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rest. But of late, the soap has been temporarily laid aside to give the the theatre group room to move on to other pastures.The next immediately-planned production for the Alonzo company- 1 11 4w m u u u i u i u i a tt-Mivat Cdlicu%u201cCircus Maxi-Us,%u201d based around a group of circus animals that flee the big top because the children of today are too harsh and unkind to play for. Sporting animals that are spotted and striped and green and blue, the play has overtones of racial equality and a message to leave. %u201c It teaches that color is just a uniform, not some kind of condition,%u201d explains Cecil Alonzo. %u201cThe whole play is kind of cute: we find that the kids love A%u00bband the parents like it even mot%u00ab.'%u201dFollowing the November Circus performance, Alonzo would like to stage a neo-classical rendition of Medea, again exploring racial issues and strains, and in the meantime he is trying to scrape up funds to send the Beaulah Johnson operation into Manhattan for another try (right now, the Ensemble Company of Houston, Texas is performing old Beaulah scripts).%u201c Things are shaping up quite a bit,%u201d Alonzo says heartily. %u201c And I%u2019m not doing so badly myself, considering I%u2019m an unpublished playwright: it%u2019s nice having our stuff done in states that are 2,000 miles away.%u201dCircus Maxi-Us will open November 8, and will run for at least one other weekend inthat vicinity; shows on Thursday-Saturday begin at 2pm and Sunday shows start at 3pm. The scheduling will be solidified as the dates come closer in.Brooklyn Bridge TheatreFor some the season starts late, and that%u2019s the case with the eclectic Brooklyn Bridge Theatre company, starting its second season this year. The group, with its penchant for politically pointed and socially savvy scripts, won%u2019t be setting foot to stage until group founder Robert Gainer returns from a short stint in Virginia, where he%u2019ll be directing a production of %u201cTwelfth Night.%u201dGainer says that, on his return in late November, the Brooklyn Bridge Theatre will start seeking an appropriate play to kick off the Winter with. Some of the possibilities, held over from last year, include %u201c Weapons of Happiness,%u201d a play by Howard Brenton, and a multi-media splurge that Gainer is still busily compiling, tentatively titled %u201c Memories of an Amneisiac %u2014Eric Satie,%u201d which will be a mixed collage of theatre, mime, music and painting. Until he comes back, however, the season will stay uncommitted. %u201c We%u2019ll absolutely be doing something in the late winter or early spring.%u201d Gainer assures.Cobble Hill PlayersYou want to see specialization? Check out the Cobble Hill Players. They%u2019re not even pondering exclusive themes or particular subject m atters, but rather intend to present plays set in or centering around Brooklyn, their home turf.Corning off last year%u2019s performance of %u201c Hogan%u2019s G oat,%u2019%u2019 a locally-based tale, and a song-anddance showcase over the summer at St. Boniface Church, the twoyear-old group has thus far made good on its Brooklyn-only intent. %u201c Rather than go for the whole theatrical pie, we%u2019re just going for one piece,%u2019%u2019 explained Artistic Director Arloha Folwell. %u201c I think there%u2019s enough material around for us to do.%u201dFolwell is reluctant to discussfirm ntan%u00ab ---- 4 hill che ronfessed adesire to produce %u201c A Tree Grows In Brooklyn%u201d for this year. %u201c I%u2019m absolutely in love with the book, the movie, the screenplay%u2014all of it, everything about it,%u201d she said. She expects, however, that the production might run as much as $2000 in operating costs, and so won%u2019t be able to make ends meet without some form of arts grant.While looking for funding, the Cobble Hill Players are also out on ilie piuwl 1O1 a Cobble Hill home. Folwell has her eye on the old St. Peter's Church, standing on the corner of Warren and Hicks Sts., but hasn%u2019t found any commitments forthcoming. %unused,%u201d she says of the property, which has been leased out by the Catholic Diocese to Long Island Hospital. The Players in the past played out of St. Paul%u2019s.CompanyTheatreA theatre group without a theatre building is like the Beatles without Paul. You%u2019ve got most of the resources, but there%u2019s no option for showing. It%u2019s a hard set of circumstances to go through, the Company Community Theatre group has found: after three successful years of playing in the Greenwood Baptist Church, Company was unceremoniously ejected last year by a new pastor there, and was forced to scrap season plans in exchange for finding a new base.Now the group, albeit a bit bedraggled, has resettled in the Mission For Today Church at Sixth Avenue and Second Street in Park Slope. %u201c We'll be working there%u20141 hope%u2014forever,%u201d sighs Company President Roz Rosenthal.The first order of business after relocation was picking up the pieces of Company%u2019s old constituency with acommunity outreach,%u201d which Rosenthal reports has had encouraging results. New work has begun on what he hopes will shape up to be a season of at least three major productions: starting with Moliere%u2019s %u201cThe Imaginary Invalid, %u2019 %u2019 Rosenthal plans to lead into a light comedy or children%u2019s work in the spring, with perhaps a garnish of one-acts sprinkled along the way.