Dr.Annette Lust & Flora Lynn IsaacsonTheater Graphic

Theater

The SF Playhouse and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Co-Stage “The Story”
Tracey Scott Wilson’s “The Story” is based on the news article about journalist Janet Cooke’s invention of the story of an eight-year-old heroine addict implicated in the murder of a white male in a black neighborhood. In Wilson’s dramatization, cub reporter Yvonne (Ryan Peters) attempts to prove her value to her superior (Halili Knox) and the newspaper by making up the existence of Jimmy, the young addict whom they never can find and who is involved in the murder. Those working with her in the paper begin to doubt Jimmy’s existence and the truth of her story when they discover that her resume was comprised of lies such as her former studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. Although she has invented these lies, Yvonne justifies her actions by declaring that she was supposed to have gone to the Sorbonne and that happenings of this kind based on racial conflict do exist. A second intrigue concerning Yvonne’s dependence for help upon her white lover (Craig Marker), the newspaper’s manager, who attempts to hide their relationship, places still more emphasis on the racial conflict.
Knowing the true story of Janet Cooke beforehand excites the spectator’s interest in this dramatization as well as clarifies the content.
Under the baton of Margo Jones, the play moves with a quick pace throughout and the simultaneous double dialogues of two couples are well timed, direct and forcefully projected.
Ryan Peters’ believable depiction of the ambitious, neophyte journalist, that provides the basic dramatic conflict of the play, presents a contrast with the authoritative Halili Knox’s Pat, who is soon wary of Yvonne’s lies. The remainder of the nine male female cast offer good characterizations.
This cooperation between SF Playhouse and Lorraine Hansberry is a harmonious and successful one that brings a vital look at the pressures of journalism heightened by
racial conflict.
“The Story” plays until April 25. For info call 415-677-9596 or visit www.sfplayhouse.org.
Dr. Annette Lust

Bay Area and Dominican Players’ Twenty-Third Fringe Festival of New One-Acts & Solos for Theatre Critics Award April 17 to May3.
For its 23rd season new short one-acts and solos by Bay Area playwrights, directors and actors will be performed to vie for Bay Area Theatre Critics Best Play, Actors and Directors awards. Recently granted a Special Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award, the festival will take place in Meadowlands Assembly Hall Theatre at Dominican University of California, 50 Acacia Ave, San Rafael, from April 17 to May 3, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., plus a 2 p.m. show on Sat. May 2nd. The festival features premieres of one-acts and monologues ranging from light comedy, a spoof on sex in the jungle of Peru, pre-nups, friendship, sex abuse, and social issues to an original pantomime satirizing modern technology. Admission $14-16: seniors and students $10; children $5. For reservations and information (415) 673-3131 or Jeanlust@aol.com
Dr. Annette Lust

Holocaust Memories--Unforgotten and Imagined
"The Model Apartment" by Donald Margulies, which opened at the Traveling Jewish
Theatre, March 1, is a brilliant and bizarre black comedy about a pair of
elderly Holocaust survivors and their outlandish, deranged daughter, which in a
series of sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving scenes, traces the pervasive
effect of their earlier trauma on the "better life" they have tried to build.
Having retired to Florida in 1988, Max and Lola are dismayed to find their new
condo is not yet ready for occupancy, and they are obliged to stay temporarily
in a "model apartment"--a tacky, gaudily decorated facade with a fake television
set and refrigerator where even the ashtrays are cemented in place.
Max and Lola had hoped to escape not only the nagging memories of their earlier
lives, and the terrors of present-day Brooklyn, but also their fat,
schizophrenic daughter, Debbie, whom they tried to "pay off" with generous
cash before their hasty departure. But Debbie, who seems to symbolize
for them their awful past and present failures, soon appears, followed in short
order by her underage, mildly retarded, black boyfriend, Neil.
Jarion Monroe as Max repeats, "For this, I walked out of the woods?" He hid in a
forest until the end of the war, while his wife and daughter, Deborah, perished
in a concentration camp. Max is constantly haunted by memories of his daughter.
Lola survived the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, and her memories are not
strictly her own with her wishful dreaming and stories about Anne Frank as her
best friend.
Naomi Newman and Jarion Monroe wonderfully play off each other with
the edgy familiarity of a long-married couple. Amy Resnick all but steals the show as their obese and mentally disturbed daughter, Debbie. She handles Margulies' dark humor with a wonderful sense of timing. Anthony Williams lends strong support as Debbie's autistic boyfriend, Neil. Amy Glazer, one of my favorite directors, knowingly handles the combination of deeply
disturbing subject matter combined with outrageous humor.
The Model Apartment,"a part of the Traveling Jewish Theatre's 30th
anniversary season, runs through April 5. For tickets or info about upcoming productions, call 415-292-1233 or visit www.ATJT.com.
Flora Lynn Isaacson

Love, Acceptance and Ballyhoo at the Ross Valley Players

In the "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" the inevitability of World War II and the film debut of "Gone with the Wind" intersect for the backdrop. The Freitags, a Jewish family living in 1939 in Atlanta, are more concerned with who is going to Ballyhoo, a lavish country-club cotillion for the elite southern Jewish community event, than they are with the events of world history.  Living together in bachelor, Uncle Adolph's house, are his widowed sister, Beulah (Boo) Levy and his widowed sister-in-law Reba. Boo tries to find a date to take her not-so-popular daughter, Lala, to Ballyhoo because this may be Lala's last chance to find a husband.  One night, Uncle Adolph brings home his new assistant Joe. Lala is impressed by Joe and hints broadly about being taken to Ballyhoo.  Joe turns Lala down which infuriates Boo. Joe falls for Lala's cousin, Sunny (Reba's daughter) home for Christmas vacation from Wellsley.  The problem is Joe is from Brooklyn and his family from Eastern Europe, not the proper German variety. On the other hand, Peachy Weil, who Boo arranges to take Lala to Ballyhoo, may be uncouth but he comes from an old southern Jewish family. Events take several unexpected turns as the family gets pulled apart, then mended together again with plenty of comedy,romance and revelations.
This winner of the 1997 Tony Award for Best New Play, was written by Alfred Uhry, who also won the Pulitzer
Prize and an Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1987.

Phoebe Moyer directed her fine cast with a sure hand, and Bruce Lackovic furnished the Freitag home with all the comforts associated with money and respectability. Michael A. Berg's costumes are authentic 1939.The secondary railroad car set also works well. The sound and music were designed by Billie Cox who used period music and original recordings from 1939.
At the end of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo," we are left with Uhry's thoughtful exploration of what it means to belong or be excluded and to claim one's own heritage.

"The Last Night of Ballyhoo" plays at Ross Valley Players' Barn Theatre in the Marin Art and Garden Center until
April 23. For tickets, phone 415-456-9555 or visit
www.rossvalleyplayers.com.
Flora Lynn Isaacson

April 2009

 

S.F. Follies Spoof and Glorify San Francisco’ Past and Present

With a blast and a bang the Follies performers greet us with a lively song and dance opening that grabs us from the start as we are invited to revisit the past and present of one of America’s most glorious cities. As quickly we are back in the seventeen hundreds where a couple of Spaniards are commanding two female native Indians who comprehend nada. After the name Yerba Buena is changed to San Francisco a naked gold miner adds another note of humor and scandal as he appears holding his mining plate in front of his parts to spoof the days of the Gold Rush. An attractive Victorian female ventriloquist carrying a baby who talks like an adult captivates our attention. The days of the Barbary Coast, alive with crime and prostitution, are vividly depicted. In the late eighteen hundreds the cable cars climb the hills of San Francisco. In 1906 the earthquake is portrayed as demolishing a good part of the city, rapidly rebuilt and followed by the 1920ties stock market clash.

As we move further into the twentieth century we are offered amusing caricatures of the Beatnik writers of the 1950ties and Patty Hearst in the 1960ties. Next we see cartoon sketches of such notables as movie critic Jan Wahl who appears looking like a robot puppet, Diane Feinstein, George Moscone, Harvey Milk, Wendy Takuta, and an enticing Mayor Newsom. There are vivid portrayals of the city’s favorite spots namely Telegraph Hill and its parrots, Fisherman’s Wharf, Golden Gate Park, City Hall, Davis Music Hall, the Tenderloin homeless, Bart and more. To end this rapid overview of the history and present of San Francisco a number of video projections offer a sentimental look at some of the city’s finest stores of last century such as The City of Paris and Blum’s along with Christmas adorning the city’s streets.

The singers/actors/dancers of this fifteen member cast are alive, energetic and they give their all in this brilliantly developed satire.

Sets under the sharp eagle eye of John Bisceglie (Author, Director, Producer and Costume/Set Designer) are visually appealing and costumes extravagantly stunning to convey the glittering Follies ambience.

The retrospect of San Francisco ends on a touching note as we watch video projections of the landmarks that to those who are familiar with the city can bring tears to their eyes.

This caricature of San Francisco is at once amusing and moving, performed with glamour and humorous affection in an intimate ambience.

For information about an open-ended run on Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8 p.m. and and Sun. matinees until April 26 at the Actor’s Theatre on 855 Bush Street (and possibly at another S F venue later) visit www.sffollies.com; email SFFollies@gmail.com.

Annette Lust

Jump! Theatre Presents Innovative "Cuckoo"

"Cuckoo" tells Madison Clell's true story of living with multiple personalities and surviving to tell the tale. Adapted by Madison Clell from her 2002 graphic novel of the same name, "Cuckoo" recounts Clell's own struggle with, and eventual recovery from, Dissociative Identity Disorder (once known as Multiple Personality Disorder).

"Cuckoo" chronicles the true adventures of Adriene played by Madison Clell herself, and her many personalities. Nine actors portray pre-integration parts of Madison. These many personalities battle her patient and understanding boyfriend (portrayed by Matthew Lowe). They also play havoc with her therapist (played with a perfect German accent by Carole Robinson).

With a stage design inspired by Clell's evocative pen-and-ink drawings and sharp humor that perseveres through harrowing memories of childhood trauma, "Cuckoo" is directed in a fast pace by Rebecca Longworth with animation design also by Rebecca Longworth. The scenes in the car passing scenery were especially effective.

"Cuckoo" is very innovative as it combines live actors with a cartoon video with expert timing. I strongly recommend "Cuckoo"'s high energy ensemble that includes Madison Clell herself in the lead role.

Congratulations to the Jump Theatre, under the artistic direction of Nena St. Louis, which for 4 years has been telling true stories of mental illness and has 5 productions in its repertoire.

"Cuckoo" ran through Feb. 28. For future info on Jump Theatre productions, visit www.brownpapertickets.com/event/48805 or call 1-800-838-3006.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

Northern California Premiere of "Waitin' 2 End Hell" at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre

"Waitin' 2 End Hell" explores both the hilarious and tragic shifting dynamics in a contemporary marriage. The play begins when a group of friends gather together to celebrate Dante and Diane Jones's 20th anniversary.

In honor of Black History Month, it is important for playwright William Parker, that Dante and Diane, no matter what their problems, appear as "among the upwardly mobile African Americans who were born in the sixties and have clung to their blackness." The characters in the play work through struggles borrowing from black vernacular, the language of the black church and contemporary black music.

Robert Broadfoot's set is open and expansive of the home of Dante and Diane Jones.

This play, set in Sacramento, 2008, has its share of love, laughter and good times but these themes emerge only in the context of a centrifugal storm of confrontations related to money, sex and power.

"Waitin' 2 End Hell" runs February 14 through March 1, 2009 at the PG&E Auditorium, 77 Beale Street, San Francisco. Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays. For information about future productions call 415-474-8800 or go online at www.lhtsf.org.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

BERKELEY REP'S 50TH WORLD PREMIERE: IN THE NEXT ROOM (or the vibrator play).

