May/June Reviews

May/June Reviews

Caryl Churchill's Enigmatic Number at A.C.T.

If Caryl Churchill is considered in Sarah Lyall's words "a mystery wrapped in
an enigma," her play recently staged at A.C.T. reflects this description of
her work. Churchill's A Number raises an important question about the future of
humanity and the psychological effect on its victims once cloning has become
a habitual practice. In Churchill's play, when a father has cloned replicates
of his son, he is questioned by each of this three sons concerning their
identity and relationship to one another. As the father becomes more and more
bombarded by his son's questions and by their desperate actions resulting from
cloning, we reflect on the moral consequences and the frightening effects that
will arise from genetic experimentation. In short, what if each of our existences
are reduced to a "number"as the title of the play and the opening line "a
number of us" suggests. The dramatic conflict thus revolves around the sons'
obsessive concerns and their relationship to one another through the cloning
process. And there is no resolution except that the third son takes the issue more
lightly and even provides some comic relief in his reactions.
We leave the theatre after viewing the sixty minute play, well directed by
Anna D. Shapiro and excellently acted by Josh Charge and Bill Smitrovitch,
feeling short changed and as though we have participated in the workshopping of an
unfinished piece that only begins to raise serious concerns about the
recreation of humans and the loss of individualism but does not succeed in fully
developing these provocative themes. And because of the brevity of A Number, we may
have overlooked these deficiencies if it had been staged along with a second
short play by Churchill.
For information about A.C.T. 's upcoming production of Happy End, a gangster
musical by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill, call 415-749-2228 or visit
www.act-sf.org.

Phoenix Dance Wins Golden Gate Award at S.F. Film Festival

German filmmaker Karina Epperlein's documentary about Homer Avila who lost
one leg to cancer reveals the courage of an artist who chose not to sacrifice
his love for dance to the loss of his most essential tool as a dancer. In the
documentary, Avila's lyrical performance of the Pas de Deux, choreographed by
Alonzo King, rapidly conquers us with a non traditional and original version in
which Andrea Flores takes on the assertiveness of the male and Avila the
gentleness of the female. Aside from that the film offers a balanced mix of human
victory over adversity, tireless rehearsals and dynamic theatre performances
and the biograhy of a heroic cancer victim who danced until the night of his
death on April 25, 2004.
Karina Epperlein, whose film just won the Golden Gate award, is also a
theatre artist, dancer and teacher who came to the U.S. in 1981. Among her films
that often depict themes of overcoming suffering are Labyrinthian (1984, based on
a poem by Greek poet Nanos Valaoritis), Deutschland (1988, on the aftermath
of the Holocaust), and the documentaries Voices from Inside (1996, about women
and their children in prison), Women's Rites (2000, about Anna Halprin's
Expressive Arts Therapy), I Will Not Be Sad in the World (2001, depicting a 94
year old Armenian woman who survived her country's 1904 genocide) and We Are Here
Together (2003), portraying turblent Alameda high school students.
Phoenix Dance is available in DigiBeta, Neta SP and DVD.
Watch for Phoenix Dance in your neighborhood.

