San Diego Magazine / April 2007 / Takes a Village

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Takes a Village

MUSICALS TYPICALLY ATTRACT MORE theatergoers than spoken plays do, partly because they usually serve lighter fare. That generalization, however, has become less valid in recent years, thanks to epics like Les Miserables and darker subjects like The Phantom of the Opera and Sweeney Todd. Thus, it figures that a company like Carlsbad’s New Village Arts Theatre, renowned for its serious productions, would pick——as its first musical——one with a multilayered theme.

That would be Sailor’s Song (April 7-29) by John Patrick Shanley, who seems to be able to write in any genre, as shown by the honors he’s accumulated for his works, including the Pulitzer drama winner, Doubt, and the Oscar screenplay winner, Moonstruck. In Song, a seaman visiting his uncle and terminally ill aunt is troubled about existence and its complications, especially in the dilemma he develops after meeting two diverse women.

“It deals with internal issues of life and death,” says Kristianne Kurner, NVA executive director, “and has these huge moments of dance——all types of dance. When the characters can no longer cope with the realistic world, they escape to the magical world.” That world is choreographed by Robin Christ, one in a cast that includes local luminaries Doren Elias, Manny Fernandes, Amanda Morrow and Amanda Sitton.

NVA’s first musical is also its initial production in its new 99-seat theater in downtown Carlsbad. For Song, Kurner says, Nick Fouch has created a “romantic and beautiful” set design, “a perfect match” for the script.

EVE ENSLER’S MEGA-HIT PLAY, The Vagina Monologues, pushed her into prominence as an astute observer of feminist issues, a reputation reinforced by her follow-up, The Good Body. That one comprised more monologues, this time about women’s obsessions with “fixing” some part of their body to attain what their culture deems ideal.

But Ensler’s new play goes beyond gender concerns. It’s about torture. In The Treatment, getting its West Coast premiere by Moxie Theatre (April 6-29), a male soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome is sent to a female psychologist for extensive counseling. He’s a former interrogator; she’s a colonel who’s a by-the-book type. Their sessions turn from antagonistic to empathetic, all the while examining the morality and methods of extracting information from a prisoner and/or patient.

“It’s the perfect play for Moxie,” says Jennifer Eve Thorn, who plays the colonel, “because it fits our mission to a T. We produce plays by women, but more importantly, we look for work that has a global perspective and accurately reflects that what matters to women is what matters to everyone. Ensler’s play takes the political and makes it extremely personal.”

LYNX PERFORMANCE THEATRE is largely a one-man operation. Al Germani chooses, produces and directs two or three productions a year, and his excellent, unconventional taste has resulted in some of the best, most challenging theater in town.

His latest, Paula Vogel’s How I Learned To Drive (March 27–May 6), is not unique here (it was done several seasons back by the San Diego Rep) and has won a passel of awards, including the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for drama. But it’s still Germani’s type, nonconformist and controversial. Vogel’s play concerns the seven-year relationship between a young girl and her uncle, who molests her. It’s a scary premise, but the power of the play——and the reason it was so honored——lies in Vogel’s ability to explore the complexities of the two people and their dysfunctional relatives. And Germani, no doubt, will mine all the gold in the script.