Playwright Sarah Ruhl and Director Les Waters reunite at Berkeley Rep to produce "In the Next Room" (or the vibrator play) that takes place in late 19th century America when middle class morality held that women didn't enjoy sex and a wide range of "female problems" were classified as "hysteria." The doctors in this period treated this malady with the invention of the electric vibrator around 1878.

As the title suggests, the play is set in two rooms that are seen on the theatre's larger Roda Theatre, the living room of a doctor's house and the receiving room next door where he sees patients for their vibrator treatments for hysteria, and the action is taking place in both rooms simultaneously.

Maria Dizzia, who makes such a luminous impression as "Eurydice," also created by Sarah Rahl and Les Waters in 2004, plays Sabrina, a nervous child-like woman who shrinks from light and cold and touch. Her husband (John Leonard Thompson) takes her to Dr. Givings (Paul Niebanck) to put the bloom back in his cheeks.

Meanwhile, next door, Anne Smart's set captures the prissi-ness and confinement of the parlour where women's bodies were hidden under so many layers of taffeta and fear. Givings wife, Catherine (Hannah Cabell) is growing more curious about the sounds emanating from her husband's office. Catherine's quest is the engine of the story. Cabell seethes with a growing frustration, led not only by her husband's detachment but also by fears that her new baby is bonding with her nurse (beautifully portrayed by Melle Powers). She begins to bristle at the limitations on women, expertly established as much by David Zinnn's corseted and multilayered costumes as by the patriarchal attitudes of Givings and Sabrina's husband. Sexual possibilities suggest themselves in the compassionate painter visiting from Europe (Joaquin Torres) who has come to Dr. Givings for treatments.

Les Waters' sensitive staging accentuates Sarah Ruhl's enticing blend of irreverent humor and skewed relations.

"In the Next Room" (or a vibrator play) plays at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; 7 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday, and 2 pm. Thursday and Sunday through March 15 in Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison Strett, Berkeley. Tickets may be reserved at (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

John Guare’s Landscape of the Body-Landscape of a Playwright

In John Guare's fertile visions, he comes up with the important questions of life--how easy is it to lose everything? How do people face the idea that nothing is permanent, including happiness? And if everything we love in the world is taken from us, how do we start over? When happiness is taken away, we must reclaim it with the same vigor we had when we first attained it. The idea that one person can lose everything and remain defiant is the essence of "Landscape of the Body" which opened at the SF Playhouse on January 31, 2009.responsible for the

grisly murder of her 14 year old son ends where it began with Betty taking all the information she's assimilated over the years and tossing it piece by scribbled piece into the sea. "My life," she concludes, "is a triumph of all the things I don't know."

As directed by Bill English (who also did a superb set of the Nantucket ferry) with equal measures of sensationalism and sensitivity, "The Landscape of the Body" identifies the human condition as an almost unbearable longing. Rana

Kangas-Kent is a funny stand up performer who cracks joke like a Catskills comic, dances like a vaudevillian trooper and sings like an earthly angel. Suzi Danmilano in the central role of Betty is believable and moving. Andrew Hurteau is effervescent as Holahan, an erratic oddball cop. The beauty of John Guare is that, under his inventive plot twists and quirky characters, one finds truth.

"The Landscape of the Body" runs at the SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street until March 7. For tickets or more information about Landscape or future productions, , call (415) 677-9596 or

www.sfplayhouse.org

Flora Lynn Isaacson

March 2009

Lunatique Fantastique ‘s Wizardry Is Back in Town

Liebe Wetzel’s newest version of her popular Wrapping Paper Caper at the Marsh, incollaboration with and directed by Jeff Raz, is enriched with dramatic elements such as the use of words and vocal sounds and acrobatics, clowning and miming by her found object characters. And all the while her piece has preserved its original imaginative charm and freshness in a unique fantasy world peopled by inanimate objects that come to life.

As the black silhouettes of the puppeteer animators take their places behind a long table before us, imagine a light jacket (that the animators rapidly shape into a body), a hat and a magnifying glass lying there that rise up from the table to become Sherlock Holmes brandishing his magnifying glass. The puppeteers animate him and other characters created from Xmas wrappings, silverware, bread rolls, and everyday items. In the puppet theatre of Lunatique Fantastique one’s imagination is sparked because characters, props, and sets are cleverly created from so little. Children as well as adults are drawn into the inventive antics of these fantasy creatures born from familiar objects. We leave Lunatique Fantastique wondering if the chair on which we were sitting or the glass we held in our hand do not caper about when our heads are turned.

Lunatique Fantastique will be back in the Bay Area at the San Francisco Marsh in the Spring and Summer with Executive Order 9066. Info: www.Lunfan.com. Annette Lust

Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party Brings Freedom To Choose One’s Mores

Aaron Loeb’s (the esteemed playwright of First Person Shooter) play about Abraham Lincoln begins with a scene in which three elementary school children interpret forefathers Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln divulging the truth about Lincoln having on a certain occasion shared a bed with another male. “Who was I” asks the child playing Lincoln-“ a saint, gay, or a liberator?” “Totally gay!” he concludes. The audience is then asked to vote for the order in which it chooses to see the play performed, “liberty” “house divided” or “power”? A majority votes for “power” to begin the spoof on Lincoln’s lifestyle in a complex intrigue that revolves around an anti-gay senator (Joe Kady) in Menard County, Illinois. The latter attempts to keep the children in the county from being corrupted by information about gay sex, particlarly in respect to the morally intact historical image of Abraham Lincoln. A trial follows over the culpability of the teacher (Lorraine Olsen) with the senator’s hard fast opponent running for governor defending the teacher. The teacher decries her innocence by declaring that children need to know the truth.

Directed by Chris Smith, former Artistic Director of the Magic Theatre where he helmed the introduction of a number of new works, the piece, in spite of the overwritten text and complex development of dramatic action, is lively and innovatively presented and put together. It is enriched by the mix of movement and dance choreography of Kimberly Richards and Tom Segal that has a chorus line of Abraham Lincoln’s brightening the stage and bringing satirical fun and cheer to the ensemble

Acting credits go to Velina Brown as a tough Republican senator running for governor and the role of the exotic Latino fashion photographer who makes sensual advances to the innocent senator’s son.

Multiple sets by Bill English from a courtroom to a pie shop to a corn field and to scenes that require spaciousness for numerous characters dancing and moving about are both playful and well conceived.

Victoria Livingston Hall’s costumes of the multiple Abraham Lincolns in black period suits and top hats is charming along with simple attire that suits the characterization of each.

This timely play that relates to our current election of an African American president and the dissention over Prop 8 touches upon social, religious and financial issues. It is also a twentieth century mix of farce, satire, sentimental romance, politics, audience participation, dance, and an innovative way of fusing all of these elements.

Next up at the SF Playhouse is John Guare’s Landscape of the Body. Jan. 31-March 7.For info. 415-677-9596 or www.sfplayhouse.org-Annette Lust

Second Wind’s World Premiere of “Meadowland”

In “Meadowland” we have two parallel stories. The first story involves two brothers: one who chose a more righteous path to become sheriff of their small town (sensitively played by Leon Goertzen) and the younger, more rebellious sibling who marries his brother’s childhood love and then joins the Army to find bigger adventures (played with a spirit of fun by Arthur King).

The younger brother has already been dead for two years. The exact nature of his death a mystery. Unwilling to move on fromt his world, he has proven to be something of a pesky spirit until he brings his brother an unsolved murder, a retelling of the Roshomon story of a murder and a rape of the murdered man’s wife which is told from three different points of view.

Ian Walker’s imaginative staging involves the use of four major playing areas--Meadowland, where the Roshomon story takes place is below the stage, right in front of the audience. He makes an interesting use of levels for the rest of the set.

There is a good contrast between the two stories. The story involving the two brothers and sister in law is at a conversational level, while the Roshomon story is like a Greek tragedy complete with costumes and masks which are lit effectively.

For info about future Second Wind productions, call 415-508-5614/ www.secondwind.8m.comFlora Lynn Isaacson

Glengarry Glen Ross: the Life of a Salesman

On the 25th anniversary of its U.K. premiere, Ross Valley Players opened “Glengarry Glen Ross” by David Mamet on Friday, January 16, 2009. Winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize, this explosive drama follows four small-time real estate salesman in Chicago pushing plots of worthless land on reluctant buyers and trying to make a living by any means necessary, from lies and bribery to threats and intimidation. The language of these con men and losers defined the Mamet style, creating a kind of grubby “Death of a Salesman.”

A great deal of high praise should also go to the experienced director, James Dunn, who has been directing and teaching theatre arts for 48 years. Under Dunn’s direction, all of these actors give convincing performances and capture the rhythm of the language and meld into a true ensemble.“Glengarry Glen Ross” plays at the Barn Theatre, Marin Art and Garden Center, in Ross January 16 through February 22.

Tickets: www.rossvalleyplayers.com 456-9555.Flora Lynn Isaacson

Feb. 2009

The Devil’s Disciple; Shaw’s Parody of 19th Century Melodrama and English Imperialism

Set during the American Revolution, Shaw’s play, written in 1897, takes place in New Hampshire when the colonies were breaking away from the domination of the English military mocked by Shaw for their stupidity. For example, to maintain their authority through intimidation, the military often hang certain colonists such as the town minister without justification. Within this background we first meet Mrs. Dudgeon, a widow who loses her inheritance through a will that favors her eldest son, Richard, a smuggler who renounces the piety of his family to ascribe to the workings of the Devil. Yet, for unknown reasons this disciple of the Devil will offer his life to save that of the town minister condemned to be hung. Adding drama to this conflict is the reserved and pious minister’s wife’s attempt to come to Richard’s rescue.

Directed by Barbara Oliver, founder of the Aurora Theatre, the play’s action grabs you from the beginning and never lets go of you. Trish Mulholland portrays an embittered Widow Dudgeon and Stacy Ross interprets minister Anderson’s wife, a sensitive female torn between morality and passion. Gabriel Marin as the spirited devil’s disciple dominates the stage with a dynamic presence. Warren David Keith’s portrayal of Uncle William and Bourgogne is enriched with a physical expression that conveys his every thought and feeling even more eloquently than words. Soren Oliver offers a forceful portrayal of the god-abiding minister Anderson. The remainder of the cast, including UC Cal Berkeley student Tara Tomacevic as young Essie, create excellent characterizations.

The scenic design by John Iacovelli, arranged in the semi round, is minimal. Costumes by Anna R. Oliver well represent the period and each characterization.

One of the more captivating and original aspects of this production is Shaw’s signature as a witty satirist mocking the exaggerated melodramatic elements, the hypocrisy of the military and of the God fearing colonists, and the futility of war.

The Devil’s Disciple plays through Dec. 7 and The Coverlettes appear with their jolly Xmas songs Dec. 16 -23. For information call 510-843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

Arabian Nights, Visual Fantasy Stories

From the first to the last story, playwright/director Mary Zimmerman’s Arabian Nights transports us into a world of fantasy that one rarely has the occasion to see on the contemporary stage. The entire piece is based on how Scheherezade, the daughter of a courtier of the murderous King Shahryar, spares her own life through her ability to tell story after story to retain the king’s interest while her father awaits the King’s murder of his daughter with a shroud. The young girl’s stories that dramatize love, heros and villains, good and evil, the existence of God, the meaning of life and much more are so mesmerizing that she transforms the King into a docile husband who will forever listen to her stories and never again murder another woman.

