Danny DiVito, actor turned director, performed as a company member in a NYC basement theatre that ran its electricity off of a hot subway rail (every time a subway went by the lights flashed and the theatre rumbled). I refrain from commenting on San Diego’s Starlight Bowl similarities. Suffice it to say that during DiVito’s performances did not stop for the subway.
Though it is not subterranean, Compass Theatre reminds me of the basement theatres in which I performed in NYC during the early 1970s.
Occasionally the project of a company’s faithful, this type of house’s lobby is coffin-sized and transformed into an abstract of theatre splendor with the de rigueur 8 by 10s of the actors. Sometimes holiday lights are used to frame pictures, or aluminum foil is a design motif.
Upon entering the playing space the scent of mold greets the nostrils. The stage’s ceiling is home to a variety of pipes and is high enough for an actor to wave his arms dramatically without hitting a light instrument. We get to choose where we’ll sit for the evening from 49 beat-up seats loosely screwed to uneven wooden platforms.
Paradoxically, Compass Theatre – formerly 6th @ Penn - and its brethren are essential to the Theatre’s growth.
Such is the home of Shakes’ “Troilus and Cressida,” Thurs through Fri till Oct 5th. Director Welton Jones, for Union-Tribune Theatre Critic, directed the show for steady pace. He and fine Theatre Generalist George Weinberg-Harter collaborated as dramaturges to cut “Troilus” for clarity in plot and to our 2008 attention abilities. The result is a two-hour evening.
PLOT
The setting for the story is the long running Trojan War. Troilus, a brother of Paris, falls in love with Cressida. She loves him, too, but plays hard to get. The plot covers the heroes from Greek mythology including Ulysses, Achilles and Ajax and their plans to try to end the war. The themes cover betrayal and jealousy. In theory, rape, pillage, sodomy, maiming, beheading and looting is the war life of the populace. San Diegans rest assured the obscenities transpire off-stage.
EXECUTION
Mr. Jones keeps the action moving, rather description and discussion of the off stage events and war strategies at a more than steady. The speaking and playing of the text comes up short even with the cuts. Worse, the sensual war battered setting of “Troilus” is essentially absent for actors and audience.
EPHEMERAL
This is a company of wildly divergent acting styles and skills best brought together by the costume design and color palette. Watching “Troilus” is like watching work attempted in a gym: the results are incremental and personal. The evening is enjoyed neither for its whole nor a sum of its parts: it is savored for its moments.
Mr. Jones performed transformational work with some San Diego’s small theatre’s frequently seen actors. Though sustained select moments in various scenes, Jones elicited deliberately understated passion and focused readings from stalwarts Ed Eigner, Gerard Maxwell and the prevailing George Weinberg-Harter. I relished these moments. Experiencing them enabled the taxing evening worth while for they signaled a sea change in the work of actors normally chosen to hand-in work as a “type” or pawn their schtick by directors unable - or worse - unwilling to guide them into new living characters.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The greatest miscalculation of attack on this so called “problem play” is action. If we observed the characters inextricably enmeshed with the toils of war and its attendant madness (in both maintaining and suppressing sanity), filth (say, cleaning bandages), starvation (fighting for food) and individuals’ struggle for survival (cruelty against one other) would have given Shakespeare’s characters a context in which to develop a sense of reality. A director could have realized comic opportunities from such circumstances as well. For the better part of the evening we observed characters speaking and moving in senseless stage crossings: madness unto itself. Surprising also is that Mr. Jones, a widely traveled, well read and seasoned theatre writer did not recognize this absence of reality-based action.
THE 15
The fifteen minutes of highlights included:
• Padarus’ (Weinberg-Harter) amusing provocation of the slow Troilus (Michael Zlotnik) to bed valley mall voiced Cressida (Brenna Foley).
• Weinberg-Harter’s song renditions (also of his composition) pricked us with comic relief.
