Playhouse, college offer summer theater fare

Tom Titus

Summertime doesn’t always mean the living is easy, especially if you

practice the art of theater in Huntington Beach.

While most local producing groups take the warmer months off to

rest, recuperate and rejuvenate themselves for the new season ahead,

two local theater organizations are in full swing during July.

Last weekend, the Huntington Beach Playhouse launched its 12th

annual Shakespeare in the Park production, “As You Like It.” (Since I

was in Reno matching words and wits in a Scrabble tournament last

week, that review will appear next Thursday). And this weekend,

Golden West College hops aboard with a program of one-act comedies

under the collective title “All in the Timing.”

Performing under the sun in Elizabethan-era garb may not sound

like a fun way to spend the summer weekends, but director Wendi de

Barros and her dedicated actors have made the concept work since the

early 1990s. Just bring a cap and plenty of sunscreen to the Central

Park amphitheater.

“As You Like It” is the show that inaugurated the playhouse’s

summer Shakespeare program back in 1991, and the local greenery will

be employed to depict the forest of Arden described in the play. The

director refers to it as “one of Shakespeare’s most comedic works.”

Curtain is 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through July 27 in the

amphitheater, situated near the playhouse, which is located in

Huntington Beach’s main library complex, 7111 Talbert Ave.

Reservations are being taken at (714) 375-0696.

A more temperate atmosphere will be offered at Golden West

College, where director Tom Amen has put together what he refers to

as “truly an actor’s show, in that it requires each actor to play

numerous roles throughout the evening.”

Playwright David Ives, Amen said, “is a wizard when it comes to

comedic dialogue and wonderfully quirky characters and situations.”

Among the lineup of eight one-act comedies are:

“Time Flies,” which throws two star-crossed mayflies together for

a single night of passionate romance. They only get the one night

because mayflies live only a single day.

“Captive Audience,” in which a young, suburban couple is held

hostage by their big screen television set in a plot borrowed only

slightly from “The Twilight Zone.”

“The Philadelphia,” which is a “black hole” in a New York City

cafe that only serves Philly cheesesteak.

“Sure Thing” and “English Made Simple,” a pair of romantic

comedies depicting the verbal mine field that couples must cross in

the process of falling in love.

Performing various roles in the comic potpourri will be Mark

Bedard, Matt Santoro, Joshua Matheson, Christian Navarro, Brenda

Kenworthy, Brenda Harris, Charity Royanne and Dana Michelle Styer.

Amen cautions prospective audiences that “All in the Timing”

contains strong language and adult situations, and is intended for a

mature audience.

The show will be performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and

Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. through July 27 in the college’s Mainstage

Theater, and ticket information may be obtained by calling the box

office at (714) 895-8150.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.