Sometimes the uncanny ability that live theater has to evoke jouissance is more a product of the audience than the production. On the night I attended North Coast Repertory Theatre’s Sweeney Todd at the 5th and D Street Theatre, people clutching flowers waiting to reward months of their friend’s commitment to the show, new-to-theater locals […]
Front Row
Posted inArts + Scene
Blithe Spirit‘s Cast Brings the Comedy to Life
Conflicting production designs are not enough to hinder interesting directorial choices and strong acting in Ferndale Repertory Theatre’s new production of Noel Coward’s classic Blithe Spirit. Originally a British farce in three acts, director Merrick D. Yra removes an act, relocates the show to America, mutes the setting to gray and sepia tones, and plays […]
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The White Card‘s Dialogue on Race and Art
Like a speck of dirt on a pristine white dinner jacket, a black flatscreen TV hangs starkly against the all-white set, the screen showing the intense tennis battle between the Willams sisters at the 2017 Australian Open. The sound of shoes screeching and the claps of the tennis ball being smacked back and forth on […]
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The Riches of The Poor of New York
Our lives through these past pandemic years have been a little melodramatic — as well as lonely and heart-wrenching at times. It’s also been a disappointing five years since the last Dell’Arte International summer show within the now renamed Baduwa’t Festival in Blue Lake. Performed in a welcome return to vintage DAI comedic style, this […]
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Raised Stakes at The Prom
As giggling teens heckled, “You’re GAY. We’re all GAY,” from an open second-story window, echoing off the buildings of downtown Ferndale, and an unfortunate side street detour led us to a church marquee reading, “Ferndale Reps The Prom is Anti Christ and Pro LGBTQ,” the importance of playing stakes in theater productions was solidified. Stakes […]
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A New Brain‘s Snappy Synapses
Director, actor, choreographer and wicked talent Alex Blouin let the new Redwood Curtain production of A New Brain marinate for years. Her persistence and ambition in getting this charming musical produced by Redwood Curtain Theatre finally comes to fruition in a spectacular way at 5th and D Street Theater. With star-studded local theater familiars, beautiful stage […]
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Albee at the EXIT
I have never liked Edward Albee’s The American Dream, not as a part of my script analysis classes, nor in the multiple productions that I’ve seen performed. I find it to be shrouded with intellectual commentary and unfollowable simile that leaves the audience wondering what the hell is actually happening. Yet, I am still drawn […]
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First Rate Twelfth Night
The sight of someone smoking a cigarette in costume is shocking to those of us who have been conditioned by every stage manager — some even threatening our lives should we disobey. My shock faded when I found out the man I saw outside the theater was not an actor, but 5th and D Street Theater’s […]
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Into the Woods’ Complicated Ever After
Modern renditions of fairytales are simplistic, bland stories that encourage learned helplessness and non-consensual kissing — a far cry from the dark folk tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. The musical Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, now being performed at the Van Duzer Theatre by the Cal Poly Humboldt Department of […]
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Second Acts
The journey to try to find the Exit Theatre (890 G St., Arcata) is guided by a mischievous Google Maps and skeptical townspeople convinced we bought tickets online to a San Francisco theater by mistake. But Arcata’s newest theater venue exists, marked by a lone banner adorning the wall of the G Street side of […]
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Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Slays
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder by Robet L. Freedman is a side-splittingly funny, dark-humored, self-aware and fast-paced romp of pure entertainment. The cast and crew at Ferndale Repertory Theatre pull out all the stops and hit all the marks right from the very start. They keep that energy up and the audience laughing […]
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Match Girl Strikes a Chord at the Playhouse
The Little Match Girl: A Warm Tale on a Cold Night, written and directed by James Peck and Sarah Peters Gonzalez, is the annual holiday show at Arcata Playhouse. It is a re-imagination of Hans Christian Andersen’s famous short story “The Little Match Girl,” with more plot, contemporary comment and a twist on the ending. […]