September 09 Reviews
September 09 Reviews
Clifford Odets' Relevant Awake and Sing
Presented as a family tragic-comedy, Clifford Odets' 1935
Awake and Sing depicts the depression of the thirties
in a NewYork Jewish family. From the start of the play,
a lovable but annoying Grandfather Jacob, in advising
his grandson to make something of himself cites
Isiah in the Bible who with these words encouraged
God's people to go ahead despite their hardships.
Throughout we witness Odets' criticism of capitalism.
The playwright even introduces a despicable character in
the role of rich Uncle Morty who prides himself with having
provided a roof over the heads of his sister's family.
Aside from the playwright's timely criticism of the economy
of his era, Odets and veteran director Joy Carlin captivate the
combative argumentive characteristics of this New York
Jewish family with authentic New York Jewish accents
(except for Charles Dean who brilliantly plays the moronic
father more like an Irishman that may have been intentional).
Ellen Ratner creates a strongcharacterization of the Jewish
mother with her qualities and drawbacks who makes the
wheels of the family affairs go round.Ray Reinhardt as the
grandfather is not only highly convincing but succeeds in
bringing the tension level of Acts One and Two down
to balance the high emotional renditions of both acts as he
offers pieces of philosophical wisdom. Reinhardt's role is
instrumental in
bringing about a crescendo in the action
that resolves all tragically but with spirit.
Sets by Nina Ball succeed in placing a dining and living room
in a condensed stage space.
This production is a lively one rendered relevant by Odets in a true to
life
portrayal of a despairing family resolving personal family problems and
attempting
to survive economically during a depression.
On opening night spectators were invited to view an expanded 2600
square foot
space added to the present area the company now occupies to be
utilized for rehearsals, readings, and workshops of new productions
as well as a conference room and for offices.
Awake and Sing plays until Sept. 27. For info call 510-843-4822
or visit www. auroratheatre.org.
Annette Lust
Twelfth Night Or All You Need Is Love
Around the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius
Marin Shakespeare Director Leslie
Currier calls it an adaptation of Shakespeare's
play by both herself and Robert
Currier made into a musical version full
of contemporary poetry and references.
They used about 40 tunes from the 1960s
and 1970s including tunes made popular
by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Sonny and
Cher, Carly Simon and Bob Dylan.
In Illyria, the most hip, far out, psychedelic
place in the world, beautiful girls
costumed in pink welcome us to the court
of Duke Orseno (William Ellsman), where
we find the despondent Orseno pining for
the Countess Olivia (a gla
morous Cat
Thompson). We meet Viola (the lovely
Alexandra Matthew) who was washed up
on the seacoast with the Sea Captain in a
strong performance by Terry Rucker singing
"Bridge Over Troubled Waters." Viola
laments her twin brother Sebastian (Alex
Curtis) whom she thinks has drowned in
the shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a
man and joins the service of Duke Orseno
in order to remain safe. As Cesario she
represents the Duke to convey his love to
the Countess Olivia. However, the Countess
falls hook, line and sinker thinking she
is a man. Feste, a wandering clown and songster,
has returned to Olivia's house with a guitar
and sings many songs in an amazing
impersonation of Bob Dylan! His performance
is balanced against the play's
weightier character, the abused haughty
servant Malvolio (Jack Powell) remarkably
performed by Jack Powell.
The plays other comic business is
boisterously interpreted by Director Robert
Currier as Sir Toby Belch and Camilla
Ford as Sir Andrew Aguecheek with Shannon
Veon Kase as a mischievous Maria.
This threesome is pivotal in providing
this production with its lively pace. William
Elsman is amusingly broad as Duke
Orseno and Steve Budd is convincing and
appealing as Antonio, the loyal sailor who
befriends and helps Sebastian played with
amazing dexterity by Alex Curtis.
Next up at Marin Shakespeare is: Julius Caesar at the
Forest Meadows Amphitheatre at Dominican University in
Sa
n Rafael: 499-4488 www.marinshakespeare.org.
Flora Lynn Isaacson
Happy Days By Samuel Beckett
Directed by Jonathon Moscone, life
can get sticky at times, where we find
ourselves stuck in various situations that
imprison us with the help of our own neuroses—
our inability to let go of our various
issues. We get stuck in various complicated
situations like relationships or jobs;
we can get bogged down in a house or
books or furniture, the list is endless. In
Beckett's play Happy Days, we witness the
quintessential metaphor where the main
character is stuck in an enormous mound
of dirt, it's a veritable burial ground that's
slowly swallowing her up. Winnie cannot
move from the waist up, she's literally, figuratively
and metaphorically "up to here
in shit". We relate to her as her imprisonment
in this dirt seems so familiar. We feel
her stickiness, her growing desperation,
her denial of the horror of her situation as
the dirt climbs higher and higher promising
to eventually bury her.
