Theater

“Sumer is icumen in,” as the medieval English poem has it, “sing cuccu, nu, cuccu.” Or rather shout “To be or not to,” or “Wherefore art thou, Romeo!,” ’cause summer is the time for Shakespeare (and this summer, one of his lesser known contemporaries).

Last July, I interviewed the Theatricum Botanicum’s Ellen Geer and the Independent Shakespeare Company’s David Melville on the challenges of keeping their theaters afloat. Coming back live seems to be as problematic: Covid protocols are still in place and the specter of inflation haunts everything from gas prices to production costs to the size of donations that people can comfortably give. In true show-must-go-on mode, David Melville said, “One way or another we will make it through [this summer], but there is no question that this is going to be a tough year.” Independent Shakespeare (ISC) is producing “The Knight of the Burning Pestle,” Francis Beaumont’s 1607 madcap parody of chivalric romances, followed by what promises to be a particularly spirited “Macbeth” set in the old Griffith Park Zoo. The long promised permanent stage for ISC has yet to materialize. “The Knight of the Burning Pestle” runs from July 2-3 and “Macbeth” will show from Aug. 6 to Sept. 4.

Theatricum Botanicum presents its ever popular “Midsummer Night’s Dream” through Oct. 1 along with the less frequently seen “Merry Wives of Windsor” through Oct. 2.

Elizabeth I was so enamored of Sir John Falstaff (“Henry IV, parts 1 & 2”) that she supposedly commanded Shakespeare to bring back the plump knight in a comedy. The poet W.H. Auden, when giving his lectures on Shakespeare in New York in 1946, famously (infamously?) remarked that we should be grateful for “Merry Wives” because “it provided the occasion of Verdi’s “Falstaff,” a very great operatic masterpiece.” Auden then ceased lecturing and played the full opera to his class!

A darker take on “Midsummer” comes from the Open Fist Company, which sets its production, running until August 13, on a plantation in the Antebellum South. “In this production,” says director James Fowler, “we’re able to see [that the fairies’] magic is played out in the lives of the people… who don’t ever see them,” because they are slaves.

Interpreting Shakespeare

Shakespeare encourages these “conversations,” as interpretations are now called, even if he might not have approved of them.

It has been open season on “Hamlet” this year, with some

Theater Review

by Louis Fantasia

notable success: The Metropolitan Opera produced a compelling version of Brett Dean’s score. The libretto by Matthew Jocelyn drew heavily on the much maligned “Bad Quarto” (“To be or not to be / Aye, that’s the point!”) for its pulsing narrative. The Pulitzer Prize for drama went to James Ijames for his “Fat Ham” — where a Black, queer Hamlet-like character named Juicy confronts family ghosts at a South Carolina backyard barbecue. Robert Eggers’ bloody movie, “The Northman,” is a re-telling (for strong stomachs) of the Amleth ur-text that can be best summed up by the film’s mantra, “Avenge Father/Save Mother/Kill Uncle.” (A recent (Please turn to page 21)

W2W4*

....The Fountain Theater tackles the abortion debate with a hyper-staged reading of Lisa Loomer’s ROE, to July 10 on its outdoor stage. ....Rogue Machine at The Matrix runs Tim Venable’s study of ‘90s suburbia, The Beautiful People, to July 31. ....As for musicals: Dear Evan Hansen is at the Ahmanson to July 31, while Moulin Rouge plants itself at the Pantages until September 4, and Kinky Boots visits the Hollywood Bowl, July 8-10. (What would Max Reinhardt say?!) * What to watch for

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