%u201c We want to get as many people as possible involved with us,%u201d he stated. %u201c We were in flux for a while: but now we%u2019re back again, and we%u2019ve got a home. We hope to be here for a while.%u201dAuditions for %u201cThe Imaginary Invalid%u201d will be held in the Mission For Today on October 9 and 10 at 7:30pm. All are invited, and Rosenthal figures the classic farce should be ready for playing by the first weekend in December.Encore StudioEncore Studio presents perhaps the archetypal small theatre program: the idea is to draw from all quarters and stage a drama, a comedy, and a musical. What is missed in refining a theme is compensated for in a broaderbased spectrum, with the company becoming adept at a little of everything.The fourth consecutive season for Encore at the Community Center of the St. John-St. Matthew -Emanuel Episcopal Church at 415 7th Street, will open on October 19 with Neil Simon%u2019s comedy, %u201cThe Good Doctor%u201d in a run for four weekends. Shows will be held at 8:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, with 2:30pm matinees on October 21 and November 4.Beyond the first move in the new year, as with most other groups, Encore%u2019s plans go a little bit fuzzy. The next production, scheduled for February, should be a more serious one, and is tentatively slated to be %u201c Tea and Sympathy,%u201d written by Terrence Ratigan. The third effort and more like as*not the last one of the year, will be a musical that should surface sometime in May; options for that one aren%u2019t being discussed yet.Mimelights%u201c Kids are fascinated by movements,%u201d says Joe Zwcrling,one member of the Mimelights pantomime duo. %u201c A young child is not so much interested in a story as in movement. He can watch someone move for half an hour, where he might get bored if you tried to tell him a story for that long.%u201dHe should kno Zwerling and his partner Lindanell Rivera spend much of their performance time touring schools and libraries where they find an increasing demand for mime troupes. %u201c We go through most of the greater New York area,%u201d he says, %u201c from school to school, getting hired usually by PTAs.%u201d School performances are the money in the pocket that lets them keep on refining their moves and stay members of the New York Pantomime Theatre, a statesupported group of mime performers, with an eye toward more serious work.Much of the mime they do publicly is perforce simple stuff ; robot imitations, imaginary walls, creating a box, throwing a ball. But the first major event for Mimelights this year, already in planning, will be a change. Playing with other groups from the Pantomime Theatre, Zwerling and Rivera will be part of Mimefest %u201979, an event sponsored by BACA at the Downtown Cultural Center, 111 Willoughby St., on November 9-11. The evenings will be dedicated to mime figure Moni Yakein, who was at one point Zwerling%u2019s mentor, and will be a sort of renaissance rundown of techniques, effects and pantomime choreography. \very popular,%u201d Zwerling hoped. %u201c Mime is becoming very fashionable right now-it used to be that we%u2019d perform, and nobody would know what to expect, or know what was going on. But now they know, and they%u2019re pretty clear on how it works.%u201dRSVP Theatre CooperativeNothing ventured, nothing gained, is the philosophy of the RSVP Repertory Theatre Cooperative, says Director Bernadette Caruso, outlining the scripts and stagings coming up in the RSVP seasonal plans. Even without settling on a permanent home space, RSVP has managed to line up quite a quota of major production projects; Caruso plans to hop from church to church to community center over the year, snaring rehearsal and performance space in a catch-as-catch-can manner.The first work by RSVP will bebrought to stage in the second weekend in November at St. Augustin%u2019s Church, at 47 Sterling Place, when the Repertory will present \Leonard Gershe. Further ahead, when a space is definitely procured for it, Caruso predicts that RSVP will move into rehearsals for %u201c Inherit The Wind,%u201d final wrapping up the year in Spring with two one-acts, %u201c The Indian Wants theA scene from %u201c Papers%u201dby John Donovan in a TwoBridges Companyproduction, L to R: DencyNelson, Anna Galiena, FredIvory (Andrei Givotovskyphoto).Bronx,%u201d by Israel Horowitz, and %u201c Marriage Proposal.%u201dThe slate will be left open for more plays through the season, but Caruso says that expansion won't, in all likelihood, be the case. She noted that it was getting hard to run a small theatre group, and had grown harder even with RSVP%u2019s two-year tenure in the neighborhood.%u201cThere doesn%u2019t seem to be the same enthusiasm there onee w as,%u201d she lamented, further explaining that she was optimistic about RSVP%u2019s continuing existence, but definitely felt a hardship in keeping the group above water. %u201c I don%u2019t know what it is,%u201d she said. %u201cThere just seems to be something missing.