Directed by Mary Zimmerman, the ensemble of the stylized oriental choreography, songs and music (Andre Pluess and The Looking Glass Ensemble), exotic sets (Daniel Ostling), and costumes (Mara Blumenfeld) lighting effects (TJ Gerckens), and dramatized narration and improvisation by a 15 member cast a magical spell on the audience. The only time this magical spell is broken is in a scene in which a comical character expels intestinal gas while those around him swoon from the odor. This comic bit continues on and is milked so long that it soon becomes rather tedious.

The 15 member cast acting out these exotic stories present fascinating caricatures of a King and the members of his court, jesters, a madman, pastry cook, butcher, musician, a sage, slave girl and more while Sofia Jean Gomez creates a gracious, elegant heroine.

Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of the Book of the Thousand and One Nights, translated by Powys Mathers, and her direction of this enchanting production that harmoniously combines comedy and moral wisdom, choreographic and scenic beauty, offers a visual fairy tale power along with meaningful content that challenges us spiritually, stimulates our fancy and captivates our imagination.

Arabian Nights runs until January 4, 09. For information call 510-647-2949.

Joe Turner Comes to Berkeley

By Albert Goodwyn

Joe Turner does not appear in the play now running at BRep, named Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, except metaphorically. That’s just a line from an early blues song by W. C. Handy. Who does appear in August Wilson’s play about the African American experience is Herald Loomis, who has just spent four years on the road and seven years on a chain gang. The song is “Joe Turner’s Blues,” chanted by his fellow laborers on the chain gang. In the early part of the first full century without slavery, he returns to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his young daughter, and with all his various internal demons to a boarding house, seeking lodging. His daughter Zonia (Nia Reneé Warren this night, sharing the role with Inglish Amore Hills) is part of his obsession. The song is sung live, but Loomis doesn’t like it. After his years on the chain gang, he doesn’t want to hear that name.

The boarding house setting has a homey, lived-in look, but maybe a little too sedate. Most of the actors around the dining table did not project vocally, giving the performance a subdued atmosphere, until they started clapping and singing. When tall, imposing Herald Loomis (Teagle F. Bougere) enters the house in his long black coat and black hat (as called for by the playwright), his voice is loud and clear. Surprisingly, one of the few other actors who could project her voice was the child actress Nia Warren. After his forced-work detail, Loomis is searching for the mother of Zonia.

Bougere as Loomis acts animated, hyper, exaggerated, and crazed. He falls to the floor. “My legs won’t stand up.” That closes Act I. In Act II he shows himself as being sullen. When he finally confronts wife Martha Loomis he says “You were gone, Mother. Left my little girl motherless in the world.” Shortly after that he pulls out a pistol, then stops himself and leaves.

This a powerful play, and this production brings through that power ultimately. It’s a family story with a bittersweet ending. Mother and child are reunited and the father, realizing he would be a danger to them, leaves.

December 2008

Yellowjackets, a Naturalistic Portrait of a Politically Controversial Berkeley High in the Nineteen Nineties


Berkeley Rep finds dramatic inspiration in its own backyard by commissioning former Berkeley High student Itamar Moses, a 31-year-old eminent national playwright, to write a play about his experience as a student there. Yellowjackets (the name of the sports teams at Berkeley High and the school’s mascots) consists of a series of real life scenes that captivate the conflicts between students and teachers of different races and classes. This pertains to a tactless article written in the school newspaper that provokes a boycott of the paper by the teachers. This brings to the fore the “tracking” or setting up of academic hierarchies that place some students in advanced sections that a number of students and teachers at Berkeley High saw as racial prejudice.


The play opens with a bang up uprising or student riot. Next a number of unfamiliar characters, loosely based on students and teachers the playwright encountered at Berkeley Rep and who each represent a particular color or political bend, confront one another. Without being given a clue about what is happening, we grasp bits of conversation and witness episodes regarding a young Jewish editor of the paper, a white female co-editor, a black security guard and his troublemaker student brother, Hispanic, Afro American, and Asian students and teachers, and a shy white student bullied by a tough Hispanic Latino, among others.


In experimenting with this highly naturalistic approach, playwright Moses and artistic director/stage director Tony Taccone wonderfully captivate the true-to-life demeanor, teen jargon and characteristics of these multicultural high school students and teachers who confront one another mentally and physically throughout. We feel we are literally pulled into the action and discussions in the classrooms and hallways where we do not view actors portraying students but rather real students. And when we are able to comprehend their gripes we even begin to take sides with their concerns.


However, the other side of this innovative experimental coin is that, particularly in the first act, the naturalistic authenticity of the production brings with it a lack of theatrical projection in the play’s structure and in the clarity of the content as well as in the acting and the stage direction. In Part One the natural bits of action and rushed dialogue with little connection to a central plot disconcert the spectator. This is remedied to a certain extent in part two where the dramatic action involving some of the characters is given the time to be played out enough to draw us into their heartfelt concerns. For example, the differences of points of view between the young editor and his co-editor and his girlfriend concerning the tracking issue, unfolded in part two at a slower and more comprehensible pace, and the demise of tough rebel Damian, expelled from the school for his violent actions but protected by his security guard brother, here more fully developed, now draw us more completely into the dramatic action.The members of the large cast, many of whom are young actors from regional companies playing double roles, with the main role (Ben Freeman as the young editor) being played by a recent high school graduate, could not have done a better job interpreting both students and teachers of the period. Annie Smart’s minimal sets allow for the free use of the entire stage. Original music by Obadiah Eaves enhances the ambience. Costumes (Meg Neville) believably represent students and teachers.


All in all, this experimental and naturalistic approach in developing the dramatic action of Yellowjackets offers a vital look at student/teacher issues concerning racial prejudice and tracking not only in one of the nation’s most liberal high schools but also nationally in high schools across America today.


Yellowjackets plays through October 12. For info call 510-647-2949 or visit berkeleyrep.org.


Annette Lust, member S.F. Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and faculty Dominican University


More Word for Word in More Stories by Tobias Wolff at the Magic.


Word for Word is back with a dramatization of More Stories by Tobias Wolff for the company’s 15th anniversary. On this occasion master story-teller Tobias Wolff’s stories offer content that is not only simple and original but also lends itself so well to the “physicalized” dramatizationf literary texts that is Word for Word’s expertise.


The first story, Sanity, revolves around what follows when a young girl, April, and her more social-conscious stepmother Claire visit April’s father in a hospital after he has had a stroke. Most of the action develops the relationship between these two women, the exuberant April in need of affection and advice and an image conscious Claire tempering the young girl’s incessant questions by keeping silent, especially about her past as a servant.


Michelle Pava Mills creates a vibrant and hilariously inquisitive and youthful April and Stephanie Hunt a superficial standoffish Claire.


The second story, Down to the Bone, combines moving moments of a mother and her son, who looks back at their past in a photo album while his mother lies in bed nearing death. We go through less sad moments as the son visits a funeral home to prepare for his mother’s passing and there meets an enticing Viennese who talks him into an expensive arrangement for cremating his mother and then seduces him after they drink a glass of beer.


Paul Finocchiaro steals the show as the son and Jeri Lynn Cohen creates the irresistible Viennese.


Story number 3, Firelight, is a poetic piece that presents the visit of a student and his mother to a university campus they like and then search for an apt nearby. They find an apt owned by a former professor who has been denied tenure at the university that he now dislikes. Inside the apt they enjoy the warmth of a glowing fire with the Professor’s family seated around a fireplace eating homemade Brownies that are Professor Avery’s favorites. As the narrator recalls this scene that he often also dreams about he happily imagines a similar scene in which his children are lighting a fire in a living room fireplace under an icy roof.


Once more here Paul Finocchiaro dominates the stage as the embittered Professor Avery.

Whenever in these three short plays Lisa Dent’s sets on the intimate Magic Theatre stage are minimal, as in Sanity, they allow the actors to move freely as well as move their bodies more creatively. In Firelight, where there were large arches and more set pieces, the actor’s movements appear more restricted.


Laura Hazlett’s costumes ranged from more elegant to more casual according to the characterization.


Word for Word succeeds in bringing to life these original stories through the precise and clean direction of Joel Mullennix and assistant director Susan Harloe. The company’s unique transposing of literary texts into staged pieces results in a harmonious balance between dialogue and literary narration and a smooth blending of words with movement. In this program, author Tobias Wolff’s storytelling talent and Word for Word’s ingenuity for enlivening prose on stage offer yet another masterful and happy collaboration between the written page and the spoken and “physicalized” word.


More Stories by Tobias Wolff continues through October 5 at the Magic Theatre, Fort Mason, on Wed.-Sat at 8 p.m. with 2:30 matinees on Sundays. For information on this and future productions call (415) 441-8822 or visit Word for Word at www.zspace.org


Lunatique Fantastique’s Chicken Stock Workshop Preview at the Marsh


Familiar to the Bay Area and the recipient of numerous Bay Area Awards for her Lunatique Fantastique Found Object Puppetry since 1999, Liebe Wetzel ‘s newest creation, Chicken Stock, about how birds react to the avian flu could be subtitled “From Moving Found Objects to Miming With Arms and Hands.” In her new piece it is mostly the intricate movements of the puppeteers’ arms and hands that reproduce the images of birds flying across the sky, a rooster making love to a chicken, chickens protecting and feeding their young, ducks and other wild fowl (derived from the word “fly” in old English) menaced by the devastating flu.


The spectator’s imagination is challenged by this original wizardry of fowl characters accompanied by bird sounds. And for the first time in a few mini scenes, human characters are introduced who react to the flu’s menace. Also in one of the scenes that illustrates with rich visuals the scientific workings of the flu a voice describes how the flu attacks and operates in a victim. With these additions, Wetzel has courageously taken wide strides in a new direction that includes a broader means of expression in her evolution as an animator of puppets. Most importantly, Wetzel’s moving to a form that includes other means of theatrical expression continues to respect and retain her unique originality as a puppeteer.


Chicken Stock is cleverly choreographed and animated by Liebe Wetze with the text written by herself and Jeff Raz, the piece directed by Jeff Raz and with original music by Shinji Eshima, performed by the Lunatique Fantastique Ensemble: Anna Fitzgerald, Ben Turner, Jen Colasuonno, Julia Baldassari-Litchman, Sid Silverman, Molly Nicholas, Pat Tyler, Slater Penny, and Susan Danzig.


Watch for Lunatique Fabtastique’s Wrapping Paper Caper opening Dec. 7 at the Marsh and the Marin Civic Center. For info visit www.lunfan.com.
Dr. Annette Lust, member S.F. Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and faculty Dominican University


Reviews by Flora Lynn Isaacson

Aurora's The Best Man Pertinent to Today's Politics


Just in time for our fall election, Aurora Theatre Company's Artistic Director, Tom Ross, helmed The Best Man by Gore Vidal which opened on August 28. Shedding light on some of the issues surrounding today's bid for the White House, The Best Man is a timely morality tale which takes place during a national political convention. Two front runners vie for a political party nomination, and one of them will almost certainly be the next President of the United States. The candidates themselves are angling for the endorsement of Charles Dean's odds-playing ex-President Hockstader. Even with action set almost 50 years ago, at a deadlocked 1960 national convention in Philadelphia, Vidal's script echoes more recent events.


Aurora Theatre Company has assembled an extraordinary ensemble for The Best Man. Charles Dean who steals the show, is a cut above the other players. Charles Shaw Robinson returns to Aurora Theatre as a suavely superior Secretary of State, William Russell, the cerebral candidate. His adversary, the win-at-any-cost Joseph Cantwell is well cast in Tim Kniffen. Their wives are portrayed by Emilie Talbot as the reserved Alice Russell and Deb Fink as Cantwell's southern belle spouse, Mabel. Other outstanding performances are given by Elizabeth Benedict playing two roles, Mrs. Gamadge, a speaker for the average American housewife, who has a great scene with the two wives and later on as Dr. Artinian, and Jackson Davis who also plays two roles, first as a senator waiting for the wind to shift, then as a talkative gossip-monger who arrives late in the game with a damaging tale to tell. Rounding out this fine cast are Michael Patrick Gaffney as Dick Jensen and Michael Cassidy as Don Blades.


