Explore Arts & Culture: Theater

Presently known for mounting well-received productions of Shakespeare and Moliere, The Arden Plays (TAP) will continue their mission of performing masterpieces of world drama for Santa Fe audiences.  In time for St. Patrick’s Day, “The Laugh of the Irish” (LOI) is composed of three twentieth century Celtic short comedies—John Millington Synge’s “In the Shadow of the Glen,” George Bernard Shaw’s “The Dark Lady of the Sonnets,” and John B. Keane’s “The Matchmaker.”   The plays will all be directed by TAP Founder and Artistic Director Deborah Dennison.  LOI will be presented the first three weekends in March at the Teatro Paraguas Studio (3221 Richards Lane, Suite B).

When Lily Tomlin was in Santa Fe at the Armory of the Arts developing her Tony-award winning one-woman show with author Jane Wagner, The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe,  her public relations people developed a clever tagline: “No sets, no costumes, no play….no refunds!”  the Santa Fe Opera Guild and the Education and Community Programs Department of the Santa Fe Opera do the New Yorkers one better with the following attention-getter for their two-part “Opera 101” program designed for community members who wish to become “students” of the 400-year old art form that, in essence, was “the first musical”:  “No readings, no tests, no grades….no tuition!”  And there will be free refreshments provided at the SFO) and (there’s more!?!) for those who complete both segments of the program, “graduation presents, awards, and incentives will be offered, including a highly attractive package of a preview dinner and ticket at a substantial reduction in price.”

Playwright Douglas Huff employs and transfigures actual historical events and people in Emil’s Enemies (EE) for the higher artistic goal of attaining universal human truths.  In effect, Bonhoeffer, the secular saint and celebrated hero of Nazi resistance, is demythologized and humanized as a contemplative man who is forced by events to confront the need for action in the face of unspeakable evil.  Theaterwork tackles this complex but illuminating work that reflects not only the headlines of today but also basic human behavior and values in a two-week run beginning February 18, 2010, at the James A. Little Theater on the campus of the New Mexico School for the Deaf (on the corner of Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive).

Teatro Paraguas will present Robert F. Benjamin’s Parted Waters (PW) for a three week run at two Santa Fe venues—Teatro Paraguas Studio (February11-21 for eight performances) and the Brian Fant Theater at Capital High School (February 25-27 for three performances).

Jessica López understands the message behind the character she portrays: a distressed teenager suppressed by her father's Latino macho culture, by her mother's strict rules and by her liberal American classmates' ideals.