SHAKESPEARE'S R&J -- Off-Ramp Theatre

produced by: The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

script: Joe Calarco (adapted from the play by William Shakespeare)

director: Paul Mason Barnes

cast: Daniel Zaitchik, Bobby Steggert, Chris Landis, Bob Braswell

scenic designer: Scott Neale

lighting designer: Mark Wilson

costume designer: Garth Dunbar

sound designer: Tori Meyer

vocal coach & combat director: Bruce Longworth

stage manager: Kathryn Ballard

Four boys from a private school escape to the attic each night to revel in the words of Shakespeare, acting out the roles (and living the lives) from Romeo and Juliet.

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This was a really nice production. The acting was terrific, the setting beautiful. I didn't get entirely wrapped up in the characters, however. By the time I understood who they all were, I was beyond caring about any of them. Did they all know that the two were lovers? Did it only come out through the course of their reading R&J?

I don't think that the adaptation was as tight as it could have been, and perhaps the direction could have made it a bit more clear.

I felt that the lighting was not helping the story at all. It seemed to change for no reason. If we're going to have lighting changes for the imaginary world the boys are living in, then it should be made clear that the lighting is for the play world. But when it resembles the real world outside the attic, then I simply got confused as to where we were supposed to be. The very fact that I felt the need to mention the lighting signifies that it did NOT do it's job well.

An interesting production. I was not familiar with this adaptation. Tight acting really made me stay focused on it.

2006 LIT MOON WORLD SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL -- Santa Barbara, CA

I wanted to take a moment to look at the festival as a whole. In addition to the six plays I saw, and the one rehearsal, I attended an art gallery which displayed sketches for theatre scene and costume design, puppets, set models, and other theatre related items.

I attended a lecture “Continental Shifts: Shakespeare in Central and Eastern Europe” moderated by Professor Simon Williams, Chair of the UCSB Department of Dramatic Art and featuring Dennis Kennedy, Samuel Beckett Chair of Theatre at Trinity College, Dublin.

Easily, my favorite production was the Polish Othello, followed by the Bulgarian Puppet Theatre's production of As You Like It, and very closely followed by the Bulgarian Romeo and Juliet.

Strangely, and somewhat sadly, the English language productions this week were the weakest. UCSB's Timon of Athens was a good show, but lacked the spark that the European productions had. The Canadian Juliet and Romeo was unique, but lacked spark and purpose. It had some great mask work and interesting uses for its set, but never followed through on any of it.

My good friend's production of King Richard II was interesting, with some great looking tableau's, but his deconstruction of language didn't work well at all in the vast space of the cathedral. It seemed out of control and never brought the audience in to the show the way it intended.

However, based on the rehearsal I saw, I had high hopes for the production of The Tempest. It might easily have stood next to the European productions in terms of story-telling and mood and effect.

I was very glad I was able to get to this festival, and it makes me yearn to attend some of the European theatre festivals.

It is obvious that great theatre work is being done, but not necessarily here in the States. Why?

A large part of it, I think is that the European theatres are largely state funded. (In conversation with the good people of the Bulgarian Puppet theatre, I learned that the Bulgarian state pays all the salaries and that they are only required to pay for everything else through ticket prices (a very reasonable solution, I think). Whereas in the U.S., theatres are forced to play to a lower common denominator in order to ensure that tickets will be sold so that there is enough revenue to continue a season.

I applaud John Blondell and the Lit Moon Theatre Company for this venture and for bringing these wonderful European theatre companies to the U.S. I hope that the trend continues and that I can attend more great festivals like this one.

ROMEO AND JULIET -- Bulgarian National Theatre "Ivan Vazov," Sofia, Bulgaria

script: William Shakespeare
director, production adaptation, musical setting: Lilia Abadjieva
cast: Vladimir Karamazov, Silvester Silvestrov, Vasil Ryahov, Yulian Vergov, Zakhary Baharoff, Kalojan Lenkov
set and costume design: Vassil Abadjiev
titles: Ivan Abadjiev
stage technicians: Stiliyan Penev Penev, Slavchco Dimitrov
sound technician: Valentina Matteeva

Shakespeare's tragedy of young lovers from rival families, as told by a cast of men, in Bulgarian. In the rain.

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This production seemed to create the most interest among the people of Santa Barbara, CA and the 750 seat theatre was sold out for every performance.

It was a remarkable work, a lot of fun, and I am very grateful for the inclusion of credit for an "adaptation." Like many of the works I saw this week, few were Shakespeare's play, but rather adaptations of Shakespeare's play.

