Slammin'

As the name implies, "The Fifth Annual Student Slam" is a student production. But the festival doesn't take just any doe-eyed high schooler with a penchant for the stage. More than 150 aspiring thespians auditioned for this year's festival, with 25 making the cut. This Saturday they'll descend on the Rose Wagner stage, backed by a bevy of professional Utah playwrights and directors, to create and rehearse five 10-minutes plays in the space of 23 hours. As the festival's tagline goes: "You spend the 24th hour with us to see the results!" The festival is an educational program of Plan-B Theatre Company and a fundraiser for the Theatre Arts Conservatory, which has instructed more than 600 Utah students in the ways of professional theater over its seven-year history. The acting roster includes talent from Alta High, Olympus High, Park City High, Skyline High, West High, Treasure Mountain International School, plus Judge Memorial, Rowland Hall St. Mark's and the Salt Lake Performing Arts High School. Participating playwrights include Beth Bruner, Megan Crivello, Jim Martin, Eric Samuelsen and Tobin Atkinson. Colleen Baum, Christopher Glad, Nathaniel Hinckley, Jay Perry and Mark Fossen will be on hand as directors.

When • Saturday, Jan. 7, 8 p.m.

Where • Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $12, at 801-355-ARTS; visit www.theatreartsconservatory.com for more information.

Windsor wives

Never mind that William Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" puts Sir John Falstaff in a time machine from medieval 1400 to the Elizabethan era of 1600 or so. It may have been written under severe deadline for Queen Elizabeth I, a big fan of Shakespeare's greatest comic character, and the laughs come all the more quickly for it. The plot is largely about money and marriage as Falstaff plots to marry Mistress Ford and Mistress Page through the same love letter, only to provoke Mistress Ford's jealous husband to a chain of events that eventually finds Falstaff dumped into a foul laundry bin and a cold river. Grassroots Shakespeare Company wraps up its production of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies Jan. 2 at Provo's Independence High School. Founded by Alex Ungerman and Mark Oram in association with two Utah Valley University professors, the company aspires to "the original practices of Shakespeare's stagecraft" with productions that feature no director, no costume or lighting designs for Shakespeare plays that are "accessible, original and fun," according to the company's website.

When • Monday, Jan. 2, 8 p.m.

Where • Independence High School, 636 N. Independence Ave, Provo.

Info • $8-$12; at 801-374-4930 or GrassrootsShakespeare.com.

Getting thee to the festival

Utah Valley University's production of "Eurydice," along with two other Utah productions, has been invited to next year's Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region VIII. The regional festival showcases the best theater offerings from colleges and universities in California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam. The festival, to be held in February at Weber State University, chose 11 productions, including Brigham Young University's production of "The Elephant Man" and Weber State University's production of "Xanadu." Sarah Ruhl's 2003 play "Eurydice," performed Oct. 13-Nov. 5 at UVU, is unique in telling the traditional Greek myth not from the perspective of Orpheus, but the woman he journeys into the underworld to save, his wife Eurydice.

When • Feb. 7-11

Where • Weber State University, Ogden

Info • Visit www.kcactf-8.org for more information.

Get your event listed here by contacting Ben Fulton at bfulton@sltrib.com or call 801-257-8608.