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  THE GOLDEN STATE on tour
January 24-February 24, 2008TOUR SCHEDULE
IN BLUE LAKE, CALIFORNIA Thursday - Saturday, January 24-26, 2008
8pm Dell'Arte's Carlo Theatre
131 H Street, Blue Lake
Tickets: $10-$12
Thursday performance is Pay What You Can
To buy tickets or call 707-668-5663 ext. 20 IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIAFriday-Saturday, February 1-2, 2008
8pm Keck Theatre, Occidental College Campus
1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock, Ca.
Tickets: $12.50-$18.00, FREE for Occidental students
Email theater@oxy.edu or call 323-259-2922
To buy tickets online Wednesday, February 6, 2008
8pm Glenn Wallichs Theatre, University of Redlands Campus
1200 East Colton Ave., Redlands, Ca.
Call 909-748-8881 for information or to reserve tickets.
Fridays- Sundays. February 8-24, 2008
24th Street Theatre
1117 West 24th Street, Los Angeles, Ca.
Fridays at 8pm: Feb. 8, 15, 22
Saturdays at 8pm: Feb. 9, 16, 23
Sundays at 3pm: Feb. 10, 17, 24
Tickets: $15-$25
www.24thstreet.org or call 800-838-3006 ABOUT THE GOLDEN STATELOS ANGELES, CA - Looking to establish a home base in Southern California, internationally-renowned physical theater ensemble The Dell'Arte Company brings its critically acclaimed production of The Golden State to 24th Street Theatre for a three-week run February 8-24, following one night at the University of Redlands' Glenn Wallich Theatre on February 6 and a two-night appearance, February 1 and 2, at the Keck Theater on the campus of Occidental College. Dell'Arte producing artistic director Michael Fields directs and founding artistic director Joan Schirle stars in Lauren Wilson's 21st Century adaptation of Molière's comic gem, The Miser.
Dell'Arte's residency with the Occidental College Department of Theater, which includes student workshops in addition to the two performances, is made possible by Occidental's G. William Hume Fellowship in the Performing Arts. 24th Street Theatre co-produces the run at that venue.
"We want to make 24th Street our Los Angeles base so we can come down every year and people will know where to look for us," comments Fields. "This production marks our first foray into Los Angeles in nearly 19 years."
"Like us, Dell'Arte is a socially conscious, education-based organization that is always pushing the theatrical envelope," agrees 24th Street Theatre executive director Jay McAdams. "An ongoing partnership between our companies makes sense."
Dell'Arte commissioned company member Lauren Wilson to write The Golden State, which first opened in Blue Lake in 2004. "This is Molière with the heat turned up, the stops pulled out and the women on top," laughs Fields. "It's a very contemporary Molière, which is quite different from what we usually do."
In 1667, Molière's incarnation of greed was a rich old coot named Harpagon, whose love for his cashbox eclipsed all other loves, even that for his children. The Golden State, set in a sun-drenched and hedonistic Southern California, also draws its inspiration from humanity's blinding and passionate lust for money. It takes Molière's comedy of profit-driven family relations and turns it on its head, re-inventing the miser as an elderly California widow with a fortune stuffed in her bra and whose adult children are the desperate products of her fanatical hoarding.
"Through all the absurdities of the play, a portrait of California emerges that has little in common with the sunny 'Golden State' of tourist brochures and civic boosterism," says Wilson. "As is always true with Molière, this inherently comic tale has a tragic heart."  |  "expertly performed slapstick" | San Francisco Chronicle | 11/1/2004 | Robert Hurwitt, Chronicle Theater Critic
Monday, November 1, 2004
The Golden State: Comedy. By Lauren Wilson, adapted from “The Miser” by Molière. Directed by Michael Fields.
The maid swoons. No one notices. Desperate for attention, she picks herself up and crashes to the floor again. And again, climbing on a chair and taking a nose dive to make the point that she'll die without a 50-cent raise. No matter. The stage is filling up with a mangy stuffed raccoon and other detritus, and her miserly employer is distracted by a greater financial threat. Her son is calling a taxi.
The Dell'Arte Company is back in San Francisco for its first actual, if abbreviated run in longer than one cares to remember and that's good news. When the troupe blissfully layers expertly performed slapstick on top of other comic elements, as in the dying-maid gambit, the news is even better. "The Golden State" -- which opened Friday at the University of San Francisco's Presentation Theater and moves to Brava Theater Center this weekend -- isn't Dell'Arte at its best. But it's funny, generally adept and often astute.
