by William Shakespeare
directed by Reid Edelman
March 7-16, 2008
Mendocino College Center Theatre
Shakespeare's timeless tragedy about two young people who dare to fall in love despite the bloody feud that has long divided their families. For more information, call 468-3172.
Romeo & Juliet contains mature subject matter; the play is recommended for ages 12 and older.
Contact: Reid Edelman
Phone: (707) 468-3172
WHAT: ROMEO & JULIET opens at Mendocino College!
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Reid Edelman
WHO: MENDOCINO COLLEGE
THEATRE ARTS DEPARTMENT
WHEN: March 7-16, 2008. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM; Thursday
March 13 at 7:30 PM;
Sunday March 16 at 2 PM
WHERE: MENDOCINO
COLLEGE, CENTER THEATRE
Center for the Visual &
Performing Arts,
TICKETS: $15,
$12 students and seniors. Advance tickets are available at the Mendocino
College Bookstore
and the Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah. For information,
call (707) 468-3172
______________________________________________________________________________________
MENDOCINO COLLEGE PRESENTS
SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO AND JULIET
The Mendocino College Theatre Arts
Department will present Romeo &
Juliet, Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy about two young people who dare to
fall in love despite the bloody feud that has long divided their families, for
two weeks only March 7 through 16 in the college’s Center Theatre.
In
this production, director and college theatre professor Reid Edelman has
updated the setting to a devastated post-apocalyptic landscape. The play unfolds in a modern military state
in which the Prince’s attendants wield automatic weapons and a large aircraft
has crashed into the center of the stage.
However, the feuding Montague and Capulet families fight with swords,
daggers and other more primitive weaponry.
Edelman explains that “while our version of the play takes place in
modern or even futuristic times, there is a sense that the ongoing violence has
shattered the technological and civil infrastructure. Winning the feud has become more important
than the futures of Verona’s communities and families. Certainly this theme resonates in our
contemporary world.”
While the college production design
is unconventional, Shakespeare’s language and poetry remain intact. Edelman explains that “whatever design
choices we make, in the end Romeo &
Juliet depends upon having actors who can bring the delicious language and
emotional story to life.” For this
production, the college has assembled an extraordinary cast. Romeo and Juliet will be played by college
theatre majors Joel Shura and Brittani Ray.
Ray dazzled audiences this past fall with her performance of Marketa in
the college production of Temptation. Shura has appeared in innumerable local
productions, including most recently the Mendocino College – Ukiah Players
Theatre co-production of Seussical the
Musical. Other college theatre
majors in the ensemble include Alicia Littletree as Lady Capulet, Jason Briseno
as Paris, Margie Loesch as the Nurse, and Jake Stoepler as Benvolio. The cast also includes several community
members and veteran local performers.
Chris Douthit, an English teacher at Ukiah High School and a former
member of the improvisation troupe “the Hooligans,” plays Romeo’s bawdy and
irreverent friend Mercutio. Jim
Williams, who has appeared extensively on Ukiah’s stages, plays Friar
Lawrence. Lori Stubben, following recent
college performances in Temptation and Metamorphoses, portrays Prince Escalus.
Performers making their college
theatre debut in major roles in this production include Crispin Cain as Lord
Capulet, Charles Hessom as Lord Motague, Cody Jennings as Balthasar, and Andrea
McCullough as the fiery Tybalt. Other
members of the ensemble include Jennifer Davis, Russell Gibney, Erin Gragson,
Daniel Katz, Allison Mack, Nate Mack, Will Mobest, Amanda Norton, Julayne
Ringstrom, Herron Spence, Sarah Timm and Rachel Vanderpool.
The many onstage fights
present unique challenges in any production of Romeo and Juliet, and in this production the fights are being stage
by guest instructor Carla Pantoja. Pantoja
is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors and a professional Bay
Area actor and fight director. The actor combatants in the production are
students in Pantoja’s Mendocino College Stage Combat course.
In addition to the very visible roles of college students as actors on stage, students are also playing essential roles in the creation the production’s technical elements. The show will feature striking scenery designed by resident theatre technician David Wolf and former theatre student Ben Kohler. Mendocino College lighting instructor and production lighting designer Ray Gifford is also teaching a basic stage lighting course in which students will apply their learning through hands on work on the production. Similarly recording studio instructor Paul Kemp is involving his students in his creation of an original sound score, and resident costume designer and instructor Kathy Dingman Katz’s students are building the show’s many costumes. The production stage manager is college student Autumn Teodorsen. The Mendocino College Theatre Arts Department strives to train future generations of theatre artists while also contributing to the cultural life of our local community. Providing opportunities for students to apply their theoretical learning through practical work on major productions like Romeo and Juliet is essential to these goals.
Romeo and Juliet opens on March 7, 2008. Performances will run for two weekends only, through March 16. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, Thursday March 13 at 7:30 PM, and Sunday March 16 at 2 PM. Tickets ($15 general; $12 students and seniors) are available at the Mendocino Book Company and at the Mendocino College Bookstore. For more detailed information about the production, including age appropriateness, please visit the college’s Theatre Department web site at www.mendocino.edu/theater/deptindex.html. For additional information, call (707) 468-3172.