This one managed to hold quite well to the story, but there was a fair amount of extra material here.

There was incredible energy with this cast, and from the opening sequence of carefully choreographed movements to a techno-fusion score, this show grabbed our attention at a high level, and never let us down. The sense of humor among the tragedy was brought out at every opportunity, and yet we somehow never lost the sense of the drama.

As the death scene approached, I wondered where they would go with it ... how could they top the energy of what they'd already been doing.

And then it rained.

And rained.

And rained.

It rained on the indoor stage, and must have rained for nearly fifteen minutes. The entire death scene took place in a downpour, creating the absolute perfect mood for this tragedy. But, in keeping with the rest of the production, even the death scene took on comic overtones as Romeo and Juliet took turns dying ... repeatedly. Rolling around and splashing in the pool of water that was being formed.

And the ending, which in Shakespeare leads one to believe that some goodness might come from this tragedy, was an incredibly high energy dance among all six men, in the rain, with strobe lighting effect, to loud, techno-pop-fusion music. It seemed to be the only way to top what they had already done, and it worked perfectly.

In the lobby after the show I heard someone exclaim, "They captured the mood of the show perfectly. It's the first time I ever felt anyone got it just right."

Well... I don't necessarily agree that it's the only time anyone got it "just right," but I do think that this production conveyed the mood of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet quite well, and that perhaps that was their intention. This production seemed to be a paraphrasing, capturing essence and mood extremely well.

English subtitles were displayed above the performance, but again, I found I didn't need them much (occassionally I read them in the scenes that were unique to this production).

The high energy performance from this cast was a perfect way for me to end my visit to the festival.

I would definitely recommend this production to anyone who has the opportunity of seeing it.

THE TEMPEST -- Lit Moon Theatre Company

script: William Shakespeare
director: John Blondell
cast: Stanley Hoffman, Peter john Duda, Victoria Finlayson, Kate Louise Paulsen
original music: James Connolly
scenography: Milon Kalis
costumes and masks: Lesley Finlayson
lighting design: Jonathan Hicks

Shakespeare's magical tale of enchantment and romance.

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It is unfair of me to review this show as I didn't actually get to see a performance, but instead was invited to attend a rehearsal, and even at that, it was more of a spacing rehearsal for the company's first time in the theatre, rather than a run-through rehearsal.

However, what I saw, I enjoyed immensely. It was much more attainable than the company's production of King Richard the Second, which I saw a few nights earlier. I think, in part, that the smaller container of space that they inhabit in the theatre, as opposed to the great openess of a cathedral style church, works in their favor. This company needs containment to remind them of their purpose. More space and they lose control.

The setting, stalks of bamboo hung from the grid above, work perfectly to convey the sense of remote island, and their movement flow nicely with the actors working in and around them.

I really liked what I managed to see, and only wish that I could have stayed long enough to attend an actual performance.

AS YOU LIKE IT -- State Puppet Theatre, Bourgas, Bulgaria

script: William Shakespeare
director: Hristina Arsenova
cast: Iroslav Petkov, Nedilina Mladenova
scenography and puppet design: Emeliana Panayotova Andonova-Toteva
lighting design: Nikolay Koychev Kyuchukov
sound design: Svetlin Ivanov Petkov

WORLD PREMIERE

Shakespeare's frolicsome romantic comedy, as told by puppets. In Bulgarian.

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This was a whole hell of a lot of fun!

First, I was very surprised at the nature of the puppeteer/puppet aspect of the performance. I was expecting strictly a puppet performance, with puppeteer visible. But in fact, the two puppeteers were also characters in the play, as well as controling certain puppets and even, at times, being extensions of the puppets.

The puppets were not marionettes, nor were they traditional hand puppets, but some kind of unique mix. Control was made mostly by grasping the back of the head of the puppet, but at times they stood rigid, alone, and often they were moved about in a very flowing manner. I'm certain that there was something used to keep them straight, but I never saw what it was or how/when it was attached.

The puppets and scenography were brilliant in design! Emeliana managed to pack the entire set into a rough-shaped ball about the size of a laundry basket, which opened and became a myriad of different things.

The work of the actor/puppeteers was great. Iroslav Petkov was immediately loveable and a perfect comic foil (imagine Steve Martin in his prime, working with puppets). Nedilina was no less talented, but was definitely overshadowed by Iroslav's comic manic-ness (mania?).

English subtitles were projected on a screen above the performers, but I found that I didn't pay much attention to it. In part, I know the script well enough that I didn't need to see it, word for word, and also, like the Polish Othello, they managed to tell the story clearly enough that one didn't need to understand every word.