The only thing that keeps Winnie
going is her ability to speak. She babbles,
filling up her days with noise and also with
her daily habits like brushing her teeth
and combing her hair. We see the reason
for Winnie's noise, it's the ability, amidst
the misery, to somehow keep up a "happy
face." We see that it's the little things in
life that keep her going, the little j
oys, the
small stuff that helps her through her days.
Dr. Patty Gallagher's amazing performance
is full of emotional power and
conviction, she held us enthralled for the
entire play as she expressed a huge range of
emotion with only her face and portrayed
layers of meaning with her eyebrows, her
eyes, and her mouth.
Winnie conjures up our worst nightmares—
an absurdist world where our
lives are meaningless. She forces us to take
a closer look at what we're doing with our
days; are we wasting our time on Twitter,
endless emails and meaningless babble
or are we writing that book, painting that
picture and making our music. Are we
leaving something behind—a legacy that
will survive the burial ground that inevitably
creeps up daily on our lives like a calming
balm, till there's nothing left but dirt.
Thru Sept. 6 at Cal Shakes in Orinda.
For Midsummer's Night Dream, Sept 16 to Oct. 11,
visit www.CalShakes.or call 510-548-9666.
Info: www.CalShakes.org
Carol Dunne
Theatre You Can Eat
Four Plays by John Robinson Last Saturday
evening I attended four short one-act
plays under the heading "Theater You Can
Eat" presented by The People's Theatre. It
was performed upstairs at the restaurant
at Pena Pachamama on Powell Street in
SF. "Wake Up Cup," "The Toss Up," "Ceviche"
and "Chocolate." Brought to life by
four outstanding20actors, Treacy Corrigan,
Tim Hendrixson, Mary Knoll and John
Patrick Moore, unfortunately, the writing
left much to be desired. The performances
were the best thing about these pieces as
the writing seemed dull and lackluster.
These short one-act plays are a call out
to writers in the Bay Area, we desperately
need some good writing so these outstanding
actors can do their thing. Playing
at Pena Pachamama in San Francisco
through Sept. 6.
John Robinson's one act Work of Art
will be performed at the Fringe of Marin
in Nov–Dec. Info: 673-3131 mornings 10
to 2 p.m.
For Theatre You Can Eat productions
info, visit Theatre You Can Eat on line.
Carol Dunne
Robot's Revenge Rocks Redwoods
Robot's Revenge, a relevant pantomime, written by
Dr. Annette Lust (Artistic Director of the Fringe of
Marin for 23 seasons) was performed for a
capacity audience at the Redwood Retirement Center,
Mill Valley, on July 23, 2009.
Robot's Revenge was masterfully directed by professional
Russian Director Sasha Litovchenko from the Ukraine.
Pantomime is one of the most complicated forms of drama
to direct as it relies strongly on body language. Sasha achieved
amazing precision for each character's movement.
Music specially composed for this production was by
noted composer Aaron Jay Kernis and performed by pianist
Evelyne Lust. There was a musical theme for the entrance
of each character. First we have The Robot
superbly performed by Erica Badgeley who won
2nd place honors for Best Actress at the Marin Fringe
Festival. Johann Schiffer entered next with a strong
performance as The Engineer who controlled The Robot.
The Engineer's Wife was delightfully portrayed by
Christine Clemmons and Lauren Rigor
rounded out the cast as a dignified Company President.
The Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle Awards for Best Play
went to Robot's Revenge on May 5, 2009. Robot's Revenge
had a clever curtain call and was enthusiastically received
by the audience in the question and answer session in which
they compared it to the silent movies.
Also on the bill was The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (abridged with an Ax) and
adapted and performed by veteran Fringe actor Steve North. \
Steve North opened his presentation reciting the Coleridge
ballad dressed all in black. There were two darling children
onstage, Jonah and Delphine who exhibited a great deal
of stage presence as they stood with the Albatross.
After the Ancient Mariner kills the Albatross,
Steve North sheds the black coat, wears the Albatross
around his neck and performs high comedy reminiscent
of Steve Martin and he had the audience roaring.
Thanks to Jim Gomez, program director at the Redwoods,
for arranging the Fringe program and Bravo to all of the
participants for a very entertaining evening.
Flora Lynn Isaacson
A Historical Tragedy
of Betrayal and Revenge Julius Caesar,
which opened Saturday, August 29, 2009 at
Marin Shakespeare, is hardly a straight tragedy; and if it were,
it would not be mainly Caesar's. It falls in the tragical-historical
category and if anyone is a hero, Brutus is.