The production's period details are all expertly done from Cassandra Carpenter's tailored suits for the men and period plumage for the women to Richard Olmsted's '60s hotel suites--"Hustle with Russell" and "Go With Joe Cantwell."


Director Tom Ross shaped this satirical political drama with every piece in its proper place like clockwork. The opening night audience rose to its feet for a well deserved standing ovation at the final curtain.


Coming up next at the Aurora Theatre will be George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple directed by Aurora's founding Artistic Director, Barbara Oliver from October 31-November 7, 2008. For tickets and information, call 510-843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

Off Broadway West's "Shrew" set in 1920's Hamptons


Off Broadway West opened a "freely adapted" version of The Taming of the Shrew. Veteran Shakespearean Director Joyce Henderson has updated the show to the Hamptons in the 1920's. You might not recognize it as "Shrew" since the names of the locations--Lower East Side of New York (Pisa); South Hampton, Long Island (Padua); and Hoboken, New Jersey (Verona). The action of the play takes place in 1926 on the East Coast.


The story is of shrewish Kate, whose father, Professor Davenport (Baptista), has promised not to let his youngest daughter, Chastity (Bianca) wed until Kate has found a husband. While her precious sister has plenty of men lined up, Kate is waiting for a man who is her equal but is pawned off by her father onto John Patrick (Petruchio), who is bribed into wooing Kate by the sizable dowry promised him. Once Kate is unwillingly married off, Chastity has her choice of men to marry and falls for Nicholas (Lucentio) who disguises himself as a tutor to get close to her. Meanwhile, Kate and John Patrick find they are surprisingly well suited to one another and they have indeed fallen in love.


Joyce Henderson has assembled a cast of 15 actors. The most outstanding performances are by Ben Fisher as Christopher Sly and John Patrick (Petruchio) and Jocelyn Stringer as Kate. The chemistry between these two works very well. Other notable performances are by Sam Leichter as Barnabee (Grumio) with his bowler hat and cane who serves as a narrator from time to time and Sandy Rouge, delightful as Lil' Billie (Biondello) with her great sense of comic timing. The fabulous Roaring 20's costumes are by Nahry Tak and Barbara Michelson-Harder. Director Joyce Henderson creates a surrealistic set design of colorful risers on five different levels.


Joyce Henderson deserves a lot of credit for entertaining us with extravagant physical comedy, lots of slapstick, high spirits, and sheer gaiety with a musical background which opens with the whole cast singing "Yes Sir That's My Baby" and includes the Wiffenpoof Song and ends with the cast dancing the Charleston.


The Taming of the Shrew plays at the Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason Street (between Geary and Post), Suite 601, San Francisco, Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., September 19 through October 18, 2008.Tickets can be purchased by phone at 800-838-3006 or online at www.offbroadwaywest.org.

The Strength of the Human Spirit


Calliopeia Foundation, in devotion to the essence that unites all as one, sponsored two films by Karina Epperlein on Friday, September 12, 2008 in San Rafael.


The first film, "I Will Not Be Sad In This World" (2001) is an hour-long portrait of 94 year old Zaroohe Najarian that explores the major turning points of this Armenian woman's life. She survives the genocide of her people in World War I, grows up in a Beirut orphanage, immigrates to America, works in a sweat shop, and defies convention to be with her true love. Her un-selfconscious physicality and remarkable capacity for happiness brings dignity to her aging whether she is singing to her great-grandson or tending her garden.


Zaroohe is a model for surviving tragedy and hardships without bitterness. In her refusal to be sad, she becomes the universal grandmother to us all. The amazing camera work of Karina Epperlein shows us the wonder of each moment. Karina's work is always looking into dark corners, finding the light and addressing the themes of transformation and healing.


The second film, "Phoenix Dance" (2006) tells the story of accomplished dancer, Homer Avila who loses a leg to cancer, and makes an amazing return to the stage without crutches to perform with Andrea Flores, a duet choreographed by Alonzo King. "Phoenix Dance" is a heroic journey from loss to faith, trust and beauty.


This extraordinary film by Karina Epperlein is deeply inspirational as it reveals Avila's unwavering strength in the face of adversity. "Phoenix Dance" has been screened in more than 80 festivals and theatres all over the world. It was "short-listed" for a 2006 Oscar nomination for "Short Documentary," and has won several awards including a Golden Gate Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Too Much To Do About Everything


Shakespeare set the tone for the Comedy of Manners, "Much Ado About Nothing" (1600) which opened at the Marin Shakespeare Company last Friday, September 5. The sparring lovers, Beatrice and Benedick can be compared with Congreve's Mirabel and Millamant in "The Way of the World" (1700), a famous Restoration Comedy of Manners.


As the play begins, Leonato (Christopher Hammond) receives word of approaching visitors, returning home from the war: Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon (stylishly played by William Elsman) and his officers Claudio (beautifully played by Christopher Maikish) and Benedick (played with buffoonery by Darren Bridgett). Also arriving is Don Pedro's bastard brother, Don John (played with clarity by Ryan Schmidt), who comes as a prisoner having led an unsuccessful rebellion against his brother the Prince. They are jovially greeted by Leonato, his daughter Hero (played with charming innocence by Khamara Pettus), his niece Beatrice (intelligently played by Cat Thompson) and the gentlewomen, Margaret (played brashly by LeAnne Rumbel) and Ursula (played with a flair for comedy by Linnea George). Beatrice engages in witty, antagonistic banter with Benedick. Claudio, it turns out, is in love with Hero, and the Prince agrees to woo her for him at the evening's masked ball. Meanwhile, Don John is contemplating how he can make mischief for his enemies. When this happens, all is not lost. Act Two begins with the entrance of Dogberry (played in earnest by Michael Ray Wisely), the utterly inept but wholly hilarious constable of the town, who oversees the night watchman in guarding for mischief. With him are his sidekick Virges (played with great relish by Michael A. Berg) and some not too bright members of the Watch. Next who should come stumbling by but Conrade (played by Mick Berry who is a versatile actor and also doubles as a barber and musician) and his drunken pal Borrachio (in a stellar performance by Brian Trybon), who are bragging about their trickery of Claudio. Dogberry hears Conrade and Borrachio confess their part in the hoax and proclaim Don John as the villain who paid them to carry out the plot.


Marin Shakespeare's outdoor production was set in the romantic period of the 1920s to 1930s featuring costumes and music from the era with leisure activities including cocktail parties, tennis and golf, providing the many backdrops for playing out scenes. The idea of setting "Much Ado" in the era between the wars came from costume designer Michael Berg and Director Robert Currier. Bruce Lackovic's set reflected the Art Deco Period.


With accomplished musicians on hand, Billie Cox seized the opportunity to write music perfectly suited to their instruments--a hammered dulcimer, violin and guitar--with a variety of popular music styles from the era between the wars.


Robert Currier directs Much Ado as a screwball comedy with imaginative bits of business throughout. I feel he carried this "shtick" to excess which took our concentration away from the basic plot. The pacing of Act One was wonderful however. I felt the pacing of Act Two could be picked up with Dogberry and the watch scene. Cynthia Pepper's choreography of the dances was delightful.


For information about Marin Shakespeare's future productions call 415-499-4488.

The Real Story Behind Gone with the Wind


Just in time for the 70th Anniversary of the first release of Gone with the Wind, the Ross Valley Players opened their new season on September 5 with Ron Hutchinson's hysterical off-Broadway farce "Moonlight and Magnolias" about the legendary film and how it was almost never made!


Movie mogul David O. Selznick shuts down production of his new epic Gone with the Wind because the screenplay just doesn't work. He sends for screenwriter Ben Hecht and drags director Victor Fleming off the set of the Wizard of Oz. Subsisting on nothing but bananas and peanuts, the three men shut up for five days to save the picture.


According to director Robert Wilson, this portrayal of the final collaboration to make Gone with the Wind is pretty close to history. Three of the most colorful and dynamic personalities of their time did thrash out a final shooting of the script, although retaining much of the Sidney Howard original. The result was a Hollywood classic, and swept the Oscars winning 10 awards.


Moonlight and Magnolias is so funny! David Selznick, energetically portrayed by David Kester has tossed out scripts by many famous writers including F. Scott Fitzgerald. He brings in Ben Hecht, played with an excellent sense of comic timing by Stephen Dietz. Ben was only able to read the first page of Margaret Mitchell's epic and stopped at the line "Moonlight and Magnolias." When director Victor Fleming enters, he thinks he is there to direct the Wizard of Oz. Russell Lessig does excellent work with physical comedy as Victor Fleming. Molly McGrath rounds out the cast as Miss Poppenghul, Selznick's secretary. She is properly businesslike and shows her disintegration with comic abandon from the long five days.


Ken Rowland's set design of a Hollywood studio lot, office of legendary producer David O. Selznick, February 1939, is spacious with pastel colored walls with framed posters of Selznick's films. There is a large desk upstage left with two comfortable armchairs down stage right. A chaise longue is center stage right. A typewriter table and chair are set up for Ben Hecht down stage left. Along the walls on both sides of the office are art shelves used for both books and trophies.


Much of the action is well staged by Director Robert Wilson. However, I felt that Selznick spent too much time behind the desk up stage left and many of his lines were lost there due to his rapid fire delivery. The blocking of the scenes from the book were hilarious! The comedy was broadly staged and the imitations of the characters from Gone with the Wind were very funny.


When the question of how they were going to end Gone with the Wind came up after 5 exhausting days, Ben Hecht says, "Finally..I don't give a damn!" They decide this is the perfect ending.


Moonlight and Magnolia plays until October 12, 2008. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Performances are held at the Ross Valley Players Barn, Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. at Lagunitas, Ross. Tickets can be ordered at 415-456-9555 or online at www.rossvalleyplayers.com or at the door. Coming up next at RVP will be "Sabrina Fair" by Samuel Taylor, October 31-December 7, 2008.
Flora Lynn Isaacson

Thwarted Desire in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at Cal Shakes

Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, originally entitled The Wood Demon that failed in small provincial theatres, was rewritten by the playwright as Uncle Vanya (Dyadya Vanya) when staged in Moscow by Stanislavski in 1900. Although considered to be a tragicomedy about sexuality and thwarted desire, the play’s content actually offers still more philosophically and psychologically about the human failure to realize self worth and life accomplishments. Within these themes the dramatic action centers around the visit of retired Professor Serebryakov and his young beautiful wife Yelena to the estate belonging to himself and his first wife. But the Professor is bored with being on the estate with his daughter Sonja, Uncle Van, Ilya, a simple minded landowner, Dr. Astrov, Maria, the mother-in-law of his first wife, and even with Marina, the family Nanny. Those living on the estate also wish the Professor and his wife would leave so that they may peacefully continue their unambitious life style of unfulfilled dreams.