Roulette, the Playhouse's Recent Rollicking Rumpus

The Playhouse's recent success begins as a spirited, witty sit-com style
comedy about a suburban family in which each member goes his own way- a moralizing
father to his bank office, an alcoholic mother to her duties as a the family
chauffeur, cook and maid, a son to his steriod-hyped fights with his
schoolmates, and a daughter to her substance abuse habits with her boyfriend. We soon
realize that the family is disconnected and, yes, even dysfunctional but
joyfully so. Added to this is the colorful couple next door-a fragile lonely
neighbor named Virginia who pops up at the wrong time to visit the family, and her
husband Steve, who also pops up at the wrong time to make passionate love to his
neighbor's wife after everyone has supposedly left for work and school.
In Act II this upbeat ambience turns dismal when the father, who learns of
his wife's infidelity and has put a bullet to his head, returns from the
hospital, no longer a responsible parent but a carefree flirt unaware that he is
married or has a family. And yet there is an optimistic note when with the loss
of their father figure's sanity the family becomes connected as they try to
bring him back to normalcy.
Directed by Susi Damilano, the play is performed with a lively, high voltage
pace in Act 1 that subsides in Act 2 to suit the change of mood.
Aside from his role as artistic director, Bill English accomplishes the
double task of designing a homey set as well as playing the main role of a father
driven by a need for business success who, after discovering his wife's
infidelity, suffers a violent act and undergoes a personality change. Lauren English
creates a forcefully obnoxious and rebellious young Jenny. Mollie Stickney is
the quaint, naive neighbor Virginia who gets most of the laughs. Julia McNeal
as the Mom, Joseph Rende as the hyper brother Jock , and Craig Neibaur as the
sex driven neighbor all offer fine characterizations..
Credits go to Christopher Studley for lights, Steven Klems for sound, and
Lauren English for costumes and props.
The Playhouse continues to offer a very personal and intimate ambience along
with well staged productions-a unique combination in the Bay Area Theatre
scene.
We congratulate Lauren English for her acceptance at Tisch School of Drama at
NYU and wish her good continuation in sharpening her theatre talents.
For information on Roulette playing uintil June 10 and Steven Sondheim's
Putting It Together opening June 24th call 415-677-9596.

An Islamic Animal Fable Animated at Golden Thread

It is rather a rare treat to see a three century old Islamic fable adeptly
and colorfully adapted for the Thickhouse stage that brings magic, fantasy and
moral truths in content and form. Directed and adpated by Hafiz Karmali, Ikhwan
al
Safa's Islamic fable entitled Island of Animals staged by the Golden Thread
Productions, is a dramatized allegory of a confrontation between humans and
animals.
When a shipwreck causes the survivors to land on an island of animals living
in harmony, the animals feel threatened by the humans who intend to enslave
them. After the animals bring their complaint to the King of the Jinn residing
in the clouds, they unite to nominate representatives of their kingdom to
defend themselves in a case against Man before the King of the Jinn. The arguments
presented are often of a moralistic nature that offer practical truths and
wisdom about man's desire to dominate not only animals but one another instead of
connecting with nature and sharing the gifts and talents that animals and
other humans possess.
This adaptation also contained rich visual elements that combine dances of
different traditions (noteworthy is a beautiful peacock dance gracefully
interpreted by dancer Drea Bernardi), creative miming (Erika Salazar as King of the
Jinn, bear and lark), as well as beautiful projections of old Islamic Art
images. The entire cast of nine actor/ dancers perform in a well harmonized
ensemble of commedia dell' arte and clowning along with fable, ethics, dance, mime
and spoken theatre.
Island of Animals continues May 26-28 at the Park Cinema, 37411 Fremont Blvd,
Fremont. For information about this piece or other Golden Thread productions
call 415-626-4021.or visit www.goldenthread.org.

