$177; proof of vaccination or negative test, as well as face covering, is required for all attendees. Visit arttix.org for tickets and additional information. (SR)

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Give 'Em Hell, Harry
Actors have to imagine other kinds of lives all the time to inhabit a role, so it's no great surprise that most actors who take on the roles of political figures have no personal experience with elected office. That's not the case for Fred Grandy, however. The actor—who became a familiar face in the 1970s with his supporting role as Gopher on the hit TV series The Love Boat—actually had an interest in politics preceding his acting career, including writing speeches for the Congressman from his home district in Iowa. Grandy himself subsequently served four terms in Congress from 1987-1995—so when he takes on the role of Harry S. Truman for the one-man show Give 'Em Hell, Harry!, he knows a little bit about the Washington, D.C. milieu.

The 1975 play by Samuel Gallu offers a portrait of Truman from his childhood through his terms as president, including the complex decision to use atomic weapons on Japan in World War II. It captures his often-tart sense of humor and non-nonsense disposition, but also his reputation as a politician who got things done.

Utah Shakespeare Festival comes to the Salt Lake Valley to present Grandy in a touring performance of Give 'Em Hell, Harry! that he launched last year on Broadway, for four performances at the West Valley Performing Arts Center (3333 S. Decker Lake Dr., West Valley City), March 29 – April 2, at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $59 general admission; visit wvcarts.org/harry to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)