• Laura Kaplan as Cassandra almost shook the balls off the men in this role -- she should have. Maybe she’ll try an entrance while pulling out her hair and screaming. It’s worked for Diana Rigg. An actress needs her own metaphoric set of balls to make this character work against a set of testosterone driven pissing contestants.
• Shelley Williams’ costume designs shot the best stab at setting the period and tone for the show, proved economically convertible and her palette enriched the evening’s experience.
• Ed Eigner’s performances as the Prologue, Menelaus and Priam, though not greatly varied, proved royalty in substance.
• Gerard Maxwell’s Act 2 monologue.
• Christian Lopez’s set design with its midget periaktoi and mix of painted murals and architectural pieces.
Michael Zlotnik received terrific notices for his work with New Village Arts in Odet’s “Awake and Sing.” He is not a “personality actor.” This was my first exposure to his work. Intelligent, diverse in choice, physically possessing in his characters and vocally flexible are some of the skills this young actor already can count among his skills. A word to hungry young actors: this guy has London training. He is the type of actor directors’ value in the canyon (not for long) of casting between community theatre and “Class A” Regional Theatre. Lucky are those directors that engage this thespian’s time upon the stage.
"Dionysos," by Peter Paul Rubens or "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre."
9/18/08
Palin and Performing Arts (non-partisan, Wasilla, Alaska)
Valley Performing Arts is Sarah Palin's hometown chief live theatre. The VPA's 2008-2009 theatre season is listed and photos from past seasons can also be viewed at Valley Performing Arts.
Tom,
VPA is a non profit, non partisan group. As such, we do not endorse any candidate nor do we want to imply the entertainment style or preferences of a candidate. If you want to link to our web site and show the theater group in Wasilla which happens to be the home town of one of the candidates this year that is acceptable. But our preference then is to let your readers look at our present lineup and go back through the seasons and photos as they desire. As there are many plays that could be chosen and there is much spinning that can be done with any selection, we prefer the complete neutral position by not promoting any play.
Regards
Kevin
(Kevin O'Connor
General Manager)
* * *
Please Note: I received permission from the photographer to post a production shot from the Valley Performing Art's go at "Run for Your Wife." When the photographer construed political influence in the nature of the above posting he withdrew his permission and redefined the rights of ownership to Valley Performing Arts. Valley Performing Arts' response to my request to post the photo from "Run" met with the following response:Tom,
VPA is a non profit, non partisan group. As such, we do not endorse any candidate nor do we want to imply the entertainment style or preferences of a candidate. If you want to link to our web site and show the theater group in Wasilla which happens to be the home town of one of the candidates this year that is acceptable. But our preference then is to let your readers look at our present lineup and go back through the seasons and photos as they desire. As there are many plays that could be chosen and there is much spinning that can be done with any selection, we prefer the complete neutral position by not promoting any play.
Regards
Kevin
(Kevin O'Connor
General Manager)
Channel 10 Theater Nominations
San Diego’s local ABC affiliate, Channel 10, announced the nominees in the category for Best Theater. The nominees include New Village Arts, Cygnet Theatre Company, San Diego Civic Theatre, Lambs Players, North Coast Rep, LaJolla Playhouse, The old Globe; even the Broadway Theatre in Vista received a nomination. The question is: Which company didn’t receive a nomination for Best Theatre? http://kgtv.cityvoter.com/contests/10news-com-s-a-list/1997/arts-and-entertainment/theater
9/17/08
Writing at Catholic Community Services
You don’t have to be Catholic to get the services and I don’t show them my scars for extra attention. It’s around 9:50 a.m. and I’m waiting for the food dispensary program to open while working on “La Belle et La Bête: 2008 (A Vulgar French Fairy Tail).” This is a cabaret piece for five actors; a titch raunchy and always fast moving and joy writing. Blue Lips has informed it along with the late Ethel Eichelberger’s combustion style humor.
Southern California structures cheat on roofs compliments of the mollifying temperature so writing in the morning sun while for my can goods is pretty darn good for this September morning.
