"Aurora Theatre produces 'The Eccentricities of a Nightingale,' one of Tennessee Williams' lesser-known plays."



By Stephanie Wright Hession

Arts and Culture Writer

Tennessee Williams spent decades retooling "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale," including revising the piece for 25 years before it opened on Broadway in 1976.

"Eccentricities" is one of Williams' lesser-known plays, but he's said to have identified with its main character - Alma Winemiller - more than any other he created.

Winemiller lives in pre-World War I Mississippi, and she's a spirited and creative woman who's called the "nightingale of the Delta" for her musical ability. She lives among people in a place and time that reject her nonconformist ways.

"I found 'Eccentricities' to be very moving," said Tom Ross, artistic director of the Aurora Theatre Company, which is staging the play as part of the celebration of Williams' 100th birthday.

"Tennessee said he could relate to Alma because it took her a long time to come out, as it did with him," Ross added. "She is definitely on a sexual journey in a repressive environment. Tennessee Williams writes from the vantage point of the universal heart and the mind."

San Francisco actress Beth Wilmurt, who portrays Winemiller, said that the 35-year-old play has not lost any of its appeal with age.

"The play has many relatable themes," she says. "Marginalization and repression of those who are different is certainly an obvious theme, and even though times have changed, still relevant.

"But there are other interesting ones that stand out to me," she adds. "What makes up our fantasy lives or what are our illusions that keep us going and able to cope with life, getting out from under society's judgments and the hold our parents have on us; the repercussions of honesty - of ourselves and others - and our judgment of that; and sexually forward woman and the judgments that brings on."

Ross says those ideas of self-reflection and self-understanding help with the show's appeal to a contemporary audience.

Williams' "themes and characters are timeless and wholly human," Ross says. "This is a play about a human being who comes to an understanding of who she is and who she really wants to be. The play follows her as she attempts to find true satisfaction in life. We all want that."

8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Previews through Wed.; opens next Thurs. $10-$55. Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org.

"'Outside In,' show at the 1:AM Gallery focuses upon graffiti as art"

By Stephanie Wright Hession

Arts and Culture Writer

Though graffiti dates to ancient civilizations, it took recent artists such as Keith Haring to nudge this counterculture art form toward the mainstream.

While not wholly embraced, an appreciation for the urban art continues to be nurtured with an increasing number of galleries and museums presenting it, corporations seeking it and - in an ironic twist - property owners desiring it for the enhancement, rather than the defacing, of their buildings.

"Outside In," an exhibition opening Friday at the 1:AM Gallery, features 36 pieces, ranging from 2 by 2 feet to 3 by 4 feet, by nine California artists including BUTER, JURNE, KEB, UFO and WAND.

"We got the idea by seeing graffiti blending into these urban landscapes, amongst the drugs, poverty, advertisements, traffic, noise, etc.," says Roman Cesario, the gallery's art director. " 'Outside In' is created to take graffiti off of the streets and in a more comfortable, personal viewing space, so the art can be approached, dissected and appreciated."

The gallery focuses on the positive qualities of urban and street art, with themed exhibitions displaying creations by local and international artists.

"I chose the artists by viewing their art for many years and carefully choosing graffiti artists that represent different styles and letterforms," Cesario says. "These graffiti writers represent graffiti as it should be. Good people that produce beautiful public works."

Artist Joseppi DiMarco, 29, who started using the street artist name KEB about 20 years ago, integrates hues of turquoise, blue and plum into his works - colors he says "represent life and the ability to create."

"My style is what I would call traditional funk - funky letters with cool color schemes and great characters," the San Francisco artist says, adding, "I often do murals inspired by my drawings, which are related to how I feel and what I see. I live to paint and create.

"This show will give everyone a chance to bond with graffiti and its artists. My art is for the city and its people. It's not selling you anything or saying more than 'I love to create.' I don't mind if it is not for everyone, nothing is. I just hope people embrace this culture and start to decriminalize the art by creating outlets for artists."

Opening reception 7 p.m. Fri. Through March 12. Noon-6:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. 1:A.M. Gallery, 1000 Howard St., S.F. (415) 861-5089. www.1amsf.com.

"Eugenie Chan's 'Bone to Pick', re-envisions the Greek myth of Ariadne, at the Cutting Ball Theater."

By Stephanie Wright Hession

Arts and Culture Writer

In 2008, Eugenie Chan debuted "Bone to Pick," her provocative re-envisioning of the Greek myth of Ariadne, at the Cutting Ball Theater. The San Francisco playwright set the tale in a post-apocalyptic world and reinvented Ariadne as a waitress toiling away in a diner.