%u201dNumbers To Call:Community theater groups tend to present a slice of life in the disorganized lane. Without warning, the rug of welcome can suddenly jerk away and leave a group with a production pending standing out in the street; likewise, a leave of absence or spell of bad weather can delay the curtain for a week or two. Before committing yourself to the limo service and dinner reservations, it%u2019s always a good idea to call ahead; more exact information on particular schedules also become available as time passes. For miscellaneous information, or if you have trouble getting through on any of the numbers, call the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association (BACA) at 783-4469.The Alonzo Players: directed byCecil Alonzo. Write the AlonzoPlayers%u2019 Home, 33 Flatbush AVe.,or call 522-3636.The Brooklyn Bridge TheaterCompany: directed by Robert Gainer. Cali 737-8169 or 228-0900The Cobble Hill Players: directedby Alice Burton, Arloha folwell,artistic director. Call 852-6390 or624-7696.Company Community Theatre:directed by Roz Rosentahl. Writethe Mission For Today Church, 298Sixth Ave. or call 499-4962.Encore Studio: directed by JackTjorner. Write the CommunityCenter at 415 Seventh St. or call837-0647.The Gallery Players: directed byAlice J. Kell man. Write the OldFirst Reformed Church, 126 Seventh Ave., or call 499-8239.The Heights Players: directed byJohn Bourne. Write the HeightsPlayers, 26 Willow Place, or call237-2752.Mimelights: directed by JoeZwerling. Write Mimelights, 238Sixth Ave., Apt. 2, or call 499-5469.New Cycle Theatre: directed byBurl Hash. Write New CycleTheatre, 657 Fifth Ave., or call788-7098.The Penny Bridge Players: directed by Jane Standon and SallyForbes. Write the AssumptionChurch, 59 Cranberry St., or call855-6346 or 625-4139.RSVP Repertory Theatre Cooperative: directed by Bernadette Caruso. Call 768-1985.m e lwo Bridges Company:directed by John Donovan. WriteTwo Bridges Company, 66 WaterSt. or call 522-2468.Uriel Productions, Inc.: directedby J. Geils. Call 852-7551.Two Bridges TheatreWhatever hardships it may beemerging into, the Two Bridges Theatre Company is the newcomer on the local stage scene. Its task is set out well ahead: according to founder John Donovan, Two Bridges is a group staunchly involved in experimental theatre, perhaps to the downfall of commercial success. %u201c We%u2019re much more interested in having the freedom to experiment and concentrate on the work we%u2019re producing than in becoming %u2018legitimate%u2019,%u201d Donovan states firmly.With %u201c a couple of plays in mind,%u201d Two Bridges has not yet settled on its first script, scheduled to be opened in November or December. %u201c W e're looking for something right now in a political vein. Not a dogmatic piece-it could be satirical, or dramatic,%u201d Donovan offered. %u201c We%u2019re not looking for tracts.%u201d He said that he had written several scripts over the summer, but wasn%u2019t ready to present any of them just yet.Two Bridges debuted last spring with Donovan%u2019s play %u201c Papers.%u201d %u201cThat was more like an outreach, or an experiment or an extended party,%u201d he says of the threeperformance enterprise. %u201c We wanted to see if people would come down. Most came expecting to see a Little Rascals type thing in someone%u2019s loft-but we surprised them with a real production, with actors, lights, script, everything.%u201dWhile Donovan shies away from admitting that Two Bridges will become more %u201c legitimate%u201d this year, he plans to try and widen the base of the company by tunning several plays this year with a cautious publicity boost. %u201c Off-otf Broadway is even more conservative than Broadway is, these days,%u201d he warns. %u201c We want to stay free of that. We want to stay independent and keep running ourselves.%u201dUriel ProductionsYou may be more familiar with the name %u2018Carroll Dance Theatre Company.%u2019 This is the same group, explains President J. Geils, but after an incorporation; Carroll Dance is now a subdivision of the newly-created Uriel Productions.The words have changed but the tune stays the same. Uriel Productions is involved in the same sort of experimental musical theatre for children as the older group was. %u201c We%u2019re kind of in low gear right now,%u201d Geils says, but assures that the delay is merely a wait for the finishing touches that are being put on two original plays. One, %u201c Possessions,%u201d which Geils describes as being %u201c for women,%u201d was written by Sarah Geils and Francesca Zambello and should open late in October; the other is called %u201c Salamouse,%u201d and will be a rock-and-roll opera musical when completed in November.%u201c Salamouse%u201d is the tale of the downfall of a young woman, loosely worked as a rodent%u2019s-eye-view of the fable of Salome. Such mainstay characters as Herod and John the Baptist have been forfeited in favor of Herat and John the Gastric, but the story follows the same general lines--with a beat. Geils estimates that it sould be finished in time for the spring season.Meanwhile, Uriel Productions is rehearsing temporarily from the basement of the South Congregational Church on President and Court Sts. %u201c Not having a permanent space is our main problem,\Geils regrets, picking a bone common among many other groups. %u201c Without a home, it makes it hard for us to plan ahead. We don%u2019t know where we%u2019re eoing to be.%u201d Geils also hopes to open an operatic production of %u201cThe Abduction From the Serilio,%u201d and will soon start a series of Young Peoples Workshops in Carroll Gardens.October 4,1979, The PHOENIX, Page 17