Then a 30-something hipster signs-up on The List posted on the gate. After circling the courtyard he sits next to me. I forgot to sign-in and remedy that immediately.
“You no sign up? Ha-ha-ha.”
I don’t take the Hipster’s invitation.
I want to keep writing ‘cause I’m hot on the scene where Beauty’s sisters, Pathalogia and Toxilia, slam him for cleaning the house and breaking their drug pipes.
“Yes. I forgot about that.”
I look in his eyes. He asks me where the bathroom is. “I don’t know.”
He continues speaking and for some reason I continue listening.
“You the only guy writing here. You wake up, you do something.”
“I’m glad I got up and got here in time.”
“I write too. Empire in New York.”
“Yes.”
“Here – you read this letter. You read.”
His name is Bui and the letter is printed on formal letterhead from an Empire State Building address.
He speaks. I listen.
“You see what I’m saying? You see what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” I assure.
I continue to listen.
“You see the fire I’m breathing?”
“Yes.”
La Bête patiently waits in the foyer.
Southern California structures cheat on roofs compliments of the mollifying temperature so writing in the morning sun while for my can goods is pretty darn good for this September morning.
Then a 30-something hipster signs-up on The List posted on the gate. After circling the courtyard he sits next to me. I forgot to sign-in and remedy that immediately.
“You no sign up? Ha-ha-ha.”
I don’t take the Hipster’s invitation.
I want to keep writing ‘cause I’m hot on the scene where Beauty’s sisters, Pathalogia and Toxilia, slam him for cleaning the house and breaking their drug pipes.
“Yes. I forgot about that.”
I look in his eyes. He asks me where the bathroom is. “I don’t know.”
He continues speaking and for some reason I continue listening.
“You the only guy writing here. You wake up, you do something.”
“I’m glad I got up and got here in time.”
“I write too. Empire in New York.”
“Yes.”
“Here – you read this letter. You read.”
His name is Bui and the letter is printed on formal letterhead from an Empire State Building address.
He speaks. I listen.
“You see what I’m saying? You see what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” I assure.
I continue to listen.
“You see the fire I’m breathing?”
“Yes.”
La Bête patiently waits in the foyer.
9/15/08
Ensemble Lamb's Players
George you are correct. Lamb's Players was neglected in my survey. I will followup with the company and obtain a better sense of their company dynamic/cohesion and post-back.
9/14/08
What's in a title? and Post Facto
What’s in a title?
Like today’s parent filling the family’s SUV – watching the dollars roll by – the sweat rolled onto the trusty Panasonic dual-cassette answering machine in that “mother-in-law” apartment as I recorded the box office message, take after take. An unrelenting Santa Ana stymied the city and burnished tempers. Recording the message was one of some 15 tasks to accomplish before tech rehearsal that evening in preparation to open Philip Real’s “Lunch and Dessert” comedy duet.
That 10’ by 12’ studio on North Ave. cost $335 (now $780) per month to rent and housed my foam mattress-on-the-floor-style living a refrigerator with half-dozen eggs, some beer and tofu with brown rice. Outside, flats for the show were drying and stage props gathered dust and neighbor complaints until they were loaded into West Coast Production Company, arguably the most popular gay disco in town, where its dance floor became our stage.
My other duties included finding rehearsal space, writing legally binding contracts, directing the two one acts, selling ads for the program, working as publicist, planning the next production and fighting for its next venue, placing media ads, setting up the box office and working with Greg Stevens, a dynamic emerging set designer I had recently met in a support group. The mandate: manifest the best work possible and pay off the contracts. Surplus monies, if any, after expenses -“office space” not included- would go toward the purchase of a Mac Plus, then the state-of-the-art computer for desktop publishing and word processing. I did not pay myself a salary or a stipend, I was “temping” at General Atomics. The project: premier production of Diversionary Theatre. The title for these plumber to host duties: Artistic Producing Director.
San Diego theatre holds some curious names and titles these days.