Starting Friday, the company reprises "Bone to Pick," along with "Diadem," Chan's new companion piece, which serves as a prelude and depicts Ariadne as young and love smitten. Fast-forward a few thousand years in the second play, and the audience meets Ria, the embittered, betrayed waitress. In both solo performance works, directed by Rob Melrose, Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball's associate artistic director, returns to portray the two characters.

" 'Diadem' is about a giddy teenaged Ariadne in the first blush of love, romance, and desire - and what happens when she realizes she's been abandoned by her hero," Chan says. "It's about how she grows up, fast. In 'Bone,' Ria's been living, serving up cups o' joe and waiting for her man alone on that island for millennia. She's seen everything - seen her island, her home, her country, her family, her civilization blown up and destroyed. Her heart has been broken in so many ways. Yet dutiful temple suppliant that she is, she will serve her customers day in and day out with the utmost professionalism and aplomb.

"In short," Chan says, "she's been around and around the block for thousands of years, and now is her time of reckoning."

Chan says she chose the atmosphere and period in which "Bone to Pick" occurs to pose an intriguing question.

"We're in a time of war the world over. For us, it's the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan. It made sense to me to play out a time when the occupation of civilian life has overtaken. What would it be when the weight of the world fell on the shoulders of one woman, as she is simply living out her daily life in her job as a waitress?" she asks.

Although based on ancient Greek mythology, Chan says the works contain timeless elements relevant to contemporary society.

"At heart, these plays are about how people, in particular these two women, try to wrestle their lives to get what they believe their dream is," Chan says.

"The impact of human action, the nature of our hopes and love - our complicity in our own demise and betrayal - and the demise of our world. Especially in 'Bone,' it's about our complicity in the fizzling American Dream."

8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m. Sun. Check website for complete schedule. Through Feb. 13. $15-$50. The Cutting Ball Theater at Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., S.F. (415) 419-3584. www.cuttingball.com.

"African-American Shakespeare Company's production of 'Cinderella' enchants and delights"

By Stephanie Wright Hession
Arts and Culture Writer

San Francisco actor Khamara Pettus often plays characters that possess a sinister nature. She recently portrayed Ashley, a member of a chain saw touting, pool of office workers at the Cooney Lumber Mill, who collectively kill a lumberjack once a month, in the Crowded Fire Theater Company’s production of “The Secretaries,” a satirical comedy by New York’s The Five Lesbian Brothers.

For this holiday season, she’ll play the antithesis of such a personality when she stars as the endearing, ball gown and glass slipper wearing lead in the African-American Shakespeare Company’s new production of “Cinderella,” directed by Velina Brown and opening Dec. 3. This presentation of the classic fairytale promises to be magical, humorous, whimsical and with a soulful flavor.

“I actually do a lot of dark comedy work and a lot of character work, so Cinderella was a refreshing change for me personally,” Pettus says. “It gave me a different way of working on a character because my characters are usually so outlandish and Cinderella is sweet and charming and light—that’s what I like about her.”




Cinderella (Khamara Pettus) loses her glass slipper.
Photo by Lance Huntley


Featuring a 20 person, ensemble cast, the story shifts between the here and now and the magical kingdom of an African American monarchy where Prince Charming (Matt Jones) lives.

Cinderella (Khamara Pettus) finally meets her Prince Charming (Matt Jones).
Photo by Lance Huntley

“It’s been really fun to put on the dress; it’s been really fun to do the photographs, the whole process,” she says. It’s been a fairytale come true for me personally.”
Actor and director Velina Brown decided to direct this version of “Cinderella,” after L. Peter Callender, the company’s new artistic director, approached her about it. Fellow actors, the two have worked together throughout the years at the American Conservatory Theater and other companies.

“The basic tale is the same but with the African American Shakespeare Company they do the classic with color so that’s the main difference,” Brown says. “It’s with an African American Cinderella and Prince Charming and that is something that I’m really excited about sharing with the little ones.”

She changed up aspects of the production, adding Afrocentric elements to it, casting women as the two stepsisters and presenting them as attractive. In the past, the company has cast men and portrayed the siblings as homely. Brown is doing so to emphasize fortify the lesson of the significance of internal beauty.
“I decided that I wanted them to be women because I wanted to have the conversation about ‘pretty is as pretty does,’ and ‘ugly is as ugly does,’” she says.

The African-American Shakespeare Company presents “Cinderella,” Fri.-Sun., Dec. 3-19. Buriel Clay Theatre, African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton St., San Francisco. $10-30; special gala event $50. (800) 838-3006, www.african-americanshakes.org.

"San Francisco Trolley Dances offers a mirthful ride"
Stephanie Wright Hession
Arts and Culture Writer

As Sara Shelton Mann choreographed a work in the San Francisco Botanical Garden, she didn't expect a troupe of boisterous squirrels to become her muses.

