Page 66 - Sonoma County Gazette March 2018.indd

Wounded Humanity Explored in Upcoming Live Theater
By Alexa Chipman
‘Welcome Home,
Jenny Sutter’ from Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts follows a U.S. Marine returning from Iraq, and
her transition into civilian life, through a misfit desert community called “Slab City” with quirky, amusing residents. Artistic director Leslie McCauley discovered it at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival premiere. “The characters are tenderly multifaceted—alternatively fragile, funny, candid,
Integrating veterans into a supportive environment is a crucial aspect of community that is often overlooked. “We are still trying to figure out how to properly honor their service...the loss of stability and camaraderie is profound” Wisely comments on play’s message. Jisaela Tenney (Lou) urges a greater understanding of what veterans face when returning home. “As a society there is much more we could do...it breaks my heart.” Playwright Julie Marie Myatt’s ‘Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter’ is a tender narrative of the flawed complexity and ultimate compassion of humanity.
‘Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter’ by Julie Marie Myatt
March 9-18 at the Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts
Tickets: $12-18, theatrearts.santarosa.edu - 707-527-4307
Newman Auditorium in the Emeritus Hall, Elliott Ave., Santa Rosa Campus
Mar 1 ~ Write Your Own 10 Minute Play
Mar 7 - Jun 6 ~ Westside Stories - Everyone has a story. Come listen, or put your name in the hat to tell one yourself. Sonoma Portworks 7:30p, , davepokornypresents. com/west-side-stories
Mar 9 - Mar 18 ~ Welcome Home Jenny Sutter - Ages 14+, $12-$18, $4, 2p, SRJC, 1501 Mendocino Ave., Newman Auditorium, 707-527-4307, theatrearts. santarosa.edu/current-season#three
Mar 9 - Mar 31 ~ Noises Off By Michael Frayn -$20-$33, 6th St. Playhouse, 52 W 6th St., G.K. Hardt Theatre, SR, 707-523- 4185, 6thSt.playhouse.com
Mar 15 - Apr 1 ~ Blackbird - Northbay premiere. $15-$30, Main Stage West, 104 N Main St, Sebastopol, 707-823-0177, tickets.vendini.com
Mar 19 ~ Play Reading Series - Short Plays about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings - Free, Main Stage West, 104 N Main St, Sebastopol, 707-823-0177, mainstagewest.com/play-reading- series/
Mar 31 ~ Seeking Directors and Play Proposals for Free Shakespeare on the River 2018. Deadline for Submission is Mar 31. Petaluma Shakespeare Company, 40 Fourth St., #292, Petaluma, petalumashakespeare.org/, kristina@ petalumashakespeare.org
Ongoing
Reader’s Theatre Group ~ Scripts adapted from literature are read aloud to inspire visual imagination. Free, 2nd & 4th Tue, 7p, Occidental Center for the Arts, 3850 Doris Murphy Court, Occidental, 707-829-2176, occidentalcenterforthearts. org/, joanjustjoan@hotmail.com
Mar 23 ~ Friday Night Movie - Moana, An adventurous teenager sails out on a daring mission to save her people. FREE, 7p, Forestville United Methodist Church, 6550 Covey Road, Wiebe Hall, Forestville, 707-887-2020, Mike Mortensson
Mar 28 ~ Family Movie Night - How will the coolest Batman ever handle the villains of Gotham and an unexpected sidekick? FREE, 6-8p, Rohnert Park- Cotati Regional Library, 6250 Lynne Condé Way, Rohnert Park, 707-584-9121, sonomacounty.libcal.com
Israeli Film Festival $10-$50, 1p & 7:30p, Rialto Cinemas, 6868 McKinley St, Sebastopol, 707-526-5538, jccsoco.org
Mar 6 ~ In Between - About three young Palestinian women who share an apartment in modern Tel Aviv.
Mar 13 ~ Hill Start - A zany romantic comedy that starts with a car accident on a wedding day, and puts mom in a coma.
Mar 20 ~ Past Life - Two sisters try to unravel a disturbing mystery related to their father’s past as revealed by a hostile stranger.