The first moniker that caught my eye was “debut” for actors’ first performance at the Old Globe, San Diego’s flagship theatre. In 1984 I found this title self-important. I have since changed my mind, having observed the Globe’s work over 15 seasons. I now understand value in an Old Globe “debut.” It means privilege. Production values at the Globe are consistently high in choice of playwrights, directors, lyricists and composers (dead and living) and designers. There is new work on the Globe’s stages every season. As one New York-based actor said, “…the Globe is Broadway West, without the mess.”
The Globe uses a Resident Artist title to recognize and reward artists of distinction. The Resident Artist’s body of work is prominently represented at that institution. The artists’ biographical profiles clearly reveal the title is earned by consistent excellence in work not only at the Globe, but nationally and internationally and in TV and Film. San Diego residency played a factor in some designations.
The La Jolla Playhouse uses no such designation with actors though I regularly note returning actors in their productions. Increasingly, San Diego-based actors appear in their productions. The bottom line is type, skill and talent in their casting policy at LPH. More long-term relationships with playwrights are found at the Playhouse.
The “haute pelican” recognizes its former Artistic Director Des McAnuff as Director Emeritus, and the Old Globe its Jack O’Brien as Artistic Director Emeritus. These are appropriate and dignified titles, but hardly designations that characterize their leonine producing and artistic accomplishments. These Dyonysian titans forged and established a successful show business model that put to rest the industry’s conflict of “Apple versus Orange” (it really meant “not invented here”). Des and Jack’s work contributed significantly to the change in the standard American Regional Theatre season to include a musical and/or new musical, a developmental play program and university actor training affiliation.
The number of “foot noted” titles for actors and designers in our city’s theatres is growing and begs the question: What is the theatre’s motivation in designating the title?
Small young companies that dub an actor with such titles are suspect of aggrandizing an actor -- after all we are discussing the Theatre and actors. Acting jobs exist in an ever-changing environment of hiring demands. An opportunity to mollify a potential employee is a smart move.
For example, artist titles per three popular theatres and their years of operation
are:
Identifying actors with training and/or professional experience combined with similar artistic values provide ideal motivations to consider an actor for special designation, especially if the title includes guaranteed periods of employment opportunities with above standard salary. If these factors dominate decision-making the titles are well given.
Companies awarding artistic titles for general work rather than artistic work are, well, not artistically motivated. This is a “bait and switch” transaction potentially harmful to the recipient.
Ensemble
In successful ensembles there is a shared technique at a similar skill level. The European tradition in ensemble companies includes continued company classes and eating together at the company canteen. Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival, though not titled an ensemble, holds company classes and characterizes itself with an ensemble sensibility.
One of the main features of the ensemble is the group’s artistic cohesion surpasses per- show casting, to seasonal casting. An “as cast for season” demonstrates thoughtful consideration of the artist and company’s desires and needs.
A San Diego company that approaches this model is New Village Arts. This company appears to possess an interdependent artistic standard. NVA artists are encouraged to stretch into other Theatre disciplines such as design, playwriting and directing. Little wonder NVA produced a successful production of “Golden Boy,” originally produced by the Group Theatre, a noted ensemble theatre company of the 1930s.
However, with NVA’s recent resignation of co-founder Francis Gerke, will the company maintain its artistic equilibrium? Another season will tell.
A Standard
This past year of theatre-going throughout the county revealed a disappointing level in acting quality in our smaller houses: mediocrity at epidemic levels. The fact that an actor is an Equity member doesn’t provide immunity. The San Diego theatre companies filling the void between community theatres and Class A Regional Theatres and Union touring companies vary wildly in terms of quality of casting and acting skills within a production. An audience’s willingness to disbelieve extends only as far as good acting suspends it. Then again, if one is hungry, a full tummy feels comforting whether it’s full of hamburger or tofu.
Whatever the title, local actors must be supervised to produce their best work on a persistent basis: not good enough work. Good enough work is self-satisfying for the company and serves the audience McTheatre.
NEXT TIME…
• Acting: the step from community theatre standards to professional quality work. Does an actor make the transition with a leap, baby steps or a hitch-kick?
