Estancia takes a big step with ‘On the Razzle’

Tom Titus

Tom Stoppard, Estancia High School drama teacher Pauline Maranian

believes, “is the modern-day Shakespeare. His works range from the

highly profound to the light as a Viennese creampuff.”

Since Maranian began directing, she’s yearned to put Stoppard’s

comedy “On the Razzle” on stage.

“I have been waiting nine years for the perfect opportunity to

produce this show,” she declares.

That opportunity finally has come, and Maranian’s Estancia

students will perform “On the Razzle” this weekend and next in the

school’s Barbara Van Holt Theater as their fall production.

Reminiscent of Thornton Wilder’s “The Matchmaker” and its musical

descendant “Hello Dolly,” the Stoppard play has as its initial

inspiration a German piece by Johann Nestroy whose title translates

as “He’ll Have Himself a Good Time.”

“I was bowled over by the comedic opportunities for actor,

director and designer,” Maranian says. “I hesitated for nearly a

decade primarily for financial reasons. This play requires several

sets and props -- and, unlike Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town,’ it

demands more than just imagination and use of pantomime to create the

scene.

“In our lovable, yet ‘challenged’ space, it would be difficult to

deliver the play Stoppard intended -- horses and carriages, hat shops

and restaurants, garden walls and trap doors. This play has it all,”

she observed. “However, when you have the quintessential cast and the

world seems starved for laughter, we throw caution to the wind.”

Maranian describes “On the Razzle” as “a hilarious gem full of

flight by one of today’s best-loved playwrights. It has something for

everyone and is a gold mine for our group.”

Degree of difficulty doesn’t seem to be a deal breaker for

Maranian. Two seasons ago, she directed a student production of

Lanford Wilson’s challenging drama “The Rimers of Eldritch” that

could stand alongside any production mounted by one of our better

community theater groups.

She’s been maintaining the tradition of quality established by her

predecessor, for whom the Estancia theater is named, with a ton of

Music and Art Commendation for Youth awards in her first six years at

Estancia.

As for playwright Stoppard, Maranian declares, “Any opportunity to

do his work should be seized like a juicy steak after months of

starvation. He provides both sustenance and frivolity to the actor

and the audience.”

“On the Razzle” opens tonight at Estancia, with performances at

7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Dec. 13 and 14. Tickets are $7

pre-sale and $8 at the door, with further information available at

(949) 515-6537.

*

UC Irvine Drama is presenting, this weekend only, Steven Dietz’s

fact-based drama “God’s Country” in the university’s Studio Theater.

The events depicted in the play are true. In the early 1980s, a

group of white extremists called “the Order” organized in the Pacific

Northwest and committed a series of crimes, from counterfeiting to

assassination, and stole more than $3 million. Talk show personality

Alan Berg was murdered because he was Jewish and because his on-air

discussions incited the Order.

Recommended for adults only, “God’s Country” will be staged at 8

p.m. tonight and Friday, at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m.

Sunday. Tickets range from $8 to $10 and may be ordered by calling

the box office at (949) 824-2787.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His

reviews appear Thursdays and Saturdays.