Page 18 - April 2016

all The World’s a Full sTage
AprIL oFFerS An ABundAnCe oF TheATer
FROM LEFT: Andrew Edgerton and Takalay Hamill rehearsing in Reflections of a Rock Lobster; Terra Shelman as Lady Macbeth in Traveling Through Shakespeare.
STory By
clair anna rose
BreAkInG BoundArIeS
Reflections of a Rock Lobster, based on the biography of Aaron Fricke and adapted for the stage by Burgess Clark, tells the story of a high-school age Mr. Fricke, a young gay man who endures stigma and daily violence — just because of who he is. Aaron sues his Rhode Island High school for the right to take his boyfriend to the prom and wins.
A collaboration between Flagstaff Arts & Leadership Academy and Canyon Moon Theater, Reflections of a Rock Lobster is directed by Mary G. Guaraldi, who has been working with FALA creative writing and theater teacher Michael Levin to bring this play to the stage of Coconino Center for the Arts. The 39-person cast is built from Flagstaff and sedona community members and FALA theater students.
As the director, Ms. Guaraldi stresses to her cast, “There are no villains in this piece. There are people who are afraid.” Two of the adult characters in the play, both who served in the military, are standing up for what they believe are American values — but their perspectives are opposites. “It’s a tapestry of people, each trying to do what they perceive to be right. How they interact, and how some of them change in the course of the play is what I find really interesting about the show,” she says.
Though the play takes place in 1980, Ms. Guaraldi says it is not a period piece. “It’s an important story I want people to hear. This kind of thing is happening today,” she says. “I’ve always thought fear makes people small, so I’ve worked very hard all my life to be fearless. That doesn’t mean I’m not cautious, but fear tends to make you contract, and I always want my life to expand — not to be afraid of people who are different than I am or who think differently than I do, and approach them all with an open mind and be open to experiences different than what my world has shown me.”
while working with the cast Ms. Guarldi asks, “what is it in human nature that makes a person feel better about themselves by making someone else feel less than they are? I tell my actors it’s like peeling away layers of the onion. I don’t think the answers are as important as the questions. when people are thinking about those questions it will open them up to more ideas. when you think you have all the answers, then you’re closed off to ideas. when I’m working with actors I ask a lot of questions, and I don’t expect answers, but I do expect them to go home and think about those questions.”
For a while now the director has wanted to do a production with adult actors in the community and high school students. she refers to her student actors as “young professionals” and treats them as such.
“Michael Levin has worked so hard on the curriculum to give students really advanced experiences that break open their theatrical world,” Ms. Guaraldi says of Mr. Levin, who has been working with the students all year, if not longer.
During the auditions, the talent she saw in the students impressed Ms. Guaraldi. “There was one scene where the bullies go after Aaron and a former friend of Aaron’s is in that group,” she describes. “The sense of reality they brought to it — I had never heard the words spoken before, I knew I loved them on the page ... It was heartbreaking to see these actors do it. And it was all FALA students! It was just breathtaking to watch.”
Described as her dream cast, Ms. Guarldi is excited to work with Becky Daggett, James Hasapis, Joe Maniglia, Nick Rabe, Stephen Root, Kathleen Sutphen and John Tannous — to name a few — in the same cast. “I’ve worked with a group of them before, but each one of them brings something that is very special,” Ms. Guaraldi shares. “It’s been fascinating to see all of the pieces come together and what each of these wonderful actors brings.”
Reflections of a Rock Lobster will be performed March 31 and April 1 at 7PM, and April 2 at 2PM and 7PM. All audience members are encouraged to stay for “talkbacks” after the show. Tickets are available through BrownPaperTickets.com
ye oLde LAnd oF ShAkeSpeAre
In Red Earth Theatre’s new, original production, Traveling Through Shakespeare, two modern- day American high school students are assigned to write a paper about shakespeare and wind up on the shores of a strange land and begin encountering characters from shakespeare’s plays. “It is a journey through the strange land of shakespeare during which the teens go from ignorance and ‘who cares,’ to discovering these people are interesting, then caring — and eventually they are in it,” director Kate Hawkes tells me.
each actor in the cast — Dave Belkiewitz, Linda Damita, Ashlee Threlkeld, Terra Shelman, John Crawford, Mitch McDermott, Gale Grove, Cody Miller and Jamie Sheehan — plays multiple roles in the production.
The play is under the direction of Ms. Hawkes and Terra Shelman, and stage-managed by Stewart Wade. The play is staged on a minimalistic set and spans different eras with scenery projected by Dexx Negron. All actors will remain on stage for the entire duration of the play, taking seats on benches when they “exit” the stage, where they will make adjustments to their costumes as they take on the persona of another character. From these side-stage places the actors will be creating all the sounds for the play. Only the bare essentials are on stage, including props and costuming (by Katie Fowler).
In honor of the playwright who died 400 years ago, Red earth Theatre is combining memorable scenes and characters from plays Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night, and monologues from Merchant of Venice and Henry V. The teenagers in the story weave together the scenes on their adventure through the shakespeare-infused land.
The idea for the play began to form when Ms. Hawkes contemplated how she could incorporate scenes and characters from shakespeare’s different works without doing a showcase of unrelated selections, which might seem disjointed. “I am aiming for conversational shakespeare — one we understand and identify with,” explains Ms. Hawkes. “expect both
‘traditional’ shakespeare and also some cross-gender roles and theatrical staging. we are, in a general way, exploring the theme of love as seen in the various relationships and activities of the scenes we are showing.”
Traveling Through Shakespeare will be performed at the Sedona Arts Center April 8-9 at 7:30PM, and sunday April 10 at 2PM. An accompanying art exhibit will feature works of art by local artists inspired by a character of shakespeare’s. A second run of the play will take place at the Old Town Center for the Arts in Cottonwood April 22 & 23 with showings at 7:30PM. Tickets for all showings are available online, and at various locations around sedona, VOC and Cottonwood. A full list of locations can be found online. RedEarthTheatre.org
on STAGe AT nAu
Shakespeare Alive! kicks off the start of the Northern Arizona University College of Arts and Letters 2015-16 Shakespeare Festival with a performance on Friday, April 8 at 7:30PM. This free event commemorates the poet and playwright.
As part of the shakespeare Festival NAU Lyric Theater brings Kiss Me, Kate to the stage of Ardrey Memorial Auditorium April 1-3. Combining shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew with Cole Porter’s Music and lyrics, Kiss Me, Kate is set in the 1940s. Directed by Eric Gribson Kiss Me, Kate follows a divorced Broadway couple, and two up-and-coming actors in the fun and feisty play within a play. This production has two casts, allowing 60 students and faculty to be involved and experience the stage. Performances will take place April 1-2 at 7:30PM and April 3 at 2PM.
This April NAU Theatre presents a play adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. This Pulitzer Prize winning story of a falsely accused man and the family who aids him, will play at the Clifford E. White Theatre April 22 through May 1. 928/523-5661 nau.edu/cal
A LITTLe mySTery
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is one of the longest running plays in the world, and is coming to Theatrikos Theatre Company’s stage. Directed by Mickey Mercer and assistant director Amanda Sawicki, this mystery takes place in a boarding house during a snowstorm. A group of stranded strangers take shelter there, without knowing one of them is a murderer. Performances run April 1 through 17, with 7:30PM show times on Friday and saturday evenings, and 2PM on sundays.
| Clair Anna rose at times is known to don the cap and dictate a fluent bard.
clair@thenoise.us
18 • APRIL 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us