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HINDSIGHT

By Morag Shepherd

Created by Alex Ungerman

Sackerson, 2018 

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Direction and sound design by Alex Ungerman

Photos by Ashley Thalman

Video by Shawn Saunders and Alex Woods

Performed by Shawn Saunders, Mckenzie Steele Foster, Mary Nikols, Connor Johnson, Tyler Fox, and â€‹â€‹â€‹Brandt Garber

Hindsight is, well, super rad and unlike anything I’ve seen on the Utah Theater Scene. The immersive production, which runs through June 23, 2018, is staged at locations around downtown SLC. Here’s how it works. You meet at a bus stop on State Street, in the shadow of the LDS Church Office Building. A “stage manager” greets you and gives you a set of Skullcandy headphones that are wirelessly connected to the actors’ microphones and an Inspector Gadget style brief case carried by the stage manager. Soon you are on a UTA bus, eavesdropping on the actors and following them on a walk around downtown. You go into restaurants, stroll the streets and follow a well-crafted tale of young love by playwright Morag Shepherd.

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Morag Shepherd’s keen dialogue is spot on, real, funny and, at times, raw. (Salt Lake Magazine)

"Enchanting, bittersweet, gentle, funny: Hindsight, by Morag Shepherd, is ideal theater on a gorgeous spring evening. 

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It is an Utah love story with honest substance that captures the heartbeat of a thriving downtown district. 

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Hindsight has a natural urban rhythm." ~ Les Roka

"I went to see Sackerson's Hindsight by Hindsight by Morag Shepherd. The short of it: GO!

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Here's the long of it:This play made me fall in love with my city. It made me look at everyone around me and wonder about their story. The acting is great and Morag's writing is theatrical and natural at the same time, so there's just a slight feeling of "oh yeah, I'm watching a play" that's perfect for this experience. 

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The play is very much in and of Salt Lake City." ~Brenda Hattingh

Shepherd’s story also left me with a lot to ponder and consider. This show is one that is best discovered through experience, rather than reading a plot synopsis in a review. A poignant line in the script discussed how flowers grow, burst into color, and then die. While that can be seen as a sobering thought, I also felt that it is a reminder to take advantages of life’s opportunities because beauty can be fleeting and should be enjoyed in the moment. This is what Hindsight brought to me: a beauty that could only be enjoyed in that setting and the exact experiences that are unique to each performance.

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AN EVENING WITHOUT REGRETS AT SACKERSON’S HINDSIGHT (Utah Theatre Bloggers)

The script for Hindsight is unlike Shepherd’s recent plays which weave complex themes through complex characters. But, nonetheless, Shepherd’s rendering of these three characters for a romantic comedy builds in a depth of emotional portraits that would be less likely found in a feature film of this genre. There are elements of sarcasm, vulnerability and charm but all presented without seeming judgmental or preachy.

 

Downtown SLC becomes a unique stage for Hindsight, a new play by Sackerson, 3 Irons (The Utah Review)

But the immersive elements of this production are not just a gimmick. They’re perfectly suited to the show. Local playwright Morag Shepherd’s script is equal parts funny and heartbreaking. It tells the story backwards, allowing you to see the ending first, and then understand it more deeply as you see all of the moments that lead up to it. Alex Ungerman seems to have hit on just the right directing style for this piece: hire capable actors and then get out of their way. The pacing (which is actually pretty complicated in an immersive work like this one) is excellent.

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Spend an Evening People-Watching at Sackerson’s Hindsight in Downtown Salt Lake City. (Front Row Reviewers)

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