Talk about odd bedfellows — Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond has put together an audio treat involving William Shakespeare and Frankenstein! Written by New York Times best-selling author Ian Doescher, “William Shakespeare’s Tragical History of Frankenstein” gives Mary Shelley’s popular tale the Elizabethan treatment.
The familiar story of Victor Frankenstein, his creation and tragic downfall is told in five acts complete with Shakespearean soliloquies and asides. Given COVID-19, however, Masquers has turned the play into an audio event with each act debuting on subsequent Fridays beginning Jan. 29. The company added original music by Jerica Banson to enhance audiences’ enjoyment. Angelina LaBarre, a Masquers board member and theater teacher at Contra Costa Community College, directs.
“I did my graduate work in Shakespeare but wasn’t as familiar with Frankenstein,” said LaBarre. “I had read Mary Shelley’s story, of course, and thought it was pretty incredible. The high drama really works well with Shakespeare.”
While pandemic closures have prevented live performances, they’ve opened up other opportunities, especially in casting.
“My major job was casting the show, and since we rehearsed on Zoom, I could combine local actors with others living further away,” said LaBarre, who notes that two of the 15-member cast live in Los Angeles, one in Texas and one on the East Coast.
“We really have a wonderfully intelligent, intuitive cast. They figure things out and make smart choices, making my job so easy,” LaBarre said. “Allan Coyne as Victor Frankenstein did an exceptional job and worked really well with John Crosthwaite, who plays the monster, while Lili Fox-Lim brought a lovely, gentle strength to the role of Elizabeth Lavenza.”
Shelley’s cult tale actually started out as a competition between herself, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron to see who could write the best horror story. Percy encouraged her to expand the story, and her Gothic novel and early example of sci-fi resulted. If you remember your Frankenstein, Elizabeth becomes Victor’s wife.
Access to play’s five episodes costs $30 and includes bonus content such as an interview with the author, Ian Doescher, and behind-the-scenes highlights. Go to masquers.org for more information.
El Cerrito: Whenever I host a party (remember those?), everyone always ends up in the kitchen. I’m not sure what it is about the room that draws people. Maybe the good smells from whatever’s cooking? Although there won’t be any good smells, El Cerrito’s Contra Costa Civic Theatre (CCCT) has taken the comfort of the kitchen to heart and created Kitchen Table Conversation, a series of intimate, one-on-one Zoom conversations between CCCT audiences and artists.
The first one took place Jan. 21 with author and nonprofit leader Debbie Chinn. The El Cerrito resident is the managing director of Anna Deavere Smith’s Pipeline Project and author of an upcoming book on her family’s historical connection to missionaries in China and her family’s impact on research, science, arts and much more. For information on upcoming Kitchen Table Conversation artists, go to http://ccct.org.
Berkeley: The Aurora Theatre Company is selling single tickets to its audio drama of Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” Adapted by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Dawn Monique Williams, Morrison’s debut novel is set in the author’s hometown of Lorain, Ohio, and tells of three young Black girls who strive to make sense of love, sisterhood, abuse and hate. The Berkeley theater company’s production features Sam Jackson, Cathleen Riddley and Jeunée Simon as the three girls. For more information, go to auroratheatre.org.
Opera Frontier: “This isn’t your grandma’s opera,” says Gail Simpson, the founder and artistic director of Opera Frontier. Simpson founded the virtual opera company in 2007 as a way to combine her affection for musical theater and her passion for opera. The result is a company of opera fans who take “outrageous liberties” through radical changes of context and casting as well as introducing elements of dance, popular culture and contemporary beats into traditional scores. They recently began streaming “Activist Aria: More Perfect Union,” written by Simpson.
“We usually take lighthearted liberties with masterpieces from the opera repertoire, but for ‘Activist Aria’ I was inspired to rewrite the lyrics to reflect America’s profound and self-evident need to become ‘more perfect.’ Thus, a frothy Strauss composition became the container to hold both the appealing vision and the harsh reality of America, within which we find hope for its future,” Simpson said.
The six-minute video can be seen at operafrontier.org.
No Shellie Awards: It’s very strange to write a column in January and not including information on the annual Shellie Awards. The gala event honoring the artistic achievements of the previous year is always a highlight of the theatrical season. With theaters probably not able to begin producing live dramas until the fall or winter, I have no idea whether next January will be much different. But whenever we can have the next Shellie Awards celebration, I so look forward to seeing all of my fellow artists in their finest (or most creative!) attire laughing and enjoying one another’s company!
Sally Hogarty can be reached at sallyhogarty@gmail.com. Read more of her reviews online at eastbaytimes.com/author/sally-hogarty.
