JUne/ July Theatre Reviews

June/July Theatre Reviews

A Shakespeare/Puppet Cocktail at Cal Shakes

Puppets (25 of them) invade the stage and outnumber human actors in Cal
Shakes' recent staging of Shakeseare's Merry Wives of Windsor at the Bruns Memorial
Amphitheater. Most of the characters, from Falstaff to those representing the
various social levels, are played by actors inside or behind all sizes and
kinds of puppets (rod, body, string, flat, thrown and a Japanese puppet style).
Only a handful of characters are interpreted by human actors (Master and
Mistress Ford and Page). But these puppets do bring more merriment and fantasy to
the play that is not one of the Bard's profoundest comedies but certainly one
of his most rollicking ones.
The play revolves around duping the vain and grotesque knight Falstaff who is
in debt and seduces two married ladies for both pleasure and money. But the
ladies, who receive identical letters of courtship, decide to play along with
Falstaff and trap into being discovered by their husbands. Puppets and humans
all join in on the fun of mocking Falstaff that grows more hilarious with each
of their tricks, one of which is hiding him in a giant wash basket from which
he is thrown out with the dirty wash into the Thames river. An accompanying
farcical theme is that of three puppet pretenders for young Anne Page's hand
that matchmaker Mistress Quickly has promised each to wed and to resolve her
promise provides a couple of veiled male brides for two of them.
Although the mix of puppetry of various sizes and kinds enriches
Shakespeare's comedy, at the start it is difficult to distinguish the numerous puppet
characters accompanied by the use of a slower pace in the first half or the
production. And while the emotional aspect of the puppet characters remains one
dimensional and on the comic/grotesque level, this does suit their farcical
nature. The inclusion of human actors to play the wives and their husbands broadens
the psychological content of their characterizatons.
Director Sean Daniels meets the challenge of directing both puppets and live
actors. Ron Campbell's Falstaff, a giant puppet that the actor manipulates
from inside with very expressive movements of head, arms, hand and legs, is all
the more laudable for a beginner in puppeteering.The remaining puppeteers also
deserve kudos for excellent interpretations while Anthony Fusco and actors of
human roles held their own midst the puppet population.

Lead puppet designer Jon Ludwig of the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta
creates a rich and visually striking ensemble of puppet characters. Set and
costumes by Scott Bradley and Lydia Tanji evoke a delightful storytale ambience.
Amy Freed's bawdy Restoration Comedy begins July 6 thru July 30 at Bruns
Memorial Amphitheater, off Highway 24 at Gateway Blvd. For info call 510-548-9666
or visit www.calshakes.org.

Tribute to Dean Goodman

Dean Goodman was honored on June 19, at the Geary Theatre by 200 actors,
directors, drama critics, and friends. The occasion was a pre-birthday bash for
Dean, now terminally ill, to thank him for all he has given to the Bay Area
community.
George Maguire was Master of Ceremonies for Act One – Awards and
Acknowledgements. Charles Brousse of the S. F. Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle gave Dean
Goodman a lifetime achievement award. Phoebe Moyer spoke for both the
president and vice president of Actors’ Equity that awarded him with a life membership.
Act Two consisted of a staged reading of Dean Goodman’s new one act play
“Bloody August” starring Peter Fitzsimmons, Phoebe Moyer, Elizabeth Holmes, Will
Marchetti, Robin Schild, Lee Garey Toney, and Susan Broshear.
This gala evening connected the many theatre community members who were there
for a celebration of Dean Goodman’s life.

Brecht's Happy End Musical Melodrama at A.C.T.