• The “casting pool”
• And the benefits of a titled actor in San Diego.
Webies
• Musical Lovers check out “The 10 Worst Musicals Of All” at www.telegraph.co.uk
• Find an international theatre directory at www.curtainrising.com
• You’ve seen him in “Brazil,” “Time Bandits” and “Topsy-Turvy,” checkout his theatre_broadbent.org
Twained Out Loud
Sitting silently reading your book, you sip your custom coffee drink hand-crafted by an underpaid barista. You gently pool about in dialog with your author’s character or facts; now its time to give a voice to that consciousness.
“Write Out Loud” is San Diego’s copy-n-paste of “Selected Shorts,” the long running Public Radio International program presented at New York’s Symphony Space. The program plays, appropriately, at the Cygnet Theatre’s Rolando space. Kudos to Walter Ritter and Veronica Murphy, WOL’s Executive and Artistic Directors, respectively, for pushing San Diego’s literary consciousness up a notch.
The upcoming August 23rd matinee opens WOL’s second season with “Ever the Twain Shall Meet”, an afternoon of--guess who? Mr. Twain’s career rendered voluminous tomes and continues to be in discovery. Recently revealed is “Is He Dead?”, which ran a successful Broadway run to audience and critics’ delight. Twain’s work is hard to resist for the over-40 crowd. Those 30-ish might find the work a good prep for 40. Good conversation is always in need of wit and tart.
WOL also serves yummy cookies and kick-ass coffee at their interval. A matinee to take your date to? Consider “Ever the Twain Shall Meet” as worthwhile conversation.
Reservations 619-297-8953
New Village Art Challenge: Willy Step Away from that Espresso
Imagine William Shakespeare challenged to spin all his plays to an audience in one evening. Could he do it? We'll never know.
Three actors take on the challenge in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” at New Village Arts in Carlsbad. Though NVA's “Sailor's Song” hit the occasional off-key notes, “The Complete Works” is a good bet. Why? 'Cause this is a troupe of actors San Diego North County esteems as their (our) own from their very first play reading. NVA's Shakes offerings have been sure shots for lazy summer nights.
Worth the drive? Nestled in Carlsbad’s quaint So Cal stucco and awning style with numerous cafes and bistros and just the right temperature breeze to waft you to the theatre. Okay, I'm sounding like a press release, but this was my experience when recently visiting NVA. Plus, Joshua Everett Johnson, the actor one keeps an eye on for the next best character creation, fools along with Adam Brick and Tim Parker. Maybe Johnson has 20 or 30 delights to offer up with this show?
www.NewVillageArts.org
Like today’s parent filling the family’s SUV – watching the dollars roll by – the sweat rolled onto the trusty Panasonic dual-cassette answering machine in that “mother-in-law” apartment as I recorded the box office message, take after take. An unrelenting Santa Ana stymied the city and burnished tempers. Recording the message was one of some 15 tasks to accomplish before tech rehearsal that evening in preparation to open Philip Real’s “Lunch and Dessert” comedy duet.
That 10’ by 12’ studio on North Ave. cost $335 (now $780) per month to rent and housed my foam mattress-on-the-floor-style living a refrigerator with half-dozen eggs, some beer and tofu with brown rice. Outside, flats for the show were drying and stage props gathered dust and neighbor complaints until they were loaded into West Coast Production Company, arguably the most popular gay disco in town, where its dance floor became our stage.
My other duties included finding rehearsal space, writing legally binding contracts, directing the two one acts, selling ads for the program, working as publicist, planning the next production and fighting for its next venue, placing media ads, setting up the box office and working with Greg Stevens, a dynamic emerging set designer I had recently met in a support group. The mandate: manifest the best work possible and pay off the contracts. Surplus monies, if any, after expenses -“office space” not included- would go toward the purchase of a Mac Plus, then the state-of-the-art computer for desktop publishing and word processing. I did not pay myself a salary or a stipend, I was “temping” at General Atomics. The project: premier production of Diversionary Theatre. The title for these plumber to host duties: Artistic Producing Director.
