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Bend Experimental Art Theatre Presents Romeo & Juliet

Shakespeare in sneakers and pumps? Shoulder pads and flannel? The vision and creativity of director Bradley Thompson and his B.E.A.T. troupe shines through in this exciting version coming to 2nd Street Theater July10-13. The setting moves from Verona to Seattle, from the 1690s to the 1990s, but Shakespeare’s words remain intact, unchanged.

For two months 18 young actors have labored, learned and taken joy in bringing this classic tragedy into a setting that can be more fully appreciated by young audiences and absolutely enjoyed by adults. Music and dance (of the 80s & 90s) are essential exuberant elements of the play. In this production, the classic Capulet/Montague feud is explored and we reach deep into the conflict that has been going on for so long, that its origin is virtually unknown by its current participants.

This production looks at all the events that led up to the tragic deaths, and asks “how could this have been avoided?” B.E.A.T.’s Art of Acting Workshop always combines the education of the actors as individuals, and as a creative group with the exhilaration and challenge of being an actor, deeply committed to understanding the author’s vision.

Thompson says of this journey: “As a production, we have investigated these plot elements and by the time the final curtain falls, the audience will know that this was a senseless tragedy that could have been avoided and the outcome altered.” In addition, many of the characters have gone through a metamorphosis. Male characters have been interpreted as and presented as female. For instance the role of Lord Montague is now Lady Montague, usually a minor character, now a strong, single mother of the nineties.

All actors in a B.E.A.T. production are stretched to a limit that challenges them to grow. These actors are committed to offering the audience a viewing experience they will relish and remember. Shakespeare’s views about senseless violence and the unlimited power of love ring true and very current to our present reality. The young actors have embraced the language and the exploration of these characters and the production comes to life.

The costuming and soundtrack add to the play’s relevance and enjoyment. What the cast brings to the stage is beyond what one would expect from a troupe ages from 11-16. The fact that the actors are a mix of different schooling experiences and even cross city limits, has only brought them closer as an ensemble and to the true meaning of Romeo and Juliet.

CTC Announces 30th Anniversary Season

Community theatre of the Cascades announced its 30th Anniversary Season. Season tickets and flex passes go on sale Tuesday, July 1. CTC’s Six Mainstage Productions for 2008/2009

• Leading Ladies by Ken Ludwig—a comedy, September 5-21 Two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing Scenes from Shakespeare on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, PA is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren’t nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady’s vivacious niece.

• Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie - a mystery, October 17 – November 2 A young married man spends many evenings with a rich old woman. When she is found murdered, the naive young man is the chief suspect. The testimony of his wife is expected to result in an acquittal, but all does not go as expected on the stand, a mysterious woman appears, and the young man’s fate appears sealed.

• Some Assembly Required by Eugene Stickland — a holiday show, December 5–21 A family of grown children and ageing parents gathers reluctantly, even accidentally, at the family home on Christmas Eve. As the children hole up in the basement drinking eggnog, their parents retreat into their neuroses upstairs. Each character, and the family as a whole, is crippled by guilt over the failure to live up to expectations. The play shows how our obsession with making Christmas “the most wonderful time of the year” is precisely what makes it so unpleasant for so many people, and it continues to be popular precisely because it speaks to this common experience of the holidays.

• All My Sons by Arthur Miller — a drama, January 30 to February 15 The story is concerned with the fortunes of the Keller and Deever families. During the war Joe Keller and Herbert Deever ran a machine shop which made airplane parts. Deever was sent to prison because the firm turned out defective parts, causing the deaths of many men, while Keller went free and made a lot of money. The twin shadows of this catastrophe and the fact that the young Keller son was reported missing during the war dominate the action.

• Sylvia by A.R. Gurney — a comedy, March 20 – April 5 Greg and Kate have moved to Manhattan after twenty-two years of child-raising in the suburbs. Greg’s career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate’s career, as a public-school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park—or that has found him—bearing only the name “Sylvia” on her name tag. A street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife.

• La Cage Aux Folles by Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman — a musical in June One of the all time biggest Broadway hits, La Cage aux Folles adds new dimensions to the boulevard comedy about homosexuals whose twenty years of domestic tranquility are shattered when a son, fathered during a one night fling, decides to marry the daughter of a bigoted politician. CTC also plans to bring back Dinner Theatre to Bend and Sisters, where they will present Red Herring by Michael Hollinger, a comedic detective story set in 1952.

The exact locations and dates for the dinner theatre have yet to be determined. Wednesday night performances have been eliminated, but an additional matinee has been added on Saturday afternoons at 2pm. Performances for each show will be Thursday through Saturday nights at 7:30pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.