September/October Theatre Reviews

Reviews by Dr Annette Lust
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 an
d 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=2
0in 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 thi
s 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 p
resents 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 smoo
th 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 a20
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 whic
h 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 who20arrives
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 on 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 Coas
t.

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 w
ith
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 amazi
ng 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: Do
n 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 musicia
n) 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 or visit www.marinsha
kespeare.org.

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=2
0
"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

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