At the core of Julius Caesar is the assassination scene. Following
his triumphant return to Rome after defeating Pompey in battle,
Caesar is murdered by seven of his advisors including Brutus,
one of Caesar's closest allies. It is in this scene upon seeing that
Brutus is among the conspirators that Caesar utters the famous
words, "Et tu Brute," establishing betrayal as the primary theme
of the play. In directing Julius Caesar, Director Robert Currier faced
the directorial challenge of making a play about the assassination
of Caesar in 44 BCE Rome, relevant to 21st century Bay Area
audiences. It was left up to Currier to shape the action so
that it supports and deepens an audience's understanding of the text.
Currier assembled a strong cast with well known Shakespearean
actor, Barry Kraft in the title role. Kraft brought Jay Karnes from
the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to play Brutus. Even though
Shakespeare's play is called Julius Caesar, the play actually centers
on Brutus and his struggles with loyalty and friendship when
persuaded by Cassius (brilliantly played by Jack Powell) to
conspire against Caesar. William Ellsman portrays an eloquent Mark
Anthony and Cat Thompson20sympathetically portrays Portia,
the wife of Brutus. Alexandra Matthew plays Calpurnia, the
concerned wife of Caesar. The major episodes in Act I
are vigorously executed.
However,the play breaks in two in the middle. In Act II,
the choral scene between Brutus and Cassius is played up
because it affords fine scope for two excellent actors,
Karnes as Brutus and Powell as Cassius. In Act II,
Shakespeare fails to cast the historical facts in the revenge-
tragedy mode. Neither Anthony (Ellsman), nor Octavius
(Carl Holvick-Thomas) becomes that appealing figure, the sorely
tried avenger consecrated to a great task. Instead, they remain
Anthony and Octavius, famous persons from the pages of
Roman history. Cassius as played by Powell is the best character
Drawing-the genuine radical and drive-wheel of revolution.
Anthony as played by Ellsman is a straight and sure-fire role
embellished with splendid orations. Brutus, beautifully portrayed
by Karnes, is a real challenge and is not the hero-villain whose
fall inspires awe, nor the eager hero who commands our sympathy.
The set design by Mark Robinson is admirable. The costumes by
Clare Townsend are imaginative and Billie Cox produces an
effective storm scene with lightening and thunder.
Although this production seemed overly long (almost 3 hours),
I do applaud the efforts of Director, cast
and crew to bring the story of Julius Caesar to life for us.
Julius Caesar plays August 29-September 26 in repertory20with
12th Night at Forest Meadows Amphitheater, Dominican University
in San Rafael. For tickets, call 415-499-4488 or
visit www.marinshakespeare.org. Flora Lynn Isaacson
Monday Night Marsh
The Marsh at 1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco has evolved
into the City's premiere showcase for performance artists.
The Monday, August 17 performance was a mixed bag.
The first performer, Steve North (Best Actor, Fringe of Marin
for "The Perfect Crime," Fall 2008) was the brightest and funniest
star of the evening with "How To Write A Play In 10 Minutes
or How To Write 10 Plays In A Minute or How to Write 10
Minutes In A Play". His opening was an audience grabber
and he established an essential conflict while telling a story
and building up to a climax in a very humorous way.
The second performer was Larissa Garcia (Best Actress,
Fringe of Marin for "Memoirs of a Virgin" Spring 2009).
Garcia performed "A Bearded Lady" with script and music
by Billie Cox. Garcia moves beautifully and has a good
sense of comedy. She needs to show us more comedy
throughout and should revise her ending which is confusing.
Both Steve North and Larissa Garcia did a short piece of what
they will be performing, "How to Write A Play" and
"The Bearded Lady" at the 24th Fringe of Marin opening
November 13 through December 6, weekends at Meadowlands
Hall, Dominican University, San Rafael (excluding
Thanksgiving weekend). For information, call 415-673-3131
20between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and some evenings after 8 p.m.
The third performance was by Andy Robbins entitled
"Upon Further Review." This piece was much too long
and needed shaping. It was all over the map in time
sequence and lacked focus. The best part was the piano
lesson. Andy Robbins asks us the following question
which stayed with me, "Do you remember the first person
in your life who really saw you?"
The final performance of the evening was
"What I Hid During Nap Time" written and
performed by Mary Van Not.. Van Note had great
stage presence and facial expression, however
I found her hard to understand at times.
Monday Night Marsh continues Mondays at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is $7. For information, please contact
Patti Meyer at patti@themarsh.org or call 415-641-0235.
Flora Lynn Isaacson