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Monday, November 9, 2020

Five Fall Covid-safe Theater Productions

I definitely miss live theater these days, and look forward to when we can attend in person safely again. 

 

In the meantime, many theater troupes have found ways to keep the arts alive. It shouldn’t be a surprise that creative sorts can...get creative, and that is exactly how they have been. 

 

Within a two week period, I experienced no fewer than five different productions, so I decided to combine them into a single post. With one exception, these are all small non-professional groups, which tend to have greater financial flexibility along with realistic expectations. No diss to the big guys, but the little guys are killing it right now. 

 

The School for Wives by Moliere (Moliere in the Park)

 

First up is a production by the fairly new Brooklyn professional theater Moliere in the Park, which combines two things that need more visibility: Moliere, and African-American actors. I wrote about their splendid rendition of Tartuffe, the play that made me fall in love with Moliere back in high school. This time, they tackled one of the less-known plays, The School for Wives. This one is in many ways a companion piece to The School for Husbands, and shares many of the same themes. 

 

The thing about Moliere is that, despite living 350 years ago, his plays are shockingly relevant and fresh. Comedy often ages poorly, particularly when it is dependent on the pop culture of its time. Moliere avoided this by writing about universal human foibles. From hypochondria to misanthropy to religious hypocrisy, some things never really change. 

 

In The School for Wives, Moliere applies his satirical genius to gender stereotypes of the time, particularly the belief that women were best kept stupid and docile and taught to devote their lives to pleasing their husbands. (This is actually pretty much what Christian Patriarchy teaches…and not much different from a lot of the beliefs of conservative Christianity in general.) Even 350 years ago, Moliere isn’t having any of it. 

 

The chauvinistic and middle-aged Arnolphe has raised his ward Agnes (believed to be an orphan) since infancy, and she is finally coming of age. He has deliberately kept her uneducated, “ignorant of life” so that she will be prepared to be a faithful devoted spouse to him. He is convinced that his “training” will keep her from desiring other men, and thus he will not be cuckolded like so many of his friends. 

 

His friend Chrysalde isn’t buying it, and informs Arnolphe that he disapproves of the whole thing, including Arnolphe’s decision to change his name to Monsieur de la Souche (basically “Lord Stump”) so he has a “title” to go with his wealth. Furthermore, Chrysalde opines that getting cuckolded isn’t a particularly big deal: after all, men step out all the time, right? So why not women too? [gasp!] 

 

Meanwhile, Horace, the young son of Arnolphe’s friend Oronte, has fallen in love with Agnes, not knowing she is Arnolphe’s intended. Horace confides his love to Arnolphe, and asks his advice for seducing the lady. It is after giving this advice that Arnolphe is stunned to hear that the lady in question is affianced to...wait for it.... Lord Stump. 

 

For her part, Agnes is a lot smarter than Arnolphe thinks, and is madly in love with Horace. And just who IS Agnes anyway? With rapier wit, Moliere makes the case for equality and self-determination for women. 

The production was a bit more technically polished than the last one, with better backgrounds and fewer glitches. It felt a bit like a Zoom meeting, which is, well, what theater is right now. It was quite enjoyable. 

I had to look hard to find a screenshot from this one. Moliere in the Park, you guys could stand to put some pictures on social media from time to time so people like me can promote the hell out of your shows!


The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare (Bakersfield College)

 

It has been impressive to see what educators have been able to do under extremely difficult conditions, with very little time to plan. While it hasn’t been a completely smooth transition, and online learning is less than ideal for many, I have nothing but respect for the teachers and administrators who have come up with ways of making it work. 

 

In the case of Bakersfield College, they were able to find some wonderfully creative ways of putting on their fall plays without putting students and teachers at risk. 

 

In the case of Comedy of Errors, they created an adaptation of the story for a silent movie, Charlie Chaplin style. With very little dialogue (in the form of subtitles), and some simplification of the plot, the length was reduced to under an hour. The actors all wore masks, and filmed the scenes outdoors - at various locations downtown. The cinematography was delightful, in sepia tones. The cast was all female, and featured some of the usual local suspects: Lindsay Pearson, Shelbie McClain, Vanessa Beltran, and the always-delightful Nancee Steiger. The gestures fit the theme so perfectly, the jazzy soundtrack was perfect, and the humor unmistakeable even without “sound” - or even seeing the actors’ full faces. Bravo. 

BC is finally doing great publicity photos. This gives an idea of how awesome the aesthetic on this show was. There is also a trailer on the BC Theater facebook page. 

 

Dracula the Radio Play by Philip Grecian

 

This adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic work of necessity cuts out a lot of the original. I mean, otherwise, you would end up with a play that took all day. But it gets the basic elements of the plot in there, and tells a compelling story. 

 

Bakersfield Community Theater has had to cope with Covid in a creative manner. For this production, the actors all did their work from home, with a green screen. The performance was then done live on Zoom. The technical work was actually really good, with no noticeable glitches on sound or video. Because it was in real time, the actors were able to play off each other pretty well. 