The dramatic action consists mainly of relationships between these characters that undergo suffering concerning their failed lives. Chekhov is said to have written about that suffering with compassion but not without humor. And this suffering concerning thwarted desire renders Chekov’s play one of the most stirring in dramatic literature. However, whether this is due to the adaptation of the play (Emily Mann) to the direction (Timothy Near) or to the acting, the portrayal of suffering is realized minimally in this production. There is an exception in the plight of Sonja, sensitively portrayed (Annie Purcell) as being desperately in love with Dr.Astrov (Andy Murray) who ignores her feelings. As for the other characters, we are rarely moved by their failure to realize their personal desires. The retired elderly professor (convincingly played by James Carpenter), who hardly appears on stage until the second half, does not spark much empathy concerning his egotistical and pessimistic outbursts about the mediocrity of the human beings around him. His beautiful wife Ylenna’s (Sarah Grace Wilson) declarations of being bored with individuals “who are desperate excuses of people,” along with her rare moments of tenderness toward Sonya in her distress seem to be coming from a beautiful mannequin who cares more about her own pain. Sonya’s grandmother, Maria, the Professor’s first wife (Joan Mankin), is an eccentric figure who enters and exits, moves about erratically and sits upstage reading. Landowner Ilya (Howard Swain) is a colorful smiling character whose simple mindedness at times amuses us. Dr. Astrov, aside from his periodic erotic advances toward the beautiful Yelena, is mainly absorbed in salvaging forests that man is destroying and showing off the maps he has made of the areas he wants to preserve. Uncle Vanya, Sonja’s uncle (Dan Hiatt), never wins our sympathy over his dissatisfaction about his life. We mostly laugh at his clownish bantering and are entertained by his playful complaints and actions. Even at the play’s end, when Vanya undergoes the depth of defeat as he witnesses Yelena in the arms of another man, we still do not feel any empathy for this main character. Aside from Sonja, whose tragic dilemma over her love for a man who ignores her deep love for him because he finds her too plain, there is only one character that succeeds in not being a farcical type. That is Marina (Barbara Oliver) whose grounded wisdom and devoted caring for others on the Estate wins our sympathy.


Sets by Erik Flatmo that include the Orinda hills in the background with the occasional passing of a watchman and farmhand (T. Louis Weltz) are as beautiful and reposing as a painting. Costume design (Raquel M. Barreto) is perfectly suited to the period. Effective sound (Jeff Mockus) and lighting (York Kennedy) enhance the production.

Although the play is known as a tragicomedy but fails to portray the suffering of characters with which we do not empathize, it is a quite an impressive one, well acted and, under the direction of Timothy Near, expertly integrates sets, costumes, sound, and lighting in a fine theatrical ensemble that nonetheless succeeds more as a comedy rather than as a mix of tragedy and comedy.

For information about Twelfth Night at Cal Shakes from Sep.10 to Oct 5, call 510-548-9666 or visit www.calshakes.org.


Annette Lust, Member Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.


Tale of Glad and Sorry Seasons at Marin Shakespeare


Lesley and Robert Currier opened their 19th season of the Marin
Shakespeare Festival on July 18 co-directing Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. It is deplorable that “The Winter’s Tale” is so seldom revived. For this dramatic romance affords delightful and comprehensive entertainment. The last production of “The Winter’s Tale” was the Berkeley Rep’s production at the Oakland Auditorium in 1990.


The Winter’s Tale is part of a trio of tragic-comedies written during Shakespeare’s last years—“Cymbaline” (1609), “The Winter’s Tale” (1610), and “The Tempest” (1611).


The Winter’s Tale is reminiscent of Othello. The passion and jealousy of Leontes almost parallels that of “The Moor.” Leontes is not an heroic role, but as played by Rafael Untalan, a very human one. Rafael Untalan knows how to take the stage with his kingly bearing and wonderful use of large gestures. He has a fine chance to rant and rave before the trial, and then to win the audience with a good display of repentance. Leontes’ best friend and childhood playmate is Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, who has been in Sicilia for a long visit. When Polixenes insists on returning home, Leontes asks his wife, Hermione to convince him to stay which she does. Leontes becomes consumed with irrational jealousy. Polixenes, portrayed by Scott Coopwood, is a sympathetic figure as we know he is innocent.


Hermione, beautifully played by Alexandra Matthew is so high minded, so spirited and so dignified in her anguish that she is perfection in both queenliness and womanliness.
Camillo is a strong performance by Michael Ray Wisey. The calm, cool and collected advisor to the King is shocked when Leontes asks him to poison Polixenes. Camillo has to decide which is more important—loyalty or doing the right thing. Camillo tells Polixenes what Leontes has asked and the two leave Sicilia immediately to flee to the safety of Bohemia.


Paulina, strongly performed by Celia Madeoy, is both true as steel and free of tongue as Hermiones’ lady-in-waiting when she leans that Hermione has given birth to a baby girl. She takes it to Leontes, hoping his heart will soften at the sight of his daughter, but Leontes is too far steeped in jealousy and forces Paulina’s husband, Antigonus (sympathetically played by Jerry Hoffman) to take the baby girl into the wilderness.


Act One closes with Antigonus abandoning the child who he calls “Perdida.” Enter through the audience an Old Shepherd, comically played by veteran actor George Maguire and his son, played with relish by Drew Hirshfield who stumble upon the baby, find gold stashed in her swaddling clothes and take her home. Act Two begins with Time played by the ever-present Matthew Cavanna bridging the wide gap of time which is 16 years and we revert to the pure romantic for an act of exquisite charm and humor.


No sooner do we meet Autolycus in an amazing transformation by Jerry Hoffman who, like Falstaff, is one of those poet-rogues securely above all comparisons because they have to be taken on their own lyrical terms, we are absorbed in the society of Cloud-Cuckoo-Land. We also meet the lovely Perdita, charmingly portrayed by Kate Fox Marcom who is in love with Florizell, the Prince of Bohemia—the handsome Mark Robinson.


The spirited choreography is by Cynthia Pepper. Billie Cox composed some interesting original music. Bruce Lackovic designed some good contrasting sets for Sicilia and Bohemia. I was particularly impressed by Abra Berman’s magnificent costumes—all characters wore white in Sicilia and very bright colors in Bohemia.


Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is the only play to have a character actually named “Time,” a Chorus who tells us of the passing of 16 years between the first and second part of the play. My only criticism is of the director’s concept of bringing time to the forefront in all his many guises. Time was forever present which I found greatly distracting to the main story line.


Leslie and Robert Currier deserve a great deal of credit for bringing this complex and wonderful production to the Marin Shakespeare Festival.


Watch for Much Ado About Nothing, August 29-September 28. at Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, 1475 Grand Avenue, Dominican University, San Rafael. Forinfo and tickets, call 415-499-4488.


Flora Lynn Isaacson

Driving Miss Daisy at Ross Valley Players


Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry was a smash hit that won both a Pulitzer Prize in 1987 and an Academy Award in 1989. The time of this play is 1948, the setting is Atlanta, Georgia and the play starts with the sound of a big crash.


Daisy Wertham (Anne Ripley), a rich, sharp-tongued widow of 72, is informed by her son Boolie (Alex Shafer) that henceforth, she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. Boolie hires Hoke (Bertron Bruno), a soft-spoken black man who used to drive for Judge Stone, for $20 a week. In a series of scenes spanning 25 years, we see Miss Daisy and Hoke grow ever closer, and it is soon movingly clear that both have more in common than they ever would admit.


Anne Ripley is superb as the austere southern woman and Bertron Bruno is a natural counterpart as Hoke, her driver. He is truly wonderful in his asides to the audience. Alex Shafer gives a convincing performance as Daisy’s up-and-coming son, Boolie. Jimmie Harvey, the dialect coach, deserves a lot of credit for the realistic southern accents.


The set design by Ken Rowland, with the stage divided in half — between Daisy’s home and Boolie’s office — works pretty well.. However, the pacing is too slow between the episodic scenes and too much time is spent getting the car (which is almost another character) on and off stage. This could have been alleviated by having the car near one of the arches, on stage right or stage left.


Billie Cox’s sound design is right on target showing the passing years with songs like “After the Ball Is Over,” “Ain’t She Sweet,” “Santa Baby,” “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer,” and various Negro spirituals.


The costume design by Michael Berg is very appropriate in helping to show the actors age throughout with the one exception of Boolie wearing brown and white summer shoes with a winter coat.


The direction by Cris Cassell is excellent for the most part except at times I felt the pacing was too slow. However, I strongly recommend Driving Miss Daisy as a total delight that is worth the drive from anywhere.


For information about Moonlight and Magnolias Sept 5 through Oct. 12 at the Barn Theatre (Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. at Lagunitas, Ross) call 415-456-9555 or visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com.


Flora Lynn Isaacson


Excerpt from Albert Goodwyn’s Article on Amadeus at Marin Shakespeare


Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus is not actually about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is about the artistic rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Okay; let’s go ahead and address a subtle point that the playwright did probably not intend. A vulgar interpretation of the play’s name is “I’m a Douche.” At the end of the play, the Salieri character complains that Mozart, the young brat, is going down in history, while he, Salieri is going to be flushed down the dustbins of history and never be heard from again. The metaphor is apt, even if not intended.


Most of the play has Salieri addressing the audience while Mozart cavorts under the piano with his latest ladyfriend. Salieri (William Elsman) explains why Mozart’s music was so popular in his time, while his own was also accepted. Elsman used the downstage center of the outdoor stage extensively, while mostly facing the audience, He could have used the stage area more extensively. His observations of Mozart, both at the piano and under it, gave a great sense of his resentment of the situation. He insisted that Mozart stole his musical compositions and made them more popular.


Mozart (Drew Hirschfield) was always lively and did play the piano well. But his comic antics as he ran on and off like a teenager made Salieri’s narrative more poignant, because of the depth of the differences between the staid Salieri and the flighty Mozart. At the end, Elsman quietly observes that Mozart is going to live forever in our cultures while Salieri will be forgotten.


WATCH for Much Ado About Nothing, August 29-September 28. For info and tickets call 415-499-4488.

Courtesy of Bay Times and Albert Goodwyn


SEE Friends Are Forever at the S.F. New Conservatory Theatre Until Sept. 21.


The New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco opened with Tom W. Kelly’s Friends Are Forever, a hilarious comedy about three gay couples’ relationships concerning friendship, love fidelity, and infidelity performed with a witty dialogue and eccentric characters running until Sept 21. For information call 415-891-8972.


Raw Alternative Works at Ross Valley Players


Readings of Bay Area Community Playwrights’ Works in Progress were presented on July 19-20 at the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross Valley. Among the new plays presented was Kay Noyes’ Grammar, directed by Linda Vito. The play revolves around a son’s (Dusty Poole convincingly plays the embittered son) mistaken relationship with his mother (Lola Moloney sensitively plays the blamed mother suffering the heat and from her from her son’s firy accusations). As the son remarks a baby fall from a roof nearby without its mother moving to help him, he thinks of how his own mother was not there for him when he first was stricken with polio. The dramatic action later offers an explanation for his mother’s action that will change the verb he uses to describe the woman who “was my mother” to the one who “is my mother” after an understanding between mother and son is reached.


The play reading is well directed by Linda Vito, Assistant Artistic Director of The Fringe of Marin and producer of the recent film On The Starting Line www.onthe startinglinemovie.com.


Ignacio Zulueta, Carol Sheldon and Robert Estes have also had other plays produced at the bi-annual Fringe of Marin Festival.


For information on the next Raw Reading in September check www.rossvalleyplayers.com.


WANTED: PLAYS FOR FALL FRINGE FESTIVAL


For information on submitting original plays and monologues for production to the spring 09 Fringe of Marin Festival, contact Annette Lust at (415) 673-3131 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) or email jeanlust@aol.com.

Sept. 2008



Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood a poetic Play for Voices about small town characters living their life styles and dreaming of their hopes and ideals is converted into a dramatically viable stage play by stage director Randall Stuart and the cast of the Porchlight Theatre Company. After Thomas, who was essentially a poet and wrote for the BBC and for radio and the cinema, wrote this play he kept reworking it. It may be that he believed that it was still inaccessible to theatergoers whose interest did not lie primarily in verbal and poetic storytelling. Each scene in the play is permeated with Thomas’ love for words as he describes the lives of sixteen inhabitants in a small peaceful Welsh town as night falls on a Spring eve. We meet the blind Captain Cat, haunted by the memory of his only love Rosie Probert, Reverend Eli Jenkins, the sexy, licentious Polly Garter, Butcher Beynon, among others Yet, the bits and pieces of the happenings and relationships of sixteen characters do not only grab us through their dramatic actions but also through Thomas’ lyrical and verbal narration and the magic and sound of his words. And all of these female and male characters of all ages are depicted by Megan Cole as The Voice serving as narrator, a device essential to any story-telling piece.