Brecht's Happy End, now playing at A.C.T., supposedly inspired by Bernard
Shaw's Major Barbara, opens with a 1909 scene of Chicago gangsters led by feared
tough guy Bill Cracker.The gang members are forcing a kidnapped victim to pay
them for protection and next receive intructions by gang female leaderThe Fly
to prepare a robbery. This cliche dramatic action picks up with the appearance
of a Salvation Army group, bringing into the limelight Hallelujuah Lil
(Charlotte Cohn), a lieutenant in the Salvation Army whose remarkably vivacious
allure and fine soprano singing resonate throughout the theatre. Lil spots Bill in
the Beer Hall and is drawn to him in a one-to-one encounter in which she
attempts to lead him to a life of virtue. In Acts 2 and 3, after Lil is dismissed
from the Salvation Army for having had this encounter with Bill, she finds her
way back to him and helps free him from being accused of a murder. Lil's
efforts to change the gangster are won through her love for him. Before the
musical is over Bill and his gang are devoted Salvation Army members, which adds a
comical note and a happy ending to the melodrama
What makes up for this corny but lovable libretto is the buoyant and vibrant
music by Curt Weill such as Lil's "Sailor's Tango," the Governor's (Sab
Shimono) "Song of the Big Shot" and The Fly's (Linda Mugleston) "Ballad of the Lily
of Hell," as well as group songs such as the "Bilbao Song "and "Ballad of the
Pirates,"
The Happy End eight member band on the upper stage level rather than in the
pit completed the Brecht/Weill musical collaboration with book and lyrics
adapted by Michael Feingold, expert choreograhy by John Carrafa and fine musical
direction and conduting by Constantine Kitsopoulos.
Constructivist scenery by Walt Spangler offers an outdoor city period setting
that transforms by turning the set around into a Beer Hall with costumes by
Candice Donnelly that captivate the 1909 ambience.
The A.C.T. revival of the Brecht/Weill musical is directed by Carey Perloff
with a direct and upbeat approach that respects the predictable melodramatic
tone of the piece. Kudos to A.C.T. for making the very best of one of Brecht's
weaker works.
For info about Happy End playing thru July 9 and upcoming Travesties by Tom
Stoppard Sept 14--Oct. 15 call 415-749-2250 or visit www.act-sf.org.

Sondheim and The Playhouse Putting It Together

Putting It Together is the perfect description for the Playhouse's putting
their new space in place on Sutter St. across the street from their former home
that is now being retrofitted. And what a magical transformation did
founder/artistic director Bill English rapidly accomplish to stage their latest
production, Sondheim's Putting It Together.
Sondheim's 1993 musical cannot help but touch everyone-both young and
old-because it speaks to the heart about the mistakes we make when we try to look for
more rather than be satisfied with what we already have, as Kate Del Castillo
sings to us in her lively interpretation of Sondheim's "More."
In the musical a middle-aged couple drift apart after they become "Rich and
Happy," as the entire company sings. Husband ( Michael Brown) flirts with the
younger "Lovely"(Kate Del Castillo) while wife Mary Pat Green backlashes with
"My Husband Is a Pig." At one point the couple sing a comical "Country Home" as
they search for a solution to their failed marriage that is later followed by
Mary Pat Green's "Could I leave You?" Meanwhile the young 'Lovely" finds a
shy male (Jeff Leibow) who ends up singing "Marry Me A Little"to her. All ends
well for both couples with "Like It Was" sung by Mary Pat Green.
The entire cast is alive and kicking in the musical directed by Dianna
Shuster with excellent musical direction by Dave Dobrusky of 42nd St. Moon and John
Florencio.
Brian Yates Sharber often steals the show with his talent to project both his
voice and movement. Mary Pat Green delights us as a seasoned singer, with
good renderings and comic timing by Michael Brown, Jeff Leibow and Kate Del
Castillo, who all join in on the fun in this animated musical.
Set design by Lauren English is both elegant and practical.
Putting It Together can't help but draw crowds of enthusiasts for this
Sondheim tribute to happiness in marriage.
Bill English, Lauren English and Susi Damilano and the rest of the clan at
the Playhouse are real troopers who should be awarded for their quick move and
readiness to make the show go on!
Putting It Together continues until Aug. 14 and will be followed in Sept by
Arthur Miller's Ride Down Mount Morgan. For info call 415-677-9596.

A Provocative Permanent Collection

The Aurora Theatre closes its 14th season with the Bay Area Premiere of
Thomas Gibbons' Permanent Collection. Inspired by the true controversies
surrounding Philadelphia's Barnes Foundation, this entertaining and explosive play
directed by Robin Stanton explores opposing views of art, race and culture.
Richard Olmsted's set places us in the middle of an art museum displaying
works of Cezanne, Renoir, and Matisse. A searing examination of racial politics,
Permanent Collection questions whether the art world is color blind or blinded
by color and the cost of failing to view the world through another's eyes.
Although the play tends to be a little didactic and preachy in its approach,
Permanent Collection is certainly stimulating and exceptionally well acted by
Karen Aldridge, L. Peter Callender, Melissa Gray, Robert Hamm, Tim Kniffen, and
Margarette Robinson.
Permanent Collection plays through July 23 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley.
For tickets and information, call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.
The Aurora Theatre Co. will open its 15th season with Oscar Wilde's Salome on
Aug.25.