"When I went there to rehearse, there were these squirrels, so I named all of them Fred, and it's about Fred the squirrel," she says. "Through a process, I just built a lovely little piece that I hope people will enjoy, based around leaning and falling and running around and jumping into people's arms and the joy of being outside."

For it, the dancers will move to Norman Rutherford's aptly named score titled "Fred."

Part of the San Francisco Trolley Dances, an outdoor festival linking dance, public transit and the city's neighborhoods, it's one of several free (with purchase of Muni fare), site-specific performances by groups including Epiphany Productions, Ensohza Minyoshu, Joe Goode Performance Group, Christine Bonansea-2x3 Project and the Sunset Chinese Folk Dance Group.

Each embraces influences taken from the locations where the rides begin and end - the Harvey Milk Center for Recreational Arts, Duboce Park and the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

Kim Epifano, who produces and organizes the event through her Epiphany Productions, developed the idea for this unusual public fete after seeing the Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater do the Trolley Dances down south.

During Epifano's mixed piece this year, more than a dozen dancers will take to the Great Meadow at the Botanical Garden, where Epifano tapped into historical, emotional and landscape aspects. She imagined sand dunes and horse-drawn carts, the loneliness of a person sitting on a bench seeking refuge or contemplating a situation and the nature of the garden.

"You really feel like you're out in nature in a wonderful way. I'm in that meadow with the beautiful cypress tree. One day it can be hot and sunny, then foggy and cold. How the weather is, changes the personality of the piece," she says. "The other fun thing is the animals, the wild Canadian geese and the red-shouldered hawk. I lived here for 25 years and I had never been to the botanical gardens."

11 a.m.-2:45 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Free with paid Muni fare. Tours leave from the Harvey Milk Center for Recreational Arts at Duboce Park (Scott Street at Duboce Avenue), S.F. www.epiphanydance.org.

Aurora Theatre’s “John Gabriel Borkman,” mixes powerful performances with melodrama

By Stephanie Wright Hession
Arts and Culture Writer

Although Henrik Ibsen wrote “John Gabriel Borkman” in 1896, its story of Borkman (James Carpenter), a greedy, power hungry banker suffering from delusions of grandeur still resonates today given what happened with Bernie Madoff and the recent upheaval in the U.S. banking industry. Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre presents a fresh version of this Victorian era drama written by David Eldridge and a taunt production wonderfully directed by Barbara Oliver.

In the opening scene, we see Borkman’s wife Gunhild (Karen Grassle) living in the downstairs of a dark and thoroughly depressing home, while her husband Borkman lives upstairs in his bedroom. After serving time in prison for embezzling funds from his customers to build his own personal empire, this disgraced bank manager still isn’t free. He refuses to go outside, instead choosing to spend each day of the last eight years pacing back and forth, recounting his mistakes and plotting his comeback.

Meanwhile, the embittered Gunhild, who declines any contact with her husband, has turned her energies toward destructive means and placing all of her ambitions with their son Erhart (Aaron Wilton). She works diligently to persuade him to reject his father and take up her cause to restore the Borkman name to the respectable standing it once held in local society. Extremely possessive of her son and intent on punishing her husband for causing her to live such a horrible, meager existence, Gunhild doesn’t consider that perhaps Erhart may have other plans.

Enter Ella Rentheim(Karen Lewis), Gunhild’s estranged twin sister, whom she despises because Erhart looks upon her as a beloved aunt and because Gunhild’s sudden poverty forced Erhart to be raised by Ella, whose wealth remained untouched by Borkman. Now Ella is demanding to take Erhart to live with her for reasons we have yet to learn.

James Carpenter's commanding portrayal of Borkman makes for an engrossing and chilling performance, bringing this delusional, biting and power obsessed villain wonderfully to life. Karen Grassle gives an intense, emotional performance as the harsh, embittered Gunhild. Karen Lewis portrays Ella with tenderness and vulnerability.

Jack Powell gives a sweet portrayal of Vilhelm Foldal, an aspiring poet and the only loyal friend Borkman has left. Aaron Wilton plays the carefree, young Erhart with the perfect level of joie de vivre. Pamela Gaye Walker gives a delightful performance as the effervescent Mrs. Wilton, the woman helping Erhart plan his escape from the tight clutches of his mother and aunt. When she enters the theater, it’s as if someone opened a window, allowing fresh air into the staid atmosphere of the Borkman’s dreadful abode.

While Eldridge’s script contains some absorbing scenes, at times it drags and the melodrama reaches such levels that it elicits unintended laughter from the audience.

“John Gabriel Borkman,” plays through May 9 at the Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. For tickets call (510) 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org. Photo by David Allen.