FILM cont’d on page 67
Maureen O’Neill (Lou), Jenna Rechsteiner (Jenny) and Dylan Kupper (Donald) Photography by Tom ChownI
Mar 1 - Mar 11 ~ I Only Have Ives for You - Six short plays of inspired lunacy. 16 years or older. $0-$25, 8p, Costeaux French Bakery, 417 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, raventheater.org/
Mar 2 - Mar 11 ~ Dorothy and the Wizard of OZ - Children of all ages are invited to join in a child participation play. $5, 3p, Steele Lane Community Center, 415 Steele Lane, Santa Rosa, 707-483-58, santarosatheaterforchildren.com/events
crude and kind.” Several
veterans are involved with the production, including Air Force veteran Kaellie Clein-Cunningham (Cheryl). There are two alternating casts of six actors;
some rehearsals were separate, others as a group. “They’re a very supportive ensemble” director Wendy Wisely praises. “I hope the audience will feel that as they watch the play.”
Mar 2 - Mar 24 ~ Gary Kayner’s The Language of Flowers - Two
How do you imagine Jefferson and Hemings’ master/slave relationship? We’ll select a few of the plays and stage them on April 16, 7p. Main Stage West, 104 N Main St, Sebastopol, 707-823-0177
sisters living together in a neglected house in a small town. $15-$50 Call for times. Curtain Call Theatre, 20347 Hwy. 116, Monte Rio, 707-524-8739, russianriverhall. com/, Curtaincalltheatre@yahoo.com
Mar 3 ~ River Friends Presents Reader’s Theatre, Free, 7p, 2p Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Rd., Guerneville, 707-869-94
Mar 3 ~ Readers Theatre Performance ~
Mrs. Sorkin by Christopeher Durang and Hidden in this Picture by Aaron Sorkin - Free, 2p - 330p, Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Rd., Guerneville, 707-869-94
‘The Realistic Joneses’ from Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre is a moving story of two suburban couples who share a surname. Their personal struggles are hidden beneath carefully constructed conversations and an innovative use of language. Director Argo Thompson pauses the actors during rehearsal, asking them to explain the motivation their characters are feeling
in that moment, to layer the subtext in a richly woven tapestry of emotions. Deeply hidden fears percolate under casual lines in the play, driven by a sense of loneliness or chronic pain.
Mar 3 ~ Will Durst Live in BoomeRaging From LSD to OMG - A celebration of the maturation of the Boomer Nation culminating in an extra, added special treat - the Meaning of Life. $30, 8p Main Stage West, 104 N Main St, Sebastopol, 707-823-0177, tickets.vendini.com
Mar 17 ~ Social Action Goes to the Movies Film Series - Fix It, Learn about the advantages and challenges of a single payer health care system. FREE, 7p, Congregation Shomrei Torah, 2600 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa, 707- 578-5519, shomreitorah.org
Mar 19 ~ The S Word ~ Alexander Film Society - A suicide attempt survivor is on a mission to find survivors and document their stories of courage, insight and humor. $12-$15, 7p, Clover Theater, 121 E 1st St., Cloverdale, avfilmsociety.org
Mar 22 - Mar 25 ~ Sebastopol
Documentary Film Festival - Festival will screen 66 documentaries, including one U.S. premiere and two Academy Award nominated films. Sebastopol Center for the Arts & Rialto Cinemas, Check Website for Locations, Prices, and Times, Sebastopol, 707-829- 4797, sebastopolfilm.eventive.org
Despite troubling themes, ‘The Realistic Joneses’ is a dramatic comedy. Melissa Claire (Jennifer Jones) mentions that it includes “some of the funniest lines I’ve ever read” and she appreciates the sense of play that has been integral to the rehearsal process. “You have to know your lines and let the story underneath come out through what you say, and how you react.”
Bordering on absurdist style, playwright Will Eno’s sense of the abstract
has inspired the two-dimensional set design paintings of white on black for three locations. Thompson would like the setting to be universal, emphasizing metaphor rather than realism. He believes that the story is “representational, everyman, we are all Joneses in a way” explaining that Eno’s writing is “not sentimental or manipulative, with real people and interesting dialogue.”
‘The Realistic Joneses’ by Will Eno
March 2-25 at Left Edge Theatre
Tickets: $25-40, leftedgetheatre.com - 707-546-3600
Luther Burbank Ctr., Left Edge Studio, 50 Mark West Springs Rd, Santa Rosa
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