Berkeley Rep's Miser Challenges Moliere's Masterpiece

Poor Moliere would turn over in his grave if he saw David Ball's adaptation
and Dominique Serrand's direction of his Miser staged at Berkeley Rep. And if
he did turn over in his grave it would be in keeping with the outrageous fun
this production offers movement and stage business wise. Although the production
makes an attempt to utilize Moliere's version of the protagonist's extreme
miserliness, it utilizes this theme only as a pretense to exaggerate the
character's avarice by vaudevillesque and clownesque physical means.that has the
audience rolling with laughter. This is no surprise when we learn that Serrand
trained at the Paris National Circus School and the Jacques Lecoq School of
Physical Theatre and is the founder/artistic director of the award-winning
movement-oriented Théatre de la Jeune Lune. However, these clownesque means (that go
as far as cause Harpagnon's deteriorated interior to lose ceiling plaster and
loose floor boards to pop up) often pushed to an extreme poke fun at Moliere's
more subtle moralistic tone for the sake of winning laughs. After awhile
when the actors climb about and stand upside down against walls, walk on stilts,
tumble and run around, beat up one another, use obcene language and vulgar
horseplay, the production becomes a series of clever clown acts with little
relationship to Moliere's work. However, if one accepts the production as such, it
is a brilliant physical theatre piece combining mime, circus, acrobatics,
fight combat, commedia, and slapstick that cleverly uses verbal and sensational
physical elements to retain audience interest.
With all of these comical effects it is difficult to see this production as
what director Serrand calls a "comedy of tragedy." If as Serrand claims the
tragedy exists in the silences between the lines and in the silences between the
characters, this tragic aspect is buried by the impressively strong farcical
elements that remain with the spectator after leaving the theatre.
Among the noteworthy characterizations of an excellent cast were Steven Epp
as the pale faced, deteriorating-looking miser, Barbara Kingsley as the clever
maniplator, Sarah Agnew as the miser's conceding daughter, and David Rainey,
whose comic talent as lackey/ cook brought the house down.
The miserly interior (Riccardo Hernandez) and costumes (Sonya Berlovitz),
ranging from traditional to modern, set the tone for the play perfectly.
This non-traditional, highly experimental production in keeping with Berkeley
Rep's mission to advance creativity and innovation.
For info on The Miser running tru June 25 call 510-647-2949 or click
berkeleyrep.org
.
On Edge at the Phoenix

Jennifer Williams' short apocalyptic tragi-comedy that takes place after a
war has audience members on edge as it portrays three characters mentaly
strangulatiing in a run down rooming house. On the bottom floor a looney insomniac
keeps in touch with the outside world through a computer/TV she has fabricated
and listens for sounds and voices of her neighbors. Above her a crippled
violent alcoholic wounded in war screams down at her for rattling dishes or cans in
her cupboard. Next door a depressed singer swears for having been mistreated
by a boyfriend as she drinks and dreams of being a singer. A preacher-like
salesman appears on several TV screens to sell toothpaste as well as a brand of
God to relieve one's soul, and to wish everyone a great day! The dramatic action
consists mainly of violent actions between the characters; the veteran knocks
on the singer's door and presents her with a bottle of alcohol to force her
to have sex with him. Back in his room, he pounds so hard on the ceiling of his
noisy downstairs neighbor that his floor board breaks and he pushes his head
through the hole to tell the frightened woman that we are living in an
apocalyptic world where everyone is chopping off heads and the old people are gone.
There is little comedy in this so-called tragi-comedy portraying a war torn
world other than the caricature of the salesman selling toothpaste and God to
better our physical appearance and our souls.
Colorful characterizations were given by Catz Forsman as the top floor
screamer, Linda Ayres-Frederick as the paranoid insomniac, Lisa Marie Newon as the
sexy, disillusioned singer and by Dennis McIntyre as the salesman with a
falsely reassuring smile. Good stage direction was rendered by Evren Odcikin except
for frequent high level and overpowering screaming that after awhile weakened
the emotional and dramatic impact. Sets by Megan Fenton and Alfred Pollack
and props by Jessika Silver were creative and costumes by Bree Hylkema enhanced
the characterizations.
Next up at the Phoenix is The Lady's Not for Burning (May 25-June 3) and You
Bet Your Improviser in the Phoenix Annex (June 1-June 24). For info call
415-336-1020 or visit www.phoenixtheatresf.org.

The Long Xmas Ride Home: A Multi Stage Arts Production

The narrated dramatic action of Paula Vogel's The Long Xmas Ride Home begins
with a husband and wife, two girls and a boy, ranging from 7 to 12 years old
played by Bunraku puppets, who are all riding to and from a Xmas dinner at
their grandparents that ends in an argument between parents and grandparents and
is followed by a near fatal accident when the car almost drives over a
precipice. Still more significant is the incident of the father striking his wife for
thanking him sarcastically for a lovely Xmas. In the following scenes, played
by actors, the children, who witnessed this violent act and are now grown,
undergo the consequences of that act. Rebecca, the eldest, is an alcoholic who
is pregnant by a man who won't let her back in his apt; Claire, a lesbian, has
been dropped by her girlfriend Naomi, who has found another golden girl;
Stephen, who has lost his lover Joe, who now loves a younger boy, is driven to
sleep with a stranger from whom he catches the Aids virus. Although these latter
monologues are drawn out and not as original as the first part of the play,
they contain a provocative love-making scene, a moving dance with Stephen and the
minister/dancer, a lovely Japanese kimono dance, and Stephen's poetic lines
as he returns as a ghost.