 

I can’t find a cast list for some reason, but credit to the actors whether I remember the name or not. I know local theater regulars Al and Julie Gaines, of course. Perrin Swanson (no relation) was particularly electric as the mentally ill Renfield. A quite enjoyable performance, very well done. 

 Not sure why BCT didn't have publicity photos this time. So I stole this one from Perrin.

 

Tales From the Vault of Fear (California State University Bakersfield)

 

I have enjoyed radio dramas since I was a kid. Growing up in Los Angeles, we could listen to the KNX radio hour in the evenings, when they would play all the oldies. Once my brother and I built little AM radios, we used to listen to stuff without our parents knowing (our bedroom was in its own wing…) - yeah, we were rebels. Usually, we listened to stuff like Dragnet and The Shadow and stuff, but I remember one time we scared ourselves stupid with a really creepy episode of Lights Out. Good times. 

 

CSUB presented three spooky dramas as old time radio shows. Actually, these were radio shows back in the day. These were professional quality dramas, with full sound effects, music, and perfect pacing. 

 

Of the plays in this post, this is the only one the kids didn’t watch/listen to, because we ran out of time. I stayed up late on the last day this was available and listened to it on my own. I am glad I did. 

 

The first drama was Zero Hour, a classic by Ray Bradbury. The kids in this town are all playing a game called “invasion,” which turns out to be true: there really ARE aliens coming to invade. This drama was chosen in part because 2020 is Bradbury’s 100th birthday. A fine time to experience his delightful writing. 

 

Second was The Shadow People, a classic horror/supernatural drama. The idea is pretty common, finding its way into horror for the last couple hundred years, at least. (Similar in some ways to Ghost Story, our last book club read.) Great atmosphere in this production, which is based on an old Hall of Fantasy radio episode. 

 

Finally, Robert Sloane’s classic, The Voice on the Wire, combines the ghost story with a crime drama. The actors created great suspense with this one, and kept the secret twist at the end, well, secret. 

 CSUB does need to do better at publicity photos. At least the poster is cool.

 

The Tempest (Bakersfield College)

 

This particular production is dear to my heart, because it is the college debut of a longtime family friend, Marina. When our families first met, Marina was less than a year old, and my eldest was a newborn. Our family friendship has been a huge blessing to me, and one of the things that kept me sane(ish) during our break with organized religion. Marina performed as Ariel, and was outstanding. 

 

The Tempest is, hands down, the weirdest of Shakespeare’s plays. In some ways, it seems like it was written by an entirely different author. It is rather as if at the end of her career, Jane Austen had suddenly written a fairy tale. The closest Shakespeare wrote to this one was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but even that isn’t that close. There may be fairies in both, but The Tempest is far more serious than the other, which is clearly intended to be light and often silly entertainment. (Don’t get me wrong, I love A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Mendelssohn’s delightful music for it.) 

 

The Tempest is, in tone and theme, far more related to the late romances, All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure. Or even better, The Winter’s Tale. We have essentially a tragedy that manages to end well, despite everything. But, with fairies and a god with a staff. Like in the others, Shakespeare ends with a call for mercy toward the offenders, once they have been revealed in their perfidy. It isn’t all heaviness, however, as the comic subplot involving a jester, a drunk, and a monster, who walk into a bog, not a bar, is one of Shakespeare’s finest. 

 

A full discussion of the play is beyond the scope of this brief writeup, so maybe I can return to it the next time I see a production. After all, this was, I believe, the fourth time I have seen it? It does have some of Shakespeare’s most memorable lines - ones that have made it into the cultural fabric. 

 

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” 

 

“My library was dukedom large enough.” (That’s definitely me…) 

 

“Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”

 

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”

 

“O, wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,

That has such people in't.”

 

“As you from crimes would pardoned be,

Let your indulgence set me free.”

 

“Thou dost snore distinctly. There's meaning in thy snores.”

 

Some of these are so familiar that we don’t even realize where they came from. 

 

For the BC production, the play was produced as...wait for it...a LEGO stop motion video. And yes, this was pretty cool, and very well done. The scenes were, I am guessing, shot in someone’s backyard, from the seashore to the jungle. The audio dubbing was recorded at the BC indoor theater (very familiar to me, as I have performed on that stage many times), with distancing and shields over the mics. (The outtakes at the end are hilarious, but also informative, because they show the recording process.) The only drawback to the technique is that for a couple of the actors, the layers of protection meant less crispness on the voice. Let me be the first to say that Marina’s was exceptionally clear, so whatever she did to project and enunciate worked well. It didn’t sound forced either - she’s a legit actor, even as a freshman. 

Marina doesn't really look like this - less jaundice, for one thing...

 

Again, kudos to everyone in these productions for fine work, and for creativity in difficult times. 

 

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