First enacted by Thomas as a solo performance at Harvard in 1953 and later as a stage performance in New York, was thus never put into the play form that Thomas desired. Thomas hoped it would become “a piece, a play, an impression of voices, an entertainment out of the darkness, of the town in which I live, and to write simply, warmly and comically with lots of movement and varieties of moods, so that, at many levels, you come to know the town as an inhabitant of it.”

Although Thomas’ initial solo performance of this voice piece was said to have been beautifully performed, what Porchlight has succeeded in doing is to transform the work into one that could be staged as a play. As in the productions of Word for Word Company that successfully dramatizes as it interprets literary works in the Bay Area and world wide, Porchlight has brought the piece to life and given it the dramatic injection needed to place it in the category of a stage play. As we watch each scene we are pulled into the happenings of the villagers to sometimes sigh over their losses or laugh at their eccentricities. This difficult challenge that Porchlight has met places the company on a high level of staging achievement. In short, Porchlight has successfully dramatized and physicalized a play not yet perfectly suited for play performance.

Expertly directed by Randall Stuart, Act One is filled with verbal descriptions that, although sometimes delivered too rapidly, are revitalized through the homogeneous acting of the entire cast and the rhythm and variety of stage movement on a simple wooden stage with small levels and few props or furniture that allow the actors to move up and down and across the stage with ease. Act Two, that introduces songs and is less verbally inclined, provides a strong and entertaining conclusion. Original Music and musical direction is provided by Kathy Stephan.

Staging Under Milk Wood under the large Redwood trees of the Redwood Amphitheatre in the Marin Art and Garden Center is a tour de force for Porchlight. It brings a moving tableau of life in a small town offering a humanly lyrical and universal dramatization of time that passes and the events that reflect the desires and hopes of its quaint inhabitants.

Under Milkwood plays until July12. For info about Porchlight prooductins call 415.251.1027 or visit www.porchlight.net

Annette Lust, Member Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

Sexual Perversity in Parma American Conservatory Theatre’s season finale, “’Tis Pity She’s a Whore,” offers audiences a fresh encounter with a startling, rarely performed play written in the 1630’s by John Ford. “’Tis Pity” is a play about overwhelming passion, the kind of passion that refuses to be quenched no matter how vigorously it is attacked, a passion between a brother, Giovanni (Michael Hayden) and his sister, Annabella (Rene Augesen). This is a morality play complete with incest, revenge and family honor.

Director Carey Perloff and her wonderful cast play this pre-Restoration melodrama for all it is worth in Candice Donnelly’s lavishly costumed production. Inventively staged by Carey Perloff in a deconstructed Baroque cathedral by Walt Spangler, the play is set in Parma, Italy. With clear and gripping poetry, Ford paints a decadent landscape of greed and corruption, helmed by a vicious amoral clergy. “There is a lot of ambivalence in the play about what is ‘normal’ in a toxic society,” says Perloff, “and it’s paradoxical because while we know the lovers are siblings, their love seems almost pure next to the corruption around them.”

The twists and turns painstakingly taken during the first act come unstrung in the second leading to enormous amounts of bloodshed and revenge and ends up painting everyone with the same bloody brush so nobody ends up looking very good.

This is a show where those cast in smaller roles have scenes allowing them to excel. James Carpenter as the supposed doctor, Robert Sicular as the father of Giovanni and Annabella, Susan Gibney as Hippolita, Sharon Lockwood as Putana, Anthony Fusco as Vasques and Jack Willis as a Cardinal are outstanding in their roles.

Adding an edgy, rapturous element to the play’s murky world is cellist and vocalist, Bonfire Madigan Shive, who provides the exhilarating live one-woman score. “I consider my work in this production to be a ‘living score’” says Shive. “I’m shaping the sounds based on each character’s emotional interior, so in a sense, the music will serve as the heartbeat of the play.”

“’Tis Pity She’s a Whore” plays at A.C.T. at 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 7 p.m. Sundays through July 6. For information, call 415-749-2228 or go online at www.tickets@act-sf.org.

Coming up in the fall at A.C.T. will be the West Coast Premiere of “Rock ‘n Roll” by Tom Stoppard.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

Jaques Brell is Alive and Well and Living in Paris — “Bravo” to the Marin Theatre Company. Very fine work. Coming up next at MTC will be “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” by Terrance McNally For ticket information, call 415-388-5208 or go online at www.marintheatre.org

July-August 2008


Ladies of the Camellias
San Francisco’s Off Broadway West Co, established in S.F. two years ago, presented award-winning playwright Lillian Groag’s European flavored farce, “Ladies of the Camellias” at the Phoenix Theatre in early May. It is inspired by La Dame aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas Fils, adapted for the stage from his novel in 1852 and the subject of Verdi’s La Traviata in 1853, based on Dumas’ relationship with life long lover Marie Duplessis.


Under the guise of a “rollicking farce,” Groag’s play provides a glimpse of the 19th century behind the scenes theatre world and particularly that of the two greatest drama queens, the American idol Sarah Bernhardt and the great Italian actress Eleanora Duse in a make-believe confrontation over their very different interpretations of Dumas’ Dame aux Camelias performed by both actresses in Paris. A number of historical/literary references are made to Chekhov, d’ Annunzio, and other literary figures as these two “grandes dames” of the late 19th century face one another to play out their contrasting temperaments-Bernhardt living in an artistic dream world and the Duse reigning over the European stage from her Italian throne.


Beyond this confrontation of their histrionic temperaments, we are taken on a roller-coaster ride as a young Russian anarchist actor arrives to attempt to take the group as hostage in exchange for the freedom of one of his anarchist comrades.


Beyond being cleverly and elegantly directed by native San Franciscan Joyce Henderson, who makes good use of the intimate protruding Phoenix space (and also plays the role of an imposing Duse), the entire cast offers colorful characterizations of these theatrically eccentric characters. Barbara Michelson-Harder gracefully plays the temperamental Bernhardt; Richard Harder believably interprets the frustrated writer, Alexander Dumas, Fils; Graham Crowley as the elderly stage manager who flits about managing mostly the whims and eccentricities of the actors; Karen Anne Light is the ambitious young actress who disdains her role as servant; Vlad Sayenko plays the intense young anarchist, Randy Hurst and Nicholas Russell are the mannered male actors, and Chris Beale assumes the comic role of actor Benoit Constant Coquelin appearing as Cyrano de Bergerac.
Costumes (Hemihar) and scenic design (Ensemble,) with props and furniture kept to a minimum to gain playing space, evoke the rich ornamentation of the period.


Lilian Groag’s farcical French fantasy played by the Off Broadway West Theatre Company as a delightful light comedy is both entertaining and highly imaginative as this committed new company continues to present the best of actors, playwrights, and directors from the East and West coasts.


The Ladies plays through May 31 at the Phoenix Theattre. For information call 510-835-4205, reservations 800-838-3006 /visit www.offbroadwaywest.org


Brooklyn Boy
Pulitzer awardee Donald Margulies’ “Brooklyn Boy” at the Ross Valley Players delves into the cost of literary fame when it entails the renouncement of one’s faith and ethnicity. Here, after the Jewish author’s book achieves triumphal success that takes him to Hollywood to have his best seller filmed, receive big pay checks, experience glamour, and the admiration of a young female student, he remains indifferent to having become a star author. Rather he grows more and more troubled about his relationship with his dying father and his Jewish heritage that he feels he has been forced to abandon.


Attempting to portray this dramatic conflict within the main character, who remains introverted and unable to express his feelings overtly, is not an easy task. Matthew Lai as Eric Weiss rises to the difficulty of expressing this dilemma physically and emotionally as best as he can.
Phoebe Moyer’s direction brings out this interior conflict in the introverted character of Eric through the use of several contrasting characters such as the outgoing typically Jewish Ira Zimmer (played by Timothy Beagley) and the exuberant Hollywood agent Melanie Fine (uproaringly played by Safiya Arnaout) along with young enthusiastic fan of the writer (Allison Porto-Yale), Eric’s wife Nina (Robin Steeves), and Tyler Shaw (Joseph Rende).


Sets by award-winning veteran Ross Valley set designer Ken Rowland are marvelously simple and practical, leaving considerable space for movement on the sparsely furnished stage.
Costume design by Michael Berg, that ranges from everyday modern to extravagant and exotic attire (Hollywood agent Melanie Fine), well suits each character.


In this thought provoking production, the challenge of expressing the inner struggle of the main character, that requires a special effort on the part of the director and actor to establish and exteriorize in order to communicate the play’s basic dramatic conflict, is taken up and well tackled by Moyer and Lai along with the rest of the cast and production crew.


“Brooklyn Boy “ runs through June 15. For information call 415-456-9555 or visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com Annette Lust


Bug 
In a seedy motel room outside Oklahoma City, Agnes (Susi Damilano), a drug addicted cocktail waitress, is hiding from her ex-con, ex-husband, Jerry (John Flanagan).  Her partying lesbian friend, R.C. (Zehra Berkman), introduces her to Peter, a handsome drifter (Gabe Marin), who might be an AWOL Gulf War veteran.  They soon begin a relationship that takes place within the increasingly claustrophobic confines of her motel room.  A hidden bug infestation problem has Peter believing it is the result of experiments conducted on him during his stay at an Army hospital.  Their fears seem to escalate to paranoia, conspiracy theories and twisted psychological motives.  


Marin and Damilano gracefully, smartly and delicately depict the degrees by which these two proud loners feed each other’s needs and bond together.  Letts has a gift for plumbing human weakness.  The pitfalls of codependency singe this dark romance from within.  


Director Jon Tracy doesn’t flinch at the play’s shocks and gore.  Agnes and Peter believe deep in their bones that someone is out to get them so they are willing to go all the way to root out the evil.  


Letts sets the play in a seedy Oklahoma motel room with dingy windows and a pervasive sense of anonymity with its claustrophobia.  The impressively detailed set by Bill English with its closed-in walls and a blasted out ceiling where patches of concrete give way to steel mesh, is perfect for Tracy’s staging. 

 
“Bug” will really crawl into your psyche and take a bite out of your piece of mind.  “Bug” plays at the SF Playhouse, Wednesday-Saturday at 8 p.m., plus Saturdays at 3 p.m. through June 14.  SF Playhouse is located at 533 Sutter Street (one block off Union Square, between Powell and Mason).  For tickets, contact the SF Playhouse box office at 415-677-9596 or go online at TicketWeb.com 

June 2008


Curse of the Starving Class

Shepard’s Timely Beyond Realism
Message at A.C.T.

April 25 - May 25 American Conservatory Theater 415 Geary St. Review: Annette Lust
If naturalism depicts life without “idealization or the avoidance of the ugly”, Sam Shepard’s “Curse of the Starving Class” that just opened at A.C.T. is a model example. In his 1977 play, expertly directed by Peter DuBois regarding the play’s naturalistic tone, Shepard presents a family in which the members do not relate to one another but even attempt to destroy one other both physically and emotionally. The alcoholic father has kept his family frigidaire empty. Frequent opening the door to view its empty shelves symbolizes the content of the piece in which Shepard’s message about the impossibility of achieving the American Dream is developed. There are still other naturalistic effects that make the audience cringe. Wesley, the young son’s pissing on stage on his sister’s posters for a presentation she is preparing about how to cut up a chicken and the hungry Wesley’s arrival on stage with bloody hands after killing a lamb (a real one baaing away appears on stage before he kills it) are a few examples. All of these gruesome effects demonstrate the disintegration of a family in which the alcoholic father has indebted them to the point of being forced to sell their house and land to swindlers. Throughout Shepard keeps pounding his frightful message about the impossibility of throwing off the curse of the American common people as they persist in believing in their fantasy of rising above their demise.