I had the good fortune to spend some extra time with this company -- drinks with the director and scenographer the evening of their arrival, and dinner and drinks after the first performance. They were incredibly charming and unpretentious. I was surprised to learn that the performers were required to study acting before they could study puppeteering. I shouldn't have been surprised, judging by the show, but I don't think that the same holds true here in the West.

A total delight and a highly recommended show.

KING RICHARD II -- Lit Moon Theatre Company and Westmont College, Santa Barbara

script: William Shakespeare
director: John Blondell
cast: Heather Bancroft, Michael Conrad, Sumner LeVeque, Nolan Hamlin, Carlo Moss, Mitchell Thomas, Victoria Finlayson, Zak Landrum, Kate Louise Paulsen, Casey Caldwell, Stanley Hoffman, Amber Angelo, Erin Brehm, Peter John Duda
original music: James Connolly
costumes, masks, and scenography (Acts 1 & 3): Lesley Finlayson
costumes and scenography (Acts 2 &4): Yevgenia Nayberg
lighting design: Jonathan Hicks
assistant director: Rose Elfman
stage manager: Suzanne Galletly
stage technician: Christianna Stuart

Shakespeare's political tragedy about the death of kings.

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Staged in a grand, classical Episcopalian church, the opening tableau for this piece, complete with incredibly beautiful masks, was incredibly beautiful. (See first photo in this blog.)

And then the show began.

Oh this piece was dreadful. I hate to say it, as the director is a very good friend, but it was agony to sit through this.

Although spoken in English, I never understood a moment (except for the challenge between John of Gaunt and Bollingbrook -- and that went on way too long) of this piece (unlike Othello, which was performed in a language I didn't know, but a piece in which I understood every moment).

Having the audience move to different locations for the different acts was a nice touch and helped to give this work a unique flavor, but rather than including us in the piece, as I believe it was intended to do, I believe it actually distanced me. Because there was action going on all around me, I couldn't take it all in, and therefore I was left to choose where my attention would go, which made me an observer, rather than a participant. Being an observer at a play is fine (it's expected!), but when the action places the observer in the middle, the expectation is that the audience becomes a part of the action. And that never really occurred.

I don't really remember where, or when I heard the comment (it may not have even been directed toward this production) but someone said, "It was obvious that the actors were having some 'moments' that were very special and important to them, but they never let us in on them." And that is exactly what I felt about this show. There was lots of something special going on, but it was intensely personal to the performers.

There was too too much shouting. Mitchell Thomas as King Richard seemed to shout constantly. It never seemed to make him powerful, angry, strong, or anything other than an actor who can't find any other way to convey an emotion. I actually sat watching, tuning out the words because of the shouting, and thought, "The Europeans would never resort to this. Their character's strength and madness come from the inside, not worn on their sleeve this way."

And strangely enough, one of the things that irked me th most was the only touch of humor that found its way in to the show. The Dutchess of York actually shrieked the line: "What ho, my liege! For God's sake, let me in" in a most annoying, and totally out of character fashion (it was the only time they did something of the sort) and the following line from King Henry was, "What shrill-voic'd suppliant makes this eager cry?" It felt as though it were done just for the laugh (which it got) and was incredibly out of place.

Stanley Hoffman as the Duke of York was the only performer who managed to find a character and convey it to the audience without any momentous internalizing or vehement shouting. He simply was, living in his own moments, which is what helped me find him.

Sadly, a show that obviously meant something to those involved, but the audience was never let in on it.

JULIET & ROMEO -- Canis Tempus, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

script: William Shakespeare
director: Andrew Culk
cast: Julie Lowe, Andrew Culk
costumes and sets: Sirius Morillo
lighting design: Alex Geng
sound design: Peter Alec Fedun
mask design: Lesley Finlayson
fencing masks: Valerie Viertel
stage manager: Jim Melvyn

Shakespeare's tragedy of young lovers from rival families, told in gender twisting fashion.

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This was a very interesting production, and more along the lines of what I was expecting to see at this festival (Lit Moon World Shakespeare Festival).

Sparse, with two persons performing all the roles (all those that weren't cut in this one hour production), and with two folding ladders for all the scenery, this show managed to remain faithful to the language, but I'm not sure how true it was to the intentions of the story.

I never did decide why the genders were switched. Why was Andrew playing most of the female roles, and Julie playing the majority of the men's parts?

The actions were interesting, and the use of the ladders was good, but not complete. Each time they started something new, I felt that they never quite finished it.