San Diego theatre holds some curious names and titles these days.
The first moniker that caught my eye was “debut” for actors’ first performance at the Old Globe, San Diego’s flagship theatre. In 1984 I found this title self-important. I have since changed my mind, having observed the Globe’s work over 15 seasons. I now understand value in an Old Globe “debut.” It means privilege. Production values at the Globe are consistently high in choice of playwrights, directors, lyricists and composers (dead and living) and designers. There is new work on the Globe’s stages every season. As one New York-based actor said, “…the Globe is Broadway West, without the mess.”
The Globe uses a Resident Artist title to recognize and reward artists of distinction. The Resident Artist’s body of work is prominently represented at that institution. The artists’ biographical profiles clearly reveal the title is earned by consistent excellence in work not only at the Globe, but nationally and internationally and in TV and Film. San Diego residency played a factor in some designations.
The La Jolla Playhouse uses no such designation with actors though I regularly note returning actors in their productions. Increasingly, San Diego-based actors appear in their productions. The bottom line is type, skill and talent in their casting policy at LPH. More long-term relationships with playwrights are found at the Playhouse.
The “haute pelican” recognizes its former Artistic Director Des McAnuff as Director Emeritus, and the Old Globe its Jack O’Brien as Artistic Director Emeritus. These are appropriate and dignified titles, but hardly designations that characterize their leonine producing and artistic accomplishments. These Dyonysian titans forged and established a successful show business model that put to rest the industry’s conflict of “Apple versus Orange” (it really meant “not invented here”). Des and Jack’s work contributed significantly to the change in the standard American Regional Theatre season to include a musical and/or new musical, a developmental play program and university actor training affiliation.
The number of “foot noted” titles for actors and designers in our city’s theatres is growing and begs the question: What is the theatre’s motivation in designating the title?
Small young companies that dub an actor with such titles are suspect of aggrandizing an actor -- after all we are discussing the Theatre and actors. Acting jobs exist in an ever-changing environment of hiring demands. An opportunity to mollify a potential employee is a smart move.
For example, artist titles per three popular theatres and their years of operation
are:
Identifying actors with training and/or professional experience combined with similar artistic values provide ideal motivations to consider an actor for special designation, especially if the title includes guaranteed periods of employment opportunities with above standard salary. If these factors dominate decision-making the titles are well given.Companies awarding artistic titles for general work rather than artistic work are, well, not artistically motivated. This is a “bait and switch” transaction potentially harmful to the recipient.
Ensemble
In successful ensembles there is a shared technique at a similar skill level. The European tradition in ensemble companies includes continued company classes and eating together at the company canteen. Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival, though not titled an ensemble, holds company classes and characterizes itself with an ensemble sensibility.
One of the main features of the ensemble is the group’s artistic cohesion surpasses per- show casting, to seasonal casting. An “as cast for season” demonstrates thoughtful consideration of the artist and company’s desires and needs.
A San Diego company that approaches this model is New Village Arts. This company appears to possess an interdependent artistic standard. NVA artists are encouraged to stretch into other Theatre disciplines such as design, playwriting and directing. Little wonder NVA produced a successful production of “Golden Boy,” originally produced by the Group Theatre, a noted ensemble theatre company of the 1930s.
However, with NVA’s recent resignation of co-founder Francis Gerke, will the company maintain its artistic equilibrium? Another season will tell.
A Standard
This past year of theatre-going throughout the county revealed a disappointing level in acting quality in our smaller houses: mediocrity at epidemic levels. The fact that an actor is an Equity member doesn’t provide immunity. The San Diego theatre companies filling the void between community theatres and Class A Regional Theatres and Union touring companies vary wildly in terms of quality of casting and acting skills within a production. An audience’s willingness to disbelieve extends only as far as good acting suspends it. Then again, if one is hungry, a full tummy feels comforting whether it’s full of hamburger or tofu.