Pamela Reed as the “not in touch with reality” mother, Jud Williford as Wesley the beaten down son attempting to hold up the disintegrating family, Nicole Lowrance as the rebel daughter taking revenge on her father’s creditors by shooting bullets all over the club where he drinks, Jack Willis as the father moving from alcoholism and violent despondency to recovery and back again to despondency, all offer along with the other cast members strong characterizations.

Scenery by Loy Arcenas, lighting by Japhy Weidrman and costumes by Lydia Taji reflect rhe exaggerated realism of the play.

Shepard’s 1977 play exceeds realism to enter into stark naturalism in which he presents a sordid tableau-so timely today- of what is happening to the illusions of the everyday American family.
“Curse of the Starving Class” plays through May 25. For information call 415.749.2228 or visit wwwact-sf.org.

Thrill Killers Leopold and Loeb
In Stephen Dolginoff’s award-winning musical drama ”Thrill Me’ directed by Dennis Lickteig, the passion of a young future law student, Nathan Leopold, for his future law student lover Richard Loeb leads from smaller to larger and more and more crimes that eventually lands them in prison. Based on a true event in Chicago in 1924, the musical play develops step by step the relationship and events that end in their demise.

Nathan’s adoration and love for Richard, a follower of the superman philosophy of Nietzsche, causes the former to do whatever the latter commands in order to retain his love. The dramatic action revolves around Richard’s addiction to experiencing thrills and his need to prove his superior intelligence that will propel the two on to commit any kind of crime. This results in their progressing from small robberies to the murder of a young boy only for the thrill of being able to accomplish the crime.

This combination of the passion of a young lover for another student who will do anything to win his love and pay the price for it along with some of the suspense elements of a murder mystery is the basis of this compelling Leopold and Loeb story. These romantic and suspense elements offer both lyricism and drama to this musical theatre piece.

Stephen Dolginoff’s book, music, and lyrics, well directed (aside from a repetitive use of blocking and stage movement downstage center) by Dennis Lickteig and Tim Hanson (Musical Director), are clearly and vividly developed. The roles of actor/singers Ricardo Rust (Nathan) and William Giammona (Richard) are believably, sensitively and emotionally well rendered.

This seventy-five minute piece about an obsessive love and a youthful need for the thrill of committing crime that destroys the lives of two students offers dramatic content well performed and sung that pulls on the heart strings of the spectator.

“Thrill Me” plays at the New Conservatory until May 4. Info (415) 861-8972 or visit www.nctcsf.org.
Annette Lust

Euripides Inspired Anti-War Trojan Women
Ellen McLaughlin’s Euripides-inspired Trojan Women at the Aurora Theatre depicts the fate of the Trojan women after the Greek defeat of Troy. This drama is visually reinforced by John Iacovelli’s set that offers a modern depiction of the giant wooden horse that hid a few dozen soldiers who then surprise attacked the Trojans, leaving behind their wives and daughters to mourn their fate under the tyranny of the Greeks.

McLaughlin, who herself has been an actress on and off Broadway and has written plays that were nationally and internationally produced, has created a work that requires a dynamic and increasing level of dramatic performance throughout. The dramatic intensity increases as it moves from the lamenting of these women’s losses of their husbands and fathers and the cruelty of their vanquishers to a scene of the now demented Cassandra, the prophetic daughter of Hecuba, to another horrific scene of the slaying of Hecuba’s baby grandson by the Greeks, and a final scene of the women being led away in barbaric enslavement by Greek soldiers.

These high voltage scenes are knowledgeably piloted by veteran stage director Barbara Oliver who worked with both professional as well as student intern actors from U.C. Berkeley as members of the chorus to create a mix of experienced actors with student actors. Although this has lent a youthful dynamism to the production, the all-around rendition, and particularly the stylization of the production does suffer a bit at times from this mix of performers not acting and moving on the same performance level. Rmedy: more training of student actors.

Carla Spindt’s role as Hecuba evokes a modern CEO in control of all-even in tragic times. Nora el Samathy plays Helen like a 21st century model. Sarah Nealis’s Cassandra and Emilie Talbot’s Andromache, whose baby is killed by the Greeks, offer dramatically potent characterizations that provoke our pity.

Julian Lopez-Morillas’ Poseidon, god of the ocean, in a naval officer’s suit, plays the role with authority but wears an officer’s hat that covers half of his face (supposedly to give the effect of a mask) that is distracting if not comical.

John Iacovelli’s giant modern horse is a breathtaking sculpture representing the fall of Troy but takes up a third of the stage space to considerably limit the choral and other movements in the piece.

Costumes by Anna Oliver, with the exception of Helen who is dressed in the attractive attire of a privileged female, are simple and plain to suit the impoverished state of the Troy women.

One of the finest aspects of this production is the collaboration with the drama department at U C Berkeley that integrates a number of drama students into the staging to bring with it fresh artistic vitality. As this production opens its doors to the merging of drama students with professional actors, directors and playwrights in the Bay Area, it sets a precedent for the same kind of collaboration in other parts of the country.

The Trojan Women plays until May 11. Info: 510-843-4822. Or visit auroratheatre.org.

Annette Lust

FRINGE OF MARIN Spring 2008. Call for Fall Short Plays for Fall 08.
The 21st Season of the Marin Fringe once again did not disappoint. Program One staged six fresh, original short plays with themes ranging from the state of war veterans to wanna-be lesbians.

The program led off with the excellent comedy, “Board Stiff,” with a clever script by Michael-Paul Thomsett who also directed. Six community theatre (or semi-professional, as one member insisted) board members gossiped as well as voiced conflicts about the status of their actors, raising money, or whether oatmeal-raisin (touted by Pam, an effectively prim Lynn Lewis) or chocolate chip cookies should be offered in the fundraiser. Right off, George (Bill Lehrke) got the audience’s attention by screaming, “Hot!” as he set down his cup of coffee. President Tracey (Linda Ward) tries to keep things together as Dexter (Skye Pelicrow) tears them apart. Dorie (Erika Alstrom), in black top over a white lace blouse, sits silently, taking in everything. Cut off when she does begin to speak, she blows, jumping to her feet and shouting, “I wasn’t finished!” The play ends with a tableau of Pam holding a box of oatmeal cookies, George, his coffee cup, and Dexter and George choking each other as the rest look on in horror.

Lesbian Rhapsody” written and directed by Carol Marshall, is a light-hearted number featuring frustrated wives: Judy and Susie, believably and naturally acted by Candice Brown and Janice Bacich. They start off by dissing their husbands.  One says, “Too bad we’re not lesbians.” Entertaining this idea, they argue whether lesbians are born or made. “What do lesbians do?” Susie asks. They drink wine, play romantic music, dance to turn themselves on. When Judy puckers up to kiss Susie, they break up, laughing hysterically, then decide that their husbands aren’t so bad after all.

The subject of the Iraq war, let alone its returning veterans, is a subject that makes some people uncomfortable. Playwright David Talley’s brave “Heroes,” partly based on a true story, tells of two generations of Marines, played by actor Johann Schiffer in an honest portrayal of a by-the-book Lance Corporal and his Colonel (John Clevenger).  Schiffer goes before his hard-line Colonel to sign papers declaring him PTSD. It is revealed that the Colonel is a Vietnam vet who has seen his share of horrors. He razzes the soldier for weakness; the Marine stands up to him.

Actress Molly McCarthy, in her role as Virginia Woolfe in Roberta M. Palumbo’s biographically interesting, but rather static, “Leonard & Virginia”, directed by Flora Lynn Isaacson, brought out impeccably Woolfe’s conflicts regarding marriage, children,and her staid suitor, Leonard.(Charles Grant). The play suffers by its condensed time-frame as it covers many years. Ms. McCarthy’s costumes are wonderful.  When she puts on her cloche hat and long dark coat, I couldn’t help thinking that she would soon put rocks in her pockets and throw herself into the river.

May 2008


 

Time Wounds All Heals in “Coronado”  

The West Coast Premiere of “Coronado” by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone) and directed by Susi Damilano opened March 22 at the San Francisco Playhouse.  Lehane introduces three plot lines in the play’s first scene which is set in a grimy, small-town bar, probably in Texas.  The word “Coronado” means “bar town.”   

“Coronado” does not follow a linear time frame.  Past, present and future are constantly intermingled, thus creating a puzzle by the playwright to be figured out by the audience.

 Lehane’s characters, all grifters and losers, include a father and son (Bill English and Chad Deverman) looking for a missing girl and a stolen diamond; a psychiatrist and his high-strung patient (Louis Parnell and Stacy Ross) who are entangled in an unethical affair, and a pair of lovers (Will Springhorn Jr. and Kate del Castillo) who are plotting a murder.  By the time the play is over, we see that all of the characters are inter-connected and their scenes together take place in different time frames.   

The ensemble cast, which also includes Lorraine Olson as a sympathetic waitress, Phillip K. Toretto as a murder victim, and Rebecca Schweitzer as the missing girl, Gwen, give fine performances.   

The great set is by SF Playhouse Artistic Director Bill English with v

ivid lighting by Cy Eaton and sound by Steven Klems.  Valero Coble’s costumes were true to character.   “Coronado” is a suspenseful story under the smart direction of Susi Damilano.  Lehane plays fast and loose with his timeline and finally integrates his characters in unexpected ways.   

“Coronado” plays Wednesday-Saturday at 8 p.m. plus Saturdays at 3 p.m. until April 26, at the SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street (1 block off Union Square, between Powell and Mason).   For tickets or more information, call 415-677-9596 or go online at www.ticketweb.com.  Flora Lynn Isaacson

Tragedy, a Tragedy

Night has fallen!” and that is pretty much the end of the story, except that the newish kid on the block, playwright Will Eno has managed to extend that thought for eighty minutes at BRep. TRAGEDY could even be construed as a poorly constructed, unsubstantial imitation of Beckett.

In a TV newsroom, the seasoned anchor Frank (David Cromwell) sits at his desk giving us the evening reports The BIG event is that “Night has fallen.”

The end of day as we know it; the end of the world; or is it they just haven’t gotten around to the morning yet to report if the sun has bothered to come up? Surrounding the one interior newsroom location are three other newscasters in the field to corroborate the story in excruciating detail and vapid newspeak. The one female reporter Constance (Marguerite Stimpson) is at a house describing its concrete yard ornament — a broken-eared rabbit. The lights are out and no one seems to be inside. Where did they go? Do we feel her pain over the emptiness, or is it our sympathy for the actor caught in the excruciating bind of having to say these words? A second reporter John in the Field (Thomas Jay Ryan) talks about wishing his mother were there to comfort him. Later when he suffers an anxiety attack, Constance tries to calm him. Another newsman named Michael (Max Gordon Moore) moves from one political location to another, with no visible change. Wow! Is Eno trying to make a big pointarooney? All our incompetent politicians have flown the coop.  

The premise is established and repeats with variations that run the gamut from “A to A.”  It’s the media in a repetitive loop that we all witness every night, making news out of nothing. WE GET IT! … in the first five minutes. And like any one-trick pony, it trots downhill leaving unmentionables in our path. The real tragedy — if any — lies in the enormous waste of artistry. If it wern’t for the noble cast of five splendid actors — whose cumulative talent soars above the sewer level of the piece — this member of the media would have walked out way before the final blackout.