The story lacked the passion between Romeo and Juliet that is so necessary for making the tragedy work. Was this a result of the gender switching? Can a thirtysomething male possibly portray a teenage girl in love?

I got nothing from this show (I saw it twice -- in part because I could, and in part because I was so incredibly exhausted the first night that I wanted to give it a better chance and see it with fresh eyes). I didn't come away with anything new or even with a different perspective on the story. There were some nice "looks" to it, but not enough to make it worth the effort.

A disappointment.

OTHELLO -- Teatr Modjeska, Legnica, Poland

script: William Shakespeare
adaptation: Krzystof Kopka
director: Jacek Glomb
cast: Przemyslaw Bluszcz, Rafal Cieluch, Pawel Palcat, Bogdan Grzeszcak, Aleksandra Motorniuk, Tadeusz Ratuszniak, Pawel Wolak, Malgorzata Urbanska, Magda Skiba, Ewa Galusinska, Katarzyna Dworak, Justyna Pawlicka, Anita Poddebniak, Lech Wolczyk
scenography: Malgorzata Bulanda
stage movement: Leszek Bzdyl
music: Kormorany
lighting design: Wladyslaz Sajda
sound technician: Andrzej Janiga
director's assistant: Olga Nowakowska

spoken in Polish

Shakespeare's tale of a strong and honorable leader, betrayed by his own men and tricked into believing the worst about his own wife.

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Wow.

This production took my breath away. I've seen it twice now and come away from it with such powerful emotions and the feeling that I've just seen some of the best theatre I may ever see.

Spoken almost entirely in Polish, I didn't understand any of the words, and yet in this play, I knew absolutely everything that was happening. Perhaps that's a good indicator of a truly well done play?

Although based on Shakespeare's Othello, we never forget that this production has someone credited with the "adaptation." This Othello is the captain of a ship, and the entire play is staged aboard its cramped quarters. With some variation from Shakespeare's story, this works quite well, and the set is brilliant with its simplicity and the remarkable blend of realism and experimental qualities.

The lighting is bare and sets a bleak tone for this voyage. Well crafted and executed.

The sound is performed live and is (pardon the pun) instrumental for invoking the mood throughout the play.

Costumes are brilliant -- nothing stands out as being inappropriate and everyone on stage seemed quite comfortable and natural with what they were wearing.

The performances.... Here, above all, they shine. To the smallest detail, these fine actors brought us aboard their ship and did not let us go until the voyage was over. Whether it was the constant, slight rocking they did, reminding us of the roll of a ship's deck, or their climbing in the riggings and hoisting sails, or the shedding of clothes and dragging themselves about as the ship floundered and they began to lose hope and respect, this cast held us enchanted throughout the journey.

It is hard for me to describe just what they did that made this so special, because each time I try to say what they did that was so wonderful, I realize that this is the goal for every actor, in every play, and it sounds rather corny.

This cast never broke character. there were no sly winks amongst themselves. They never seemed to be putting on a show or just saying their lines. I lived and breathed every moment with every character. Even those in the smaller roles I watched more closely the second time, and they each went about their business as if this ship and it's voyage were real.

Przemyslaw Bluszcz as Othello was perfect. Small in stature, he had a commanding presence every time he entered the stage. I think that the entire audience would have done whatever he told the to do, simply by the power of his presence. The ship lived and died by him, and so this tragedy rests solely on his shoulders.

I can't recommend this play highly enough. I would see it again without hesitation, and I most certainly would like to see anything at all by this remarkable company.

TIMON OF ATHENS --Theatre Artists Group and USCB Dept. of Dramatic Art & Dance

script: William Shakespeare
director: Risa Brainin
cast: Irwin Appel, Mike Zlotnick, Collin Tongue, Justin Gillman, Aja Naomi King, Jeff Mills, Zachary Appel, Richard Klautsch, Alexa Kahn, Martha Mintz, Ty Uranga-Foster, Ryan Lockwood, Shannon Sullivan, Shaun Hart, Amy Gumenick
scenic design: Tal Sanders
costume design: Dianne Holly
lighting design: Vickie Scott
composer/sound design: Brad Carroll
choreography: Christopher Pilafian
stage manager: Wendy Jones

Shakespeare's story of a philanthropist who believes the best in everyone, until his fortune runs out and he seeks a little help from his friends.

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This is not one of Shakespeare's finest stories -- there are problems throughout the plot, and underused characters (what is the purpose of Apemantus' character?), but it is always nice to see a good production of a Shakespeare play that is not generally so well known.

I have had the opportunity to see this play before (Broadway, with Brian Bedford in the lead role) and in many respects, this production was much better.