Vogel's realistic narrative about parental and family relationships and a
violent incident that affects the children's lives is thought provoking along
with a clever use of Bunraku puppets that move more expressively than real
actors. The combination of the puppetry performed by Liebe Wetzel's Lunatique
Fantastique puppeteers with the beautiful live music of Shamisen Player Philip
Flavin, the video projections ( Erik Pearson) for set changes, the choreography of
acclaimed dancer Joe Goode, dancing/acting by Jess Curtis, and the colorful
costumes by Todd Roehrman all make for an inspiring production.
Directed by master puppeter Basil Twist, the piece brings together an
ensemble of stage arts that give it rich visual and musical form as well as
meaningful narrative content.
For info on The Long Xmas Ride Home playing until June 11 and upcomng
productions, call 415- 441-8822 or click on www.magictheatre.org.

Arthur Miller's The Price at Ross Valley Players

Miller's 1968 The Price that opened May 12 at the Barn in Ross Valley
provokes questions about not only the price to pay for a family's estate but the
price one pays for sacrificing a career or abandoning family ties. Directed by
Michael Paul Thomsett, the play opens with security guard Victor Franz's playing
a record that brings back memories of his family's estate that he is about to
sell to an 89 year old Jewish appraiser Gregory Solomon. After Solomon enters
laughing and begins to negotiate for a cheaper price the drama revolves around
the appraiser's clever as well as amusing arguments to keep the price down.
Norman Hall as the appraiser holds the audience's attention with his believable
and comical characterization of the old appraiser. However, with the arrival
of Victor's brother Walter and Solomon's brief disappearance into an adjoining
room, the long verbal conflict of brotherly rivalry and how Victor gave up a
career for family reasons and how Walter gave up family ties to pursue a
career slows the action down to a a tedious exposition of rationales for family and
career options along with dull moralizing that could use cutting and more
dynamic action. Solomon's reappearance to settle the price of the estate
fortunately brings liveliness and humor back to the scene that otherwise content wise
does not seem worthy of a Miller play.
Kudos to a heroic cast and to Norman Hall as Solomon in particular who brings
life to a complex play to stage.
Set design by James S. Anderson and property design by Lynn Lewis are to be
commended
The Price plays until June 18 and is followed by Over My Dead Body by Michael
Sutton and Anthony Fingleton July 14 to August 20.
For info call 415-456-9555

Plays in the RAW at Ross Valley Players

Plays in the RAW are not plays in the buff but staged readings of works in
progress presented on Sunday, May 21 at the Ross Valley Barn Theatre.
Among the readings of four comedies were : Here Come the Brides about a
Jewish lesbian wedding by Phoebe Weiss, directed by Barbara Segal, with a tour de
force performance by Tamar Cohn as various family members and friends attend a
the wedding; my particular favorite, Don’t Just Lie There, a quirky comedy in
a funeral parlor about a dead man, his ex-wife and girl- friend written and
directed by Carol Sheldon; Our Girl in Kyrgyzstan based on an article in the New
York Times written by Mary Alexander Walker and directed by Steve North; and
Kay Noyes' Sailing Septuagenarians, nearly a full length play with a talented
cast of eight about a fiftieth class reunion on a boat, directed by Phoebe
Moyer.
Dean Goodman's “serious” play My Mother’s Eyes is a moving autobiographical
play in which an actor, beautifully portrayed by Alex Ross, looks back on his
family as he was growing up, directed by Jonathan Luskin.
A discussion with the audience moderated by actor/directer, wr iter Steve
North offered the playwrights and directors a real ‘hands on’ look at how the
play is beginning to shape up on the stage.

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

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