Simply stated this nightmare might make a great short skit on Saturday Night Live, but in its present condition.

TRAGEDY lacks the staying power for an evening of live theatre. Not recommended. TRAGEDY: a tragedy continues through April 13 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley. Tickets ($33 to $69) are available by phone at (510) 647-2949 or online at www.berkeleyrep.org. Linda Ayres Frederick

The 7th Annual Bay One Acts Festival

When Three Wise Monkeys founders Richard Bernier, Aoise Stratford and Dawson Moore first started this company, they had in mind a festival to celebrate scores of talented local playwrights who were not being heard in the Bay Area theatre scene.

Seven years later, they fulfilled their mission to give voice to eight Bay Area playwrights, eight stories and the creative efforts of more than 30 theatre artists—actors, directors, designers and technical people.

The festival had two programs this year.  Program One featured playwrights and producing companies from BOA Festivals in the past years. They symbolize the successes of their past efforts and performances were held at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco from February 21-March 2.  From Program Two, March 6-16, new playwrights and companies were invited to come and perform as they are the symbol of where BOA is headed in the future.  

This critic attended opening night of Program Two on March 6.  The first play of the evening was “Manners and Civility” by the talented Nick Olivero, who is currently the Artistic Director for Boxcar Theatre located in San Francisco and the playwright of the wonderful “Big Co.” which played at his theatre last fall.  Produced by Boxcar Theatre, “Manners and Civility” was beautifully directed by Peter Matthews, co-Artistic Director of Boxcar Theatre and the star of “Big Co.”  I found the subject matter of “Manners and Civility” very distasteful and disturbing.  A man is tied to a chair in a child’s nursery and is mercilessly tortured throughout the play for a crime which he may, or may not have, committed many years ago. Nick Olivero was trying to show that our society creates monsters.  The victim, Mark Auditore, was expertly performed by John Hutchinson, and his torturer, Dr. Henry Chauncey, who wore a suit and a tie, was given a very mannerly performance by Michael Moerman. These two performers gave the strongest performances of any male actor in the four plays I saw that evening.

The second play, “General Admissions,” by Crish Barth was directed by Paul Cello and produced by Climate Theatre.  This play took place in a theatre where Sheila, played by Laura Jane Coles (with expert comedic timing), is taken out for her birthday by her husband, Dan, a rather uptight man in his late 30’s played equally well by Mark Lariviere.  Both actors performed in tandem, both listening and responding to one another as they sat in the handicapped row.   

The third play, “End of the Line” by Liz Ryan, was directed by Jeffrey Hartgraves and produced by the Ensemble Theatre, was this critic’s favorite.  The setting was a small Irish town, the day of Patrick’s and Moira’s father’s funeral.  Padraic (Americanized to Patrick), played by Jeffrey Hartgraves, returns home from the States accompanied by his younger “boyfriend” played by T. J. Lee. The playwright Liz Ryan, the strongest female performer of the evening, played the lesbian sister Moira who was resentful for having to take care of her father for many years.

A Toss of the Hat” by Mike Ricca ended the evening’s performance.  This play was directed by Hans Summers and produced by San Francisco Improv Alliance. The leading man, Chris is played by Clay Roneson, a good stand-up comedian in his many monologues to the audience.  The play takes place in a coffee shop where Chris falls for a waitress, Lisa, played by Lauren Pizzi.  Shaun Landry as a middle-aged patron who loves her crossword puzzles almost steals the show.  For information  about future Three Wise Monkey productions see www.threewisemonkeys.org Flora Lynn Isaacson

April 2008



The Scene


Youth, Sex, Betrayal, Greed in New York playwright Theresa Rebeck’s Scene, performed at the S.F. Playhouse in a West Coast premiere under the expert direction of Amy Glazer, brings a portrayal that is as sordid as it is comical concerning today’s morals. At the play’s start we meet antagonistic heroine Clea, an attractive young upstart who both despises and prides herself that every man wants her for sex. And, in order to boost her self-esteem, she proceeds to use sex to conquer one male after the other. Charlie, married to Stella, is her present victim, who at first firmly resists Clea’s advances but then lets it all happen because he is married to an all too perfect wife. But after she has won her victory, Clea will nonchalantly move on to conquer others, betraying Charlie who in turn has betrayed his wife, who, in turn, will betray Charlie by going off with Lewis, Charlie’s best friend.

Rebeck’s dramatic action, characterization and dialogue beneath a dialogue filled with banal bantering, swear words and frequently utilizing the F word that provokes easy laughter, along with uninhibited and rapacious love making. Rebeck is bluntly satirizing and criticizing the bad conduct of our present generation. Looking back at the play, one no longer sees it as an exciting and amusing momentary sensual experience but a deeper one about the very behavior that made us laugh.
A slim, youthful and sexy Heather Gordon plays Clea as an authoritative, unscrupulous and provocative female. Aaron Davidman, artistic director of the San Francisco Traveling Jewish Theatre, moves from the reserved and indifferent male to Clea’s passionate lover. Nancy Carlin rose to the challenge with a convincing interpretation of the staid Stella who melts into a warmer more compassionate human being at the play’s end. Howard Swain’s eccentric Lewis, with moments of comic facial and body movement, lightens the darker side of the comedy.

Scenic design by Artistic director Bill English is minimal and varied enough to allow for fast changing sets and allows actors to move freely on a constricted stage space. Michael Oesch on lights magically and rapidly solved a couple of technical problems that a good-willed audience and ardent fans of the S.F. Playhouse applauded.

Theresa Rebeck’s plays, including The Scene, are well known to the New York stage, She has written abundantly for TV and film and will publish her first novel, Three Girls and Their Brother, in the spring of 2008.

The S.F. Playhouse continues to strengthen its reputation as an intimate family style theatre.
The Scene runs through March 8. For info. or upcoming plays at the S.F. Playhouse call 415-677-9596 or TicketWeb.com.

Sonny’s Blues


Harlem and beyond in James Baldwin’ Sonny’s Blues, presented by Word for Word Company in association with the Z Space Studio, opened at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre on February 9 to a standing ovation. In flashback style and presented through a narrator/character, Baldwin’s play depicts the relationship from an early age between a brother schoolteacher and his younger brother obsessed by jazz. The older brother, a schoolteacher married with children who has also been in the army, is not Sonny’s choice of a life style. Sonny lives only for his dream of becoming a jazz pianist. As a child he refused to go to school and soon fell into a group of drug addicts where he could freely play the piano and do drugs to bury his frustration. Later he will attempt to flee Harlem to avoid this life style and the drugs that will bring about his ruination. Sonny’s brother has promised his mother he will take care of his younger brother and help him. It will take Sonny’s brother a lifetime to understand Sonny’s need to find himself through his music, only when he takes the time to listen to Sonny’s pain through his music.

Acting credits go to Peter Macon as the brother/narrator. Da’ Mon Vann’s Sonny, physically suited to the role of the emaciated, troubled drug victim artist, brings out these qualities a bit too subtely on an emotional level. Margarette Robinson steals the show as the Mother and in other female and male roles with her deep singing voice and magnetic stage presence. Allison L. Payne, among her other roles, is a buoyant Isabel. Mujahid Abdul-Rashid moves with dignity and authority from Creole to Father. Robert Hampton captivates the wasted allure of Sonny’s drug addict friend convincingly. Sets and props (Lisa Dent) are kept to a minimum on the bare stage that actually strengthens the content as it allows for a deeper concentration on the dramatic narrative. Laura Hazlett’s costumes, simple and modest, harmonize with the characters and milieu.

Marcus Shelby’s original musical score provides the musical background and sometimes the foreground without ever detracting from the narrated action. The award-winning composer, bassist and Bay Area teacher is committed to the use of jazz to convey the history and legacy of African-Americans.
In Baldwin’s own words, “A lot of negro style, the style of a man like Miles Davis, or Ray Charles or the style of a man like myself is based on a knowledge of what people are really saying and on our refusals to hear it. You pick up the beat, which is more truthful than words.”

Word for Word Company, founded by Joanne Winter and Susan Harloe, in its aim to utilize short stories for dramatization, has succeeded in staging works of various periods and kinds in the Bay Area and Beyond. Sonny’s Blues plays through March 8. For information call 415-474-9900or go to www.zspace.org or lhtsf.org.
Annette Lust, member Drama faculty Domincan University and S.F. Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.



Only in San Francisco at Pier 39


Insignificant Others is a new musical comedy by San Francisco playwright-composer-lyricist, L.J. Kuo, formerly awarded Best Original Musical Script by the Bay Area Theatre Critic’s Circle. This delightful original show follows the romantic hopes of five friends, two gay men and three straight women, Margaret (Sarah Kathleen Farrell), Jeannine (Omi Fernandez), Kristen (Jennifer Graham), Jordan (Jason Hoover), and Luke (Alex Rodriguez) who move to San Francisco from Cleveland, Ohio seeking love and adventure. Through hilarity and heartbreak, these friends discover the bonds of friendship they havewith one another. In 24 songs with choreography, these performers relate their experiences as new arrivals.

At the center of these tales of the City is Margaret (the strong and winning Sarah Kathleen Farrell) on the lookout for Mr. Right—a designation given considerable latitude in a city with a scarce supply of heterosexual men which becomes the excuse for three of the productions most crowd pleasing and clever scenes that steal the show.

The direction of George Quick and the choreography of David Garcia offer a lively production and the musicians, David Manley and Mie Araki, Scott MacDiarmid and Joe Willcockson provide flawless renditions of Kuo’s tunes.

Insignificant Others is in an Open-Ended Run at Theatre 39 at Pier 39, second level, Beach Street at Embarcadero, San Francisco. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets and info, visit www. isomusical.com or call 415-346-7805.



Arthur and Esther

Taylor Hanes shines in Arthur and Esther by British playwright, Ross Howard, is the story of a librarian, played by Taylor Hanes, and his attempt to reconcile the ghosts of his past with the promise of the future. Hanes is ever inch the dedicated librarian Arthur, who tells the story of his grandfather Dewey who invented the Dewey Decimal System by setting a picture of his grandfather on the table and by showing us a family album. He then shows a picture of Arthur’s father who changed the family name to Huey. He also shows us a picture of his wife, Esther, whose last name was Roget, as is Roget’s Thesaurus.
As Act I opens in an empty library, small time librarian Arthur Huey’s world is crumbling. He has just lost his library which is being turned into an office and he just lost his wife, Esther.

Taylor Hanes is superb as he puts on Arthur’s glasses and tells us how he saved a book from the library called 20 Ways to Terminate Your Existence. Then Arthur proceeds to take out various objects to end his life—pills, a rope to hang himself, gasoline and matches, a knife and a pistol. But Arthur now remembers who he is and who he represents—the Dewey values of integrity and loyalty and the Dewey Decimal mode of being—a mark of achievement, a history.

Act II is set hours later by a lake. In order to reconcile his hurt feelings over his wife Esther leaving him after 23 years of marriage, for his friend Chuck, Arthur puts a different spin on his story. Arthur next takes out Esther’s clothes one by one and as he tries them on, he suddenly becomes Esther complete with a black wig, trying to contact him to make amends for what she has done to him.
The setting in each act was sparse leaving the main emphasis on character development. Originally staged by Sarah Norris, the direction was smooth, inventive and full of surprises. Olivia Griffin handled the lighting effects and the musical interludes quite well.

Arthur and Esther made its West coast premiere at the Phoenix Theatre Annex. This dark comedy had previously won acclaim at this year’s New York Fringe Festival.
Flora Lynn Isaacson

March 2008