Director Brainin did a superb job of making this script accessible. It was quite easy to follow what was going on, and the hip, techno-style movements in the beginning did a nice job of setting the time and location for us. Some of her decisions seemed questionable, though ... why the obvious, stereo-typed salon scene? It felt very out of place with the rest of the scenes.

Most of the cast, as college students, did a fine job. Richard Klautsch,a guest artist, as Apemantus, was quite superb with what little he had to play with. Irwin Appel (also a guest artist), in the title role, seemed to be playing for a television camera -- he looked good, and he sounded good, but I never felt anything from him.

For the most part, the set worked well, though some of the shorter scenes seemed to require the most work in set change.

Costuming was wonderful.

This was the first play I managed to see as part of the Lit Moon World Theatre Festival. I thought it came across as a good college production (which, for the most part, is what it was), but hoped for much more from some of the other shows during the week.

ROBIN HOOD -- Missoula Children's Theatre

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts at the Valencia Arts Center
director: Melissa Carroll
tour actor: Renee Roberts
cast: Austin Lubinski, Madeleine Bryant, Alli Wildenborg, Elisabeth Frederickson, Audrey O'Keefe, Amanda Anderson, Christopher Bernard, Raizl Campbell, Sydney Dean, Hannah Dunsmoor, Mitchell Essar, Orion McCullough-Smith, Katie Prinsen, Haleigh Riggall, Emily Smith, Michael Todd, Nick Arnold, Christian Deranek, Becca Geisler, Samantha Johnson, Rebecca Munson, Adrianna Rackow, Cora Arnold, Ceci Bernard, Sophia Piano, Sofie Underdahl, Rosemary Flanagan, Cross Korder, Kailey Kronebusch, Jeremiah Munson, Mac Whaley, Libby Crigler, Hannah Essar, Anthony Henderson, Summer Lawson, Carl Rackow, Melanie Anderson, Mary Arnold, Aidan Beckman, Andrew Behling, Myles Dean, Olivia Flanagan, Nathan Graff, Samuel Graff, Aaron Munson, Chloe Paino, Wil Prinsen
accompanist: Aleah Zuccarelli
conceived, written, and composed by: Michael McGill

A new look at the Robind Hood tale.

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The Missoula Children's Theatre program is a relatively new program to me (although I'm now familiar with at least two companies working this way). Basically, the company sends two "professional" actor/directors to a city, auditions are held and the show is cast with anywhere from 50-80+ children, and the show is rehearsed and then performed all within one week's time.

No one attends a performance like this in order to see theatre. Attendance is generally only family of the children in the show. The "purpose" of this kind of theatre is to give children a chance to "be in a play." Opportunities for children to participate in theatre are rare, as states cut more and more arts from schools. The question I ask, though, is: Is this theatre? I've auditioned and cast students in 9th grade who are completely surprised by a "real" rehearsal schedule and demands because they've never known anything but this kind of theatre. They've also never had to take it seriously -- it's just for fun.

For some, this is, sadly, the only theatre they will ever experience, and for that there is a purpose. I happen to not think too highly of this kind of program. Yes, my children did participate, but I also know that my children have an understanding of "real" theatre, having seen me at work.

This show lacked a story and music, even more than most of this sort. What it did have going for it, was a better than usualy "look." The costumes were nicer than I've seen with other, similar, companies, and the set actually had some kind of set, rather than just a few drapes.

I've posted this here because I did attend the performances, but it's certainly not worth watching if you don't have family participating (and even then it's questionable).

CYMBELINE -- Great River Shakespeare Festival

director: Doug Scholz-Carlson
cast: Jacob Bell, Jennice Butler, Andrew Carlson, Dane Clark, Kylie Edmonds, Adam Habben, Rachael Jenison, Amy Malcom, Marianne Miller, Eva Nelson, Lucinda Rogers, Michael Rubke, Christopher Thompson, Max Wojtanowicz

Shakespeare's rarely performed fairy tale.

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This was performed by GRSF's Acting Apprentice company (generally college students) and, while generally fairly good, certainly had the feel of a good college production.

There were aspects of the direction that made me wonder just what the heck was going on (the marching upstage of the action was distracting and out of place).

The script has problems (how can you not laugh when, in Act V, Scene V, as all the confessions are being made and identities being revealed, Cornelius says, "I left out one thing...") -- a lack of focus and a too convenient wrapping up of revelations. Sometimes it's nice to see that even the greatest playwright who ever lived managed to write some less than stellar work.

Even so, there manages to be some kind of a power that Shakespeare has and it is a joy to listen to his words (when done well).