"Golden," a modern California adaptation of Molière's "The Miser," is also meant to be a foretaste of pleasures to come. Dell'Arte, which tours widely from its base in Humboldt County -- where it stages the Mad River Festival and operates the nation's only accredited school of physical comedy - - was a fixture in Bay Area seasons for most of the '80s. It plans to resume annual local seasons in 2006 in collaboration with Z Space.
It's no longer quite the same company of deft physical and verbal comics Joan Schirle, Michael Fields and Donald Forrest. This is something of a second generation Dell'Arte, though Schirle plays the lead role and Fields is the director. The pacing isn't always as sharp as it could be nor the script as densely layered, but the caricatures are deftly drawn, the comedy builds to some hilarious peaks and Lauren Wilson's update of Molière is cogent and cautionary.
Wilson transplants Molière's plot to modern Southern California with a few significant modifications. In place of Molière's tightfisted old codger, her miser is Gertrude Hopper (Schirle), a pursed-lip, penny-squeezing monster of a matriarch. Instead of the miser's young, infatuated son and daughter -- their romantic affectations stymied by parental avarice -- Wilson gives us overgrown children in their late 30s with complicated sexual histories.
She adds another layer of social commentary by filling the household staff with illegal immigrants from Chile, Russia and Lebanon. Environmental destruction, tax evasion and same-sex marriage complications sweeten the pot, and a forest fire rages around the final showdown for good measure. Wilson could make more use of the fire and some of her other modifications, and the show cries out for some old-fashioned Dell'Arte ad-libs about the perennially love-smitten daughter's tattoos (rather more distracting than those Jon Carroll commented upon in a recent column). But for the most part, her script works well.
Schirle provides a solid center as the grasping Gertrude, her maternal instincts entirely focused on how to use her children to turn a profit. That includes possibly renting out the womb of her 39-year-old daughter Sylvia, deliciously played by Barbara Geary as a mix of fluttery adolescent coquetry, ravenous lust for the latest gardener (a stalwart, sincere David Escobedo) and little-girl terror. Sylvia's womb is part of Gertrude's plot to marry off her son Cubby (Tyler Olsen) to a very wealthy, elderly neighbor.
Olsen's richly comic Cubby -- a tantrum-prone, flamboyantly spoiled playboy, rather late in discovering what everybody else knows, that he's gay - - has other plans. As in Molière, he's in love with the same man (OK, in Molière, it's a woman) his mother wants to marry, an impoverished illegal immigrant she plans to turn into a high-profit-margin plastic surgeon -- played with comic acrobatics as an effeminate boy-toy by Tim Cunningham.
Everything, as in the original, centers on getting ahold of Gertrude's vast stash of cash, a violation to which Wilson and Fields add blithely funny Oedipal overtones. Giulio Cesare Perrone's extravagantly cartoonish costumes add to the humor, nicely set off against the simple palette of the broad swaths of fabric that make up his set. A diving board and a chair serve as springboards for much of the physical comedy to the upbeat Latin strains of Tim Gray's beguiling score.
Some of the funniest bits, not surprisingly, come directly from Molière. And some of the most hilarious moments are provided by the maids, Keight Gleason's forceful, sardonic, athletically lusty Ursula and Berni Sabath's wonderfully uppity, salty, scheming, expertly slapstick Fatima. When Sabath repeatedly swoons, or belly flops across the stage toward Gertrude's stash, there's nothing stingy about the comedy of Dell'Arte's updated "Miser."
E-mail Robert Hurwitt at rhurwitt@sfchronicle.com.
| | Robert Hurwitt - |
| | "Glittering gem of a farce" | San Francisco Bay Guardian | 11/3/2008 | San Francisco Bay Guardian
November 3 ,2004
review of THE GOLDEN STATE
In Dell'Arte's glittering gem of a farce, the limits of greed and lust loaf around a southern California swimming pool, built mirage-like on a cultural and emotional desert of unquenchable desire. The premiere of Lauren Wilson's very funny 21st-century adaptation of The Miser – with its frenetic charm, strong female characters, ethnic and class-based pecking order, and apocalyptic gloom borne along by Santa Ana winds – is Molière by way of Nathaniel West and Pedro Almodóvar. Founding artistic director Joan Schirle plays the title character as an avaricious old widow, dressed like Mrs. Roper and sounding a lot like Shelly Winters, who slakes her perpetual thirst for money with a scheme to sell off her grown-up, not to say messed-up, children, Cubby (Tyler Olsen) and Sylvia (Barbara Geary). But turning their lazy asses into liquid assets won't be easy, since Cubby and Sylvia have designs of their own, all of which stirs up trouble among the two maids (Keight Gleason and Berni Sabath), Chilean handyman (David Escobedo), and flamboyant physical therapist (Tim Cunningham), who form a lusty food chain of wage slaves and gold-diggers. Michael Fields directs the sharp and lithesome resident ensemble in a production that takes wonderful advantage of the company's unique brand of physical theater. (Avila)
| | Robert Avila - |
| | Dell'Arte strikes it rich | Eureka Times-Standard | 10/14/2005 | Dell’Arte strikes it rich with ‘Golden State’
Beti Trauth
For The Times Standard (Northern Lights, October 14th Issue)
Any artistic company that’s been around for 30 years, eventually discovers that there is an ebb and flow within the organization that requires interior rebuilding as a natural part of the process of existence and viability.