A War Tragedy With a Sense of Humor

The Fools Fury Theater Co.'s recent The Devil on All Sides by French
playwright Fabrice Melquiot at the Traveling Jewish Theatre is an eye opener for
American spectators who have never lived in a war-torn country. Melquiot's play
about a war between different ethnicities in ex-Yugoslavia, namely Serbs, Muslims
and Croats, portrays the emotional, mental and physical effects that all wars
have on human beings living under showering bombs that cause suffering,
physical dismemberment and death as their younger members are sent to kill their
neighboring enemies. Although the violence, hatred, ethnic prejudice and torture
that a family and a young married couple undergo are hard to witness, the
play is not without humor to ease the external and internal tension. After
Serbian son Lorco marries Elma, a Muslim, and is sent to war along with his Serb
compatriots to fight against Muslims and Croats, he is unable to face killing
other humans and deserts the army to flee to Italy and France. Here he
temporarily avoids the violent punishment he will receive when he returns, powerfully
depicted at the play's opening.
In this unvarnished tableau of the warfaring that took place in ex-Yugoslavia
the viewer undergoes a rare and vivid experience of the atrocious
consequences on the mind, body and emotions, rendered by the cast with vigorous dramatic
intensity. The scenes of physical combat and the stage movement in general add
to the dramatic intensity of this portrayal of war. Content-wise the play
does at times border on melodrama that diminishes the power of its strong
realistic depiction.
The entire cast offered strong characterizations of a family and a friend
caught in the throes of war that nonetheless never lose their down-to-earth sense
of humor. Michael Sommers as the Italian and French chauffeur who Lorko meets
in Italy and France offers some hilarious clowning moments in his ethnic
characterizations.
Sets (Dan Stratton) were outstanding in the details of the village cottage
built on stones and a real outdoor fountain along with subtle lighting
(Christopher Studley) and devastating sound effects (Patrick Kaliski) that added to the
intensity of the ambience.
Fools Fury has outdone itself with this thought-provoking and heartrending
staging about living with war.
For information on upcoming productions at Fools Fury visit www.foolsfury.org
or call 1800-838-3006.

Porchlight Tackles Wilde's Ideal Husband

In the Redwood Amphitheatre, under the summer skies at the Marin Art and
Garden Center, Porchlight Co. performed Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, written at
the end of the 19th century and bringing to the theatre of Wilde's time
drawing room comedy elegant in style and meaningful in content.
The production manifests Wilde's brilliance with artificial dialogue and
witty bantering to portray the dramatic conflict of a government official whose
wealth is due to selling an official secret and who is blackmailed by a ruthless
woman threatening to disclose this information. The plot becomes still more
complex when the government official's ideal wife reputation is also threatened
by the same woman. Although these intrigues recall those in the medodramas of
the time, Wilde's play rises above this due to his extrordinary talent as a
stylist and creator of clever repartees and perspicacious truths. For example,
Mabel Chiltern admits to Lord Goring who has just proposed to her,"I love you
so much that it's a public scandal the way I do love you!"

Directed by Elizabeth Craven, the production emits an elegance of ambience
and manners surrounding 1910 socialites and financial figures. And, although it
is uneven in the variety offered within certain actors' dramatic
interpretations and delivery, in general the staging meets the challenge of rendering
Wilde's dialogue theatrically gripping.
Tara Blau as the evil Mrs.Cheveley, Craig Neibaur as the optimistic, devoted
friend of Sir Robert Chiltern (Rick Eldridge) and Lucy Owen as Mabel Chiltern,
bring a good deal of life to their interpretations.
Picturesque sets by Elisa Forgelman and rich costumes by Liz Smith enhance
the visuals of the play.
With this production Porch Light continues its mission to offer plays with
relevant social issues and meaningful content.
An Ideal Husband continues through July 16. Also watch for Porchlight's next
surprise production. For info call 415-488-7126 or visit wwwporchlight.net

World Premiere of The Fabulous Adventures
of Captain Queer at New Conservatory

In this superhero satire by Prince Gomolivas, a shy gay high school senior,
comically portrayed by Jeffrey Cohlman, transforms himself into Captain Queer
to save the world from a diabolical plot hatched by Reginald Screaming Bottom
(played with relish by Dennis Parks), the leader of an ex-gay ministry.
Reginald ís in evil cohorts with the swishy Dr. Octopussy, broadly characterized by
Morkham Miller as a cartoonish Nazi along with Heidi Wolff as his manly wife,
who is also terrific as Quentinís supportive mom. Special mention should be
made of Quentinís best friend Lianna, enthusiastically played by Christin Davis
and of Donovan Keith, who does nice work in several roles.
The set, in keeping with the cartoon-like characters, was designed by Bruce
Walters with amusing comical supertitle projections. The use of physical
comedy, especially in the battle segments, worked well.
The Fabulous Adventures of Captain Queer runs June 10 through July 9,
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are
available at New Conservatory Theatre Box Office (415) 861-8927, or online at WWW.
NETCST. ORG.

Annette Lust, member Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Drama faculty
Dominican University