I did find it curious that it was billed as a "tragedy." There really are no tragic elements in this, and when I asked the director, he said they did so because it was titled as a tragedy in the folio from which they took this work. Curious. I appreciate their deire to be as authentic as possible, but it actually seemed to add to some confusion (on my part, at least).

DROPS & DRAMA II-- Theatre du Mississippi

cast: Lauren Berlin-Burns & Julie Frederickson
voice overs: Jacob Bell, Michael Rubke, Lucinda Rogers, Jennice butler, Amy Malcom, Christopher Thompson, Eva Nelson, Max Wojtanowicz, Kylie Edmonds
narration written by: Kathy Peterson

A unique presentation of one of the most complete and historic collections of hand-painted scenic drops, designed by Thomas G. Moses, in the Midwest.

1) Roman Ruins Scene: Julius Caeser by William Shakespeare, I,ii (4 drops)
2) Ocean Scene: Moby Dick, Chapter 1, by herman Melville (4 drops)
3) Medieval Camp Scene: The Once & Future King by T.H. White (4 drops)
4) Summer garden Scene: Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolfe (4 drops)
5) Hell Scene: The Divine Comedy: Part I by Dante Alighieri (4 drops)
6) English Manor Scene: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (3 drops)
7) Treasure Room Scene: Ali Baba from 1001 Arabian Nights (3 drops)

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The presentation is done in a very amateur way, but the flats themselves are most certainly worth seeing. Having someone pretend to be Thomas Moses and/or his assistant is a nice idea, but having it be two high school aged girls just didn't work. However, since they were only segues in to the next set of drops, it didn't really matter.

The drops themselves are quite remarkable. Beautifully painted, in such a way that we could see that some care and great craftsmanship went in to their painting. The fact that they are still in a condition that can be flown and shown in a theatre testifies to the Masonic Temple's preservation skills.

Part of the remarkable-ness of these drops is not just the actual painting skills and the detail in which they were painted (which was quite remarkable) but the number of drops. These paintings were done at a time when the scenic elements called for more than a simple backdrop, and hence there were legs and teasers that were done to match the elegant backdrop.

Most impressive was the "Hell Scene" for The Divine Comedy, Part I. As the narration mentioned, Moses used a very new technique (perhaps his own design) of including bits of crimped tin foil among the paint so that it would reflect the lights, and would change the appearance slightly as the lights changed. Remarkable!

Worth attending next season as well!

TWELFTH NIGHT -- Great River Shakespeare Festival

Great River Shakespeare Festival
script: William Shakespeare
dir: Alec Wild
cast: Erik Paulson, Christopher Gerson, Rob Eigenbrod, Brian Frederick, Shanara Gabrielle, Jack Sanderson, Michael Fitzpatrick, Carla Noack, Marcus Truschinski, Laura Coover, Doug Scolz-Carlson, Kim Martin-Cotten, Jonathan Gillard Daly, Jacques Roy, Jason Michael Spelbring
set design: Takeshi Kata
costume design: Rosemary Ingham
light design: Kenton Yeager
composer: Josh Horvath
sound design: C. Andrew Mayer

A shipwreck separates brother and sister twins, each thinking that the other has perished. The sister, Viola, disguises herself as a man to gain employment, and falls in love with her boss, while the woman her boss loves falls for Viola (posed as the man). A comedy.

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I'd seen this play only from a variety of videos, and was never very interested in it. This production, however, was quite outstanding.

The play flowed well, with constant movement on its very fluid-looking set. There were no gaps between scenes.

Director, Alec Wild, caught the humor of the play quite well, and this is where I feel that other productions I have seen have fallen flat. They key, in my opinion, is the role of Feste, the fool. While we certainly have to see that he really is smarter than most of the people on the stage, we also have to see that he knows his role as the fool, otherwise he comes across as arrogant and not at all funny. This was well played by Doug Scholz-Carlson.

The stakes that each character had set for him/herself, were appropriately high, and by letting us see and know these stakes, we appreciated the humor more and saw the love that they had for one another. This idea of setting the stakes high is essential for good theatre.

While I liked the basic set, I felt that the placement of a lone tree was quite odd and actually made a statement about solitariness that seemed inappropriate. I think that I personally would have placed the tree off to the side where it could be used, but would have left the stage feeling much more open.

A wonderful production.