Founders often lose both their enthusiasm and strength of leadership (as well as personal ability) to continue to set the gold standard of excellence that they initially worked so hard to achieve. Sustaining quality sometimes seems to be even more difficult than reaching it.
That’s what makes “The Golden State,” the world premiere production that just launched the 30th Anniversary Season of the Dell’Arte Company, truly remarkable.
Interweaving the talents of iconic veterans with those of graduates from their International School of Physical Theatre, the show serves as a stunning example, and reminder, of just how exciting innovative live performance can be.
It also proves that a solid training ground for professionals (like Dell’Arte) not only gives students the needed skills necessary to become proficient in their art; but prepares them for another level with their peers.
How satisfying it must be for Dell’Arte Company founders (and artistic and producing directors) Joan Schirle and Michael Fields, to be working with some of their most gifted former students in the current production.
Fields expertly pulled the strings behind the scenes as director, and Schirle shimmers outrageously on stage in the central, starring role of wealthy widow, Gertrude Hopper—a clever gender-switching twist based on Moliere’s greediest meanie, “The Miser.”
Set in the always-gold-conscious background of contemporary Southern California, the original concept of the French playwright, morphs perfectly into today’s unsettled state of affairs.
The hilarious adaptation is by award-winning playwright Lauren Wilson, an Associate Artist-in-Residence at Dell’Arte, whose other works developed and produced with the company include “The Rag And Bone Shop” and “In The Land Of The Grasshopper Song.”
As successful as those scripts were, she has truly outdone herself with her latest, wildly inventive creation; and, in the process, obviously inspired everyone else involved to reach fresh, new heights in their shared artistic insanity.
“The Golden State” is a shining example of the Dell’Arte Company at the top of their acting game; and, technically, as well, each element is already close to flawless.
First let’s take a look at the performers. Of course, anytime Schirle takes the stage, you can expect an instant acting lesson that is so skillful that’s it’s all but seamless. And, although I’ve seen her deliver some brilliant work over the years, the satirical character she’s created as the heartless, lecherous and insatiably greedy Gertrude, is her sharpest and funniest yet.
Her hands set the tone, with her constantly moving, grasping fingers looking for all the world like the treacherous tentacles of a hungry octopus ready to grab anything of value that foolishly comes within it’s reach, and devour and store it.
This is a woman who absorbs and hoards everything, and gives nothing—including love, allowances, inheritances and living wages for servants—unless it becomes begrudgingly necessary.
Her affection (such as it is) for her two beyond dysfunctional adult children, is so sparse and manipulative that she makes “Mommy Dearest” look like “Mary Poppins.” Gertrude simply uses them as tools for her own financial gain—no matter how cold or degrading.
Playing that pair of pathetic siblings are two impressive Dell’Arte grads—one recent (Tyler Olsen as her in-denial gay son, Cubby); and one from the 1979 class (Barbara Geary as her chronically depressed and relatively unattractive spinster daughter, Sylvia).
Olsen is a riot in an over-the-top Commedia performance that explodes with pent-up maternal resentment, underscored by his sexual identity crisis.
And, balancing him with an often understated “victim” portrayal, Geary is wonderful as the psychologically wounded creature whose emotional vulnerability makes her prey to sudden outbursts of both suicidal and sensual activity.
Playing the object of Sylvia’s passionate affection is David Escobedo (in his first Dell’Arte appearance) as the hunky family gardener, an illegal immigrant called Luis—who, unexpectedly, returns her ardor. Luis’ secret background makes him a much more eligible catch than he initially seems. Escobedo also plays another role later in the show.
Tim Cunningham is another 2001 grad, making a flaming entrance as the finally out-of-the-closet Cubby’s recently acquired lover, Frederico. A lisping Latin lothario who slithers like a supple, raunchy reptile, he completes his fashion statement with glittering “Rocky Horror” style make-up and Frankenfurter moves
Cunningham’s flamboyant performance is extravagantly broad and wildly wacky—and his cleverly constructed skimpy costume leaves little to the imagination. Talk about buns of steel!
