by Marlo Ihler and Kathryn Neves, Utah Shakespeare Festival
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is celebrating our Armed Forces and First Responders in the month of September. Military Appreciation Days will take place September 9 to 12, 2026, by offering two free tickets to military members. Additionally, there will be a special one-day staged reading of Anne Nelson’s play, The Guys, on September 11 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
For Military Appreciation Days, eligible patrons—those with a military ID or DD214 form, whether active or veteran—can receive a total of two (2) complimentary tickets per ID. These tickets can be split between two select shows or used for a single performance.
Festival Executive Managing Director Michael Bahr says this is a way to say thank you. “We want to express our gratitude as an organization to these individuals for their invaluable sacrifices, commitment, and unwavering dedication to their community and country.”
Available performances are:
- Wednesday (9/9)
- Something Rotten! – 2:00 pm, Randall L. Jones Theatre. (This is a musical.)
- She Loves Me – 8:00 pm, Randall L. Jones Theatre. (This is a musical.)
- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – 8:00 pm, Anes Studio Theatre (Very limited availability.)
- Thursday (9/10)
- The Book Club Play – 2:00 pm, Anes Studio Theatre (Very limited availability.)
- Friday (9/11)
- She Loves Me – 2:00 pm, Randall L. Jones Theatre. (This is a musical.)
- Something Rotten! – 8:00 pm, Randall L. Jones Theatre. (This is a musical.)
- Saturday (9/12)
- Something Rotten! – 2:00 pm, Randall L. Jones Theatre. (This is a musical.)
- She Loves Me – 8:00 pm, Randall L. Jones Theatre. (This is a musical.)
Reserve tickets now by calling 800-PLAYTIX (800-752-9849) or by visiting the Ticket Office near the Festival Clock Tower. Please note: these tickets cannot be redeemed for premier seating sections, this special offer cannot be reserved online, and spaces are limited. For more information about the productions, visit bard.org/plays.
In addition, during Military Appreciation Week, the Festival is also commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11 with a special one-time presentation of Anne Nelson’s The Guys on September 11 at 9:30am in the Anes Studio Theatre.
Directed by Festival Artistic Director John DiAntonio and starring longtime Festival artists Melinda Pfundstein and Chris Mixon, this production will be a staged reading with the actors reading from scripts, akin to the Festival’s Words Cubed new play program.
The Guys follows the true story of a journalist who, in the days following the attack on the World Trade Center, helps a New York fire chief write the eulogies for eight of his men who were killed. Through this reading, the Festival hopes to commemorate and honor those first responders who gave their lives responding to the 9/11 attacks. To that end, all proceeds from the event will go to 9/11 first responders and their families.
“It’s a beautiful and tender script—so simple, so intimate, and perfectly suited to the Anes Theatre. I’m incredibly excited about our cast: Melinda Pfundstein and Chris Mixon are both beloved members of the Utah Shakespeare family, and I know our audiences will be thrilled to see them together,” said DiAntonio. “I hope you can join us for what will be a very special morning. The Guys is a small play about an enormous event, but its power lies in its humanity—in two people trying to find the words when words seem impossible. Twenty-five years after September 11, that feels like a story still worth telling.”
In this anniversary year, The Guys offers audiences a chance to remember the lives lost on 9/11 and the people who were left behind to tell their stories. Tickets for the performance are $11 and can be purchased online at bard.org or by calling the Ticket Office at 800-PLAYTIX (800-752-9849).