ROMEO & JULIET -- Great River Shakespeare Festival

Great River Shakespeare Festival
script: William Shakespeare
dir: Paul barnes
cast: Jacques Roy, Christopher Gerson, Jason Michael Spelbring, Brian Frederick, Jonathan Gillard Daly, Michael Fitzpatrick, Kim Martin-Cotton, Carla Noack, Rob Eigenbrod, Jack Sanderson, Shanara Gabrielle, Doug Scholz-Carlson, Marcus Truschinski, Laura Coover
set design: Takeshi Kata
costume design: Rosemary Ingham
lighting design: Kenton Yeager
composer: Josh Horvath
sound design: C. Andrew Mayer

The classic story of two lovers from rival/warring families. A tragedy.

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A remarkable production, which, while unedited, does not feel as though it's three hours long. It moves well from scene to scene and holds our interest well.

For those who don't study or teach it, the actual production of Romeo & Juliet often comes as a surprise -- there are fight scenes, there is humor, all within this tragedy. This production plays all of it well, which is incredibly important -- if you can't laugh or get excited, than the tragic parts have less impact. When we like these characters and can laugh along side of them, they become real and their deaths carry much more weight.

There are two scenes in this production which did not work well for me. First was the "Queen Mab" speech. It was the only time I was bored, and quite frankly it does not move the story forward. I would have been in favor of that portion being cut.

The other part that didn't work as well as I think it was intended, was the rope ladder down from the balcony. I liked the idea, and I could see what the director was going for (using the the length of the stage to imply the great height of the balcony), but it didnt work for the very simple reason that they had already broken that barrier earlier when Romeo leaped up, grabbed the railing and hoisted himself up to give Juliet a farewll kiss. If the balcony was that low to the ground that he could jump and pull himself, then why did he need a 30' length of rope later (other than that the lines called for it)?

Still, an over-all excellent production, and worth seeing.

PETER PAN -- Home and Community Options

directed by Larry Gorrell
music directed by Harry Mechell
cast: Alyssa Schlageter, Jordan Smith, Rachel Crawford-Miller, Hunter Tibor, Frank Merchlewitz, Debbie Berhow, Cory Franson, Keley Bates-Franson, Mary Hansel Parlin, Lydia Feuerhelm, Michael Deranek, Debbie Berhow, et al
music: Mark Charlap
lyrics: Carolyn Leigh
additional music: Jule Styne
additional lyrics: Betty Comden and Adolph green

This is the classic, musical stage version of the play, made popular by Mary Martin years ago, and Cathy Rigby more recently.

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I found this play to be wanting in so many areas. It was hard to believe that it was rehearsed as long as it was, based on what was on stage.

The actress playing Peter did a fine job, but the Darling children were seriously lacking in any charisma.

"Hook" was just fine -- appropriately evil and powerful.

My favorite part of the show was the dance that "Tiger Lil" performed with her fellow Indians. However, even Tiger Lil could have been much more animated.

I consider director Larry Gorrell a friend, but it felt that he was spending his time playing crowd control, rather than actually directing this piece.

WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN -- Commonweal Theatre

by Henrik Ibsen
Three Act play
directed by: Lisa Weaver
cast: Patrick Bailey, Amanda Davis, Joe Schermann, Mike Long, Christine Winkler, Katie Woodzick
sets: Kit Mayer
costumes: Janice Martin
lights: Jack Hamilton

An artitist, sculptor, feels as though he has awakened from the dead and is able create art again when he renews a relationship with his former model.

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I liked the script, the story, which was not one that I was familiar with. It spoke well to the artist, though perhaps it wouldn't reach the average theatre-goer.

The set was quite nice and crossed over from functional realistic to representational nicely.

Costumes were beautiful and set the the tone for the era of the show.

Unfortunately, despite these positives, the directing and acting brought this show down to the level of "competent community theatre."

While I quite like Patrick Bailey as a performer, his obvious British accent was quite glaring set against the very American accents of the rest of the cast and in this play set in Norway. It jarred me initially, but I was able to over-look it later.

Amanda Davis, as the female lead, acted so modern ... 21st Century modern, which went against the look for the rest of the show. She appeared to be a typical teen today -- trying new things and bored with her stuffy, ol' husband, and while the script may well have suggested this, if it's going to be set in the 1800's, she needs to find the way to portray that. Instead she just acted like a modern girl wearing an old fashioned dress.

Christine Winkler as the sculptor's former model was just...well...odd. She acted half dead the entire time, and I never once saw anything about her that would make me believe that the sculptor ever saw her as perfection and would be willing to cast off his current young wife to rekindle a relationship with this dead spirit.

Katie Woodzick had only one line in the entire play (the last line) and not a single person in the theatre understood it. In the discussion after the show, she was asked what she said (turns out it was a Latin phrase, but no one understood even that much).