It’s literally quite easy to see why both Cubby and (oh, no!) his geriatric (but still lustful) mother, Gertrude, would love to make this naughty nurse/masseuse their very own.
Adding to the saucy, madly physical visual mix are 2001 Dell’Arte grad, Keight Gleason, as another of Gertrude’s illegal household workers, the scheming Russian, Ursulsa. And, Bernadette Sabath (class of ’79) completes the underpaid, illegal staff as the smart-mouth Middle Eastern maid, Fatima. Both are expected to wait on, and instantly and automatically pick up after, all of the family members. But, oh how provocatively they do it.
Sabath also appears as California Cop, Norton; and Gleason turns up later as the well-to-do and childless widow, Sylvia. Gertrude’s devious, disgusting plans to “remedy” Sylvia’s situation by using her own children in true Cruella Deville fashion, has gold at the bottom of it.
This sheer break-neck physicality of this show is breathtaking, as the characters careen in and out: Alternating between leaping on, or off, each other, with bouncing or flying off of any object that happens to be in their way at the time.
Director Fields and his assistant (2001 grad, Matthew Graham Smith), have choreographed their actors to a fare-the-well, never wasting an opportunity to stage seemingly near-death-defying moves that also happen to be wildly funny. And, each polished comedic take and gesture makes the characters even more delightfully bizarre.
Filthy rich describes Gertrude’s persona perfectly—and the fabulous, outlandish costume designs for all of the quirky characters (by resident artist, Giulio Cesare Perrone and assistant, Bluebird), teeter beautifully between gorgeous and caricature.
Although the show is ambiguously set in today’s time frame, there is a decidedly glamourous1940’s Hollywood look to most of the clothes that could have come right out of the film noir gangster classic, “Chinatown.”
That era is echoed by Perrone’s abstract set design, using such pieces as a free-standing, swimming pool diving board; billowing, over-head gauzy curtains; and poolside furniture.
Of course, cheapskate Gertrude is not one to spend her miserly funds on “the best” of anything—including her children’s clothes, food or furnishings for her historic, semi-seedy West Coast mansion that’s sits close to the coastal highway; but, what we don’t actually see, we can well imagine.
Under the astute eye of technical director, Dan Stockwell, every supporting element meshes smoothly, including: Tim Gray’s complex musical and sound design; the intricate lighting by guest San Francisco designer, David Robertson; and the wide scope of fanciful props chosen by Gregory Lojko.
However, I would warn audience members that there are some intense special effects toward the end of the show. Be prepared to experience a simulated “forest fire” behind the onstage scrim, complete with amazingly realistic looking flames and some very tangible smoke.
All technical accomplishments aside, the most amazing aspects (bottom line) about Dell’Arte’s “Golden State,” are the still mind-boggling physical skills and dexterity of those apparently ageless “Golden Girls” themselves—Schirle, Geary and Sabbath.
Not only do these timeless ladies more than keep up with their younger counterparts; but they are obviously quite capable of “leaving them in their dust,” with awe inspiring, jaw-dropping energy and comedic artistry.
According to director/founder Fields, reaching that level of combined expertise has always been their ultimate goal. “A production like this, that involves all generations of our company, is what we’ve wanted to evolve into—continuing our artistic commitment to pushing the boundaries of the physical performance forms that speak powerfully to our times.”
The play also incorporates basic, bawdy commedia philosophy: Use wicked, ruthless wit and fearless, satirical humor to expose the absurdity of human nature, in all of its imperfect, poignant glory.
“The Golden State” is a rowdy, triumphant Dell’Arte production—one that redefines the meaning of: We’re not getting older; we’re getting better. In fact, you could say, they’re as good as gold!
There are four more opportunities to see this terrific comic farce before they take it on tour to San Francisco, and points beyond. However, there are plans in the works to bring it back to Blue Lake during Mad River Festival 2005, so if you strike out this time around, there’s hope. | | Beti Trauth - |
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THE GOLDEN STATE is available for booking as part of Dell'Arte's 2008-2009 booking season.
“The Golden State” is designed by associate artistic director and award-winning scenographer Giulio Cesare Perrone, with original music and sound design by local favorite Tim Gray and lighting by San Francisco designer David Robertson. The stellar acting ensemble includes Dell’Arte Company members Joan Schirle, Barbara Geary, Keight Gleason, and Tyler Olsen as well as Company guest artists Adrian Mejia, Laurabeth Greenwald, John Achorn and Guillermo Calderon. | | | |
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