Whatever the title, local actors must be supervised to produce their best work on a persistent basis: not good enough work. Good enough work is self-satisfying for the company and serves the audience McTheatre.
NEXT TIME…
• Acting: the step from community theatre standards to professional quality work. Does an actor make the transition with a leap, baby steps or a hitch-kick?
• The “casting pool”
• And the benefits of a titled actor in San Diego.
Webies
• Musical Lovers check out “The 10 Worst Musicals Of All” at www.telegraph.co.uk
• Find an international theatre directory at www.curtainrising.com
• You’ve seen him in “Brazil,” “Time Bandits” and “Topsy-Turvy,” checkout his theatre_broadbent.org
Post Facto, yet worth noting.
(items that missed the hard copy)
(items that missed the hard copy)
Twained Out Loud
Sitting silently reading your book, you sip your custom coffee drink hand-crafted by an underpaid barista. You gently pool about in dialog with your author’s character or facts; now its time to give a voice to that consciousness.
“Write Out Loud” is San Diego’s copy-n-paste of “Selected Shorts,” the long running Public Radio International program presented at New York’s Symphony Space. The program plays, appropriately, at the Cygnet Theatre’s Rolando space. Kudos to Walter Ritter and Veronica Murphy, WOL’s Executive and Artistic Directors, respectively, for pushing San Diego’s literary consciousness up a notch.
The upcoming August 23rd matinee opens WOL’s second season with “Ever the Twain Shall Meet”, an afternoon of--guess who? Mr. Twain’s career rendered voluminous tomes and continues to be in discovery. Recently revealed is “Is He Dead?”, which ran a successful Broadway run to audience and critics’ delight. Twain’s work is hard to resist for the over-40 crowd. Those 30-ish might find the work a good prep for 40. Good conversation is always in need of wit and tart.
WOL also serves yummy cookies and kick-ass coffee at their interval. A matinee to take your date to? Consider “Ever the Twain Shall Meet” as worthwhile conversation.
Reservations 619-297-8953
New Village Art Challenge: Willy Step Away from that Espresso
Imagine William Shakespeare challenged to spin all his plays to an audience in one evening. Could he do it? We'll never know.
Three actors take on the challenge in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” at New Village Arts in Carlsbad. Though NVA's “Sailor's Song” hit the occasional off-key notes, “The Complete Works” is a good bet. Why? 'Cause this is a troupe of actors San Diego North County esteems as their (our) own from their very first play reading. NVA's Shakes offerings have been sure shots for lazy summer nights.
Worth the drive? Nestled in Carlsbad’s quaint So Cal stucco and awning style with numerous cafes and bistros and just the right temperature breeze to waft you to the theatre. Okay, I'm sounding like a press release, but this was my experience when recently visiting NVA. Plus, Joshua Everett Johnson, the actor one keeps an eye on for the next best character creation, fools along with Adam Brick and Tim Parker. Maybe Johnson has 20 or 30 delights to offer up with this show?
www.NewVillageArts.org
Meandering thoughts before and during a play.
I can tell by the set it's going to be a long night.What? Act one done already?
She always does that.
Wow, he tried something new!
What would John Lahr say?
No dramaturge listed in the program.
Okay, so a woman plays the Gentleman Caller: What’s the payoff?
The original production blew me away. Is this the same play?
Plastic wasn’t yet invented.
How would Des stage this?
Why did the Artistic Diector's father greet me at the door?
Stop gesturing.
Here comes the bend in the plot.
He’s phoning it in.
A full page Director's note in the program.
Take the chicken out of the freezer to thaw.
That hem is pinned.
Actors wearing black against a black set. Again.
Hmmm, new toupe.
Now sparks will fly.
React-react. React. React.
Attention ladies and gentlemen: the actor is on auto-pilot.
Lovely set considering the company’s small budget.
React-react. React.
S-p-o-n-t-i-n-e-i-t-y.
Stop gesturing.
Stop gesturing.
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