Colleges concocting contrasting comedies
Tom Titus
Everything old is new again at Costa Mesa’s two institutions of
higher learning -- Orange Coast College and Vanguard University.
Vanguard, which recently presented Agatha Christie’s celebrated
whodunit “The Mousetrap,” springs back into action next week with a
revival of Brandon Thomas’ 19th-century British farce, “Charley’s
Aunt.” The next week finds OCC raising the curtain on a less-familiar
property, “Fortinbras,” which could be accurately titled, “Hamlet,
Part II.”
“Charley’s Aunt” bears a topical resemblance to OCC’s production
of period piece “The Importance of Being Earnest,” in that it
involves two young men, Jack and Charley, looking for romance in
stiff-upper-lip Victorian English society.
According to the custom of the time, the two lads require a
chaperone to keep company with their ladies -- a situation remedied
by the pending visit of Charley’s aunt, Donna Lucia. When she doesn’t
arrive as scheduled, however, the frantic young men recruit a fellow
collegian to impersonate the auntie -- in drag.
Old timers may remember the original movie with Jack Benny in the
title role or the subsequent musical version, “Where’s Charley?”
which starred Ray Bolger and introduced the hit song “Once in Love
With Amy.”
“Charley’s Aunt,” directed by Vanguard theater head Susan K.
Berkompas, will be staged Nov. 15 through 24 with performances at 9
p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and at 2 p.m.
Sundays in the Lyceum Theater of Vanguard University, 55 Fair Drive,
Costa Mesa. Call (714) 668-6145 for reservations.
OCC’s “Fortinbras,” written by Lee Blessing, puts a comic spin on
Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy -- or rather, it begins where “Hamlet”
left off. Fortinbras, the prince of Norway, arrives to take
sovereignty of Denmark, stepping over an array of bodies from the
original play’s grisly finale.
Fortinbras, a character frequently cut from modern productions of
“Hamlet,” becomes the central figure in this play, a wisecracking and
cynical fellow who spreads the story that the murders of the royal
family were perpetrated by a Polish spy. His ultimate plan is to
forge the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway into one invincible power --
to be called Denway (or perhaps Normark; he’s not sure).
“This play is reminiscent of, and equal to, Tom Stoppard’s
masterpiece ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,’” noted OCC
theater department head Alex Golson, who is directing the production.
The college has presented that play and several versions of
“Hamlet” over the years, including the modern offshoots “The
15-Minute Hamlet” and “I Hate Hamlet.”
“Fortinbras,” which was selected by Time magazine as one of the 10
best plays of the 1990s, will be presented for two weekends, Nov. 21
to Dec. 8, skipping Thanksgiving weekend. Performances will be given
at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays in the
Drama Lab Theatre. For more information, call (714) 432-5880.
* TOM TITUS writes about and reviews local theater for the Daily
Pilot. His stories appear Thursdays and Saturdays.
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