Mike Long, as the bear hunter, looked good for the part (thanks, in large part to the costume), but was never quite threatening enough. To be the polar opposite of Bailey's character he needed to be much more of a physically threatening presence on the stage, and that just never came through. A deep baritone voice and a slight swagger were not enough to convince me that he might take Davis, sexually, on the mountain side.

And while I make these comments as faults of the performers, I do believe that the director is largely responsible, especially in a company which makes claims at being professional. The director should have defined the era in which the play was set an seen to it that Davis was acting within that period. The director should have seen the need to make the bear hunter and the sculptor as opposite as possible and done whatever possible to make that happen.

Characters as representational are okay, but if, even after the play, we can not understand what a character was representing (Woodzick), then the director missed the mark.

I think that this could have been a really wonderful production and could have shown that Ibsen is so much more than A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler, but instead it served only to show that the Commonweal is getting stale.

I think that Commonweal Theatre truly needs to take a serious look at it's company and shake things up a bit. I don't enjoy going there to see shows any more. The acting and directing is all much the same and I know what kind of performances I'll see, and it isn't great.

CINDERELLA -- Ballet

Page Theater -- Saint Mary's University
Produced by the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts at the Valencia Arts Center
Guest Artist: Richard Isaacs as The Prince
student, Alyssa Schneider as Cinderella
Artistic Director: Tammy Schmidt Perry

The Classical ballet featuring music by Prokofiev.

This was a very nice staging of the ballet. Tammy Schmidt-Perry added her own mark by giving some of the Fairies and Corps new choreography to go along with some of the original staging.

Richard Isaacs showed why he is a professional, as his leaps and turns were so much smoother and higher than any of the students. Miss Schneider did a fine job of holding her own alongside a professional and through such an intense performance schedule (Schneider, only 15, was on stage dancing most of the show, with numerous solos and Pas de Deux).

A very good show.

{My three children were in the show, two as Trolls and one as a Dragonfly.}

VARIETY SHOW

Rushford-Peterson High School

Last night was the third annual variety show hosted by the R-P Drama Club. These kids do a pretty good job getting together and getting something done.

The show itself was "okay." As expected, it featured a lot of piano recital pieces, a couple of speeches from speech team members, and a baton-twirling exhibition from the little kids. The theme around the show was a mystery which the Drama Club put together. It was a neat idea, well performed, but not necessarily well thought out.

A pleasant evening, though not exceptional in any way.

THE CASHORE MARIONETTES

A PAGE Series Event
Page Theatre - Saint Marys University

This was a phenomenal program! Only a little more than an hour in length, but Joe Cashore is truly a remarkable puppet-master! My entire family was completely enthralled with this, even though the show is not considered to be for young children.

It's hard to pick a favorite piece that he performed, but I'd lean toward the last puppet, which climbed up the puppet-master himself and settled on his arm. Top do this, the master had to work the controls from up above and behind his head. Incredible!!!

Go see this show if at all possible!

MICHAEL COOPER: MASKED MARVELS AND WONDERTALES

A PAGE Series Event
Page Theatre -- Saint Mary's University, Winona, MN

A master mime and mask-maker entertains with a series of skits, sketches, and vignettes.

This was a fantastic show. What an artisan! Cooper clever opened his show with a mime piece that had him wearing an over-sized baby-head mask. Half-way through the selection, he opened the baby mask (which then, swadled, became the baby) to reveal an old man mask.

Other sketches included a cowboy taming a horse, his impression of various animals (some with and some without masks), a fish fishing for a human, an audience participation piece in which he taught some children how to look like they were going down (and up) on an elevator and on stairs, and a coup de gras with a story about a dancing troll, in which he danced in stilts, wearing a troll mask and costume.

My children were completely entralled by this show, and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

I had two, small, reservations about the show. First, I did feel that Mr. Cooper worked a little too hard to try to get some reaction and enthusiasm out of the stodgy, mid-western, Scandinavian-descendant audience. We're generally a pretty reserved bunch, so trying to get us to yell out comments during a show goes against our nature. It seemed as though his show is geared toward trying to get the audience to "ask" for things, which we generally just don't do.

And some times I thought his miming, while certainly competent, was less than spectacular -- specifically his mime of sitting in a chair. Hey...I understand the whole aging/weak knees thing, but if you can't get your butt a little more parallel to the floor, then I'm not going to buy that you're sitting in a chair. The first time he did it, I wasn't even sure that's what he was miming.

Still...a really tremendous show, with a hearty two thumbs up from me!