Cirque du Soleil’s “Ovo” offers a charming glimpse into the world of insects

By Stephanie Wright Hession
Arts and Culture Writer

Insects surround us every day—in the air, underground and sometimes underfoot. Yet because of the tiny stature of most bugs, the majority of people don’t give them much thought. That’s what makes Cirque du Soleil’s “Ovo” so delightful. It presents these petite creatures in full, life size view, by focusing on a bustling day in the life of butterflies, grasshoppers ants, spiders, scarabs and more. The production opened and made its U.S. premiere Nov. 27, under Cirque’s familiar royal blue and sunflower yellow grand chapiteau, just outside AT & T Park in San Francisco.

“Ovo” means egg in Portuguese, which makes sense given that Deborah Colker, its writer, director and choreographer, is from Brazil. When audience members first enter the tent, they encounter a huge, glowing egg on a stage dotted with dandelion stalks and back dropped by a honeycomb.

It all takes place on Gringo Cardia’s changing set, with Éric Champoux’s ethereal lighting and Fred Gérard’s acrobatic rigging designs. Liz Vandal’s vividly hued, whimsical costumes and Julie Bégin’s playful make up design add richness to the production. Composer and musical director Berna Ceppas provides the lively, Latin rhythm inspired score. It's all under the artistic leadership of director of creation Chantal Tremblay and Cirque du Soleil’s artistic guide, founder Guy Laliberté.

Colker’s story centers upon a flirty, ditzy ladybug (Michelle Matlock) who becomes enamored with the Foreigner (François-Guillaume LeBlanc), a goofy, over the top fly, under the overbearing supervision of Master Flippo (Joseph Collard). Providing comic relief, the characters' antics are charming for the most part but also get a bit tedious at times. However, Lee Brearley as Creatura, who appears intermittently throughout the show, keeps the audience thoroughly amused with this dancing, Slinky like insect. Moreover, the stunning circus acts, presented in the highly imaginative manner for which Cirque du Soliel is known for, make “Ovo” a must see.



Vladimir Hrynchenko gives a breathtaking, hand balancing performance as a dragonfly atop a plant during “Orvalho,” in which he exhibits the tremendous strength and control required to execute such an act. Later, he gracefully glides his lithe body along the plant’s curves.

In “Cocoon,” Marjorie Nantel enthralls during an aerial silk performance as an immersed caterpillar undergoing a metamorphosis.

In the romantic “Butterflies (Spanish Web Duo),” Maxim Kozlov and Inna Mayorova epitomize elegance and grace in a performance that blends an aerial flying act, hand-to-hand ballet and contortion, all taking place on ropes on which they soar above in harmonious unison.

In the engaging “Spiders,” Svetlana Belova, Marjorie Nantel and Robyn Houpt twist their bodies in seeming impossible contortions.

In “Acrosport,” Anna Gorbatenko, Natallia Kakhniuk, Khrystsina Maraziuk, Elena Nepytayeva and Olga Varchuk also defy preconceived notions of physical limitations as they fashion themselves into a series of flawlessly balanced, human sculptures, in an act that blends acrobatics and dance.



Spiderman Li Wei challenges gravity and physics with his nimble balancing in “Slackwire,” including riding the wire while perched on an inverted unicycle.

“Ovo’s” finale includes the thrilling “Trampo-wall,” featuring Anton Alferov, Michel Boillet, Lee Brearley, Kasper Falkesgaard, Laura Houson, Yahia Icheboudene, Karl L’écuyer, Marjorie Nantel, Ludovic Martin, Zeca Padilha, Gary Smith and Hironori Taniguchi as power tracking, trampoline hopping, wall walking and running crickets taking flight and leaping onto a massive wall, sans any support equipment.

“Ovo” plays through Jan. 24, 2010 at A T & T Park in San Francisco and Feb. 4-March 7, 2010 at the Taylor Street Bridge in San Jose. $54-$135 regular admission and $175 to $250 for Tapis Rouge package. (800) 450-1480. www.cirqueduesoleil.com.

Neil LaBute’s “Fat Pig” challenges societal ideals of beauty

By Stephanie Wright Hession
Arts and Culture Writer

Neil LaBute’s provocative and deeply moving play “Fat Pig,” at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre, takes an honest and necessary look at one of the last acceptable forms of prejudice in contemporary society—fat phobia—and the devastating harm it causes.

LaBute, whose work includes “In the Company of Men” and “Your Friends and Neighbors,” employs his searing humor in “Fat Pig,” the second play in a trilogy dealing with modern culture’s obsession with physical appearance, its quest for thinness and its fixation on an idealized version of beauty.

Beginning with “The Shape of Things,” which the Aurora Theatre staged in 2003, and culminating with “Reasons to be Pretty,” “Fat Pig” centers upon Helen (Liliane Klein), an attractive, confident, intelligent, funny, sensual young woman, who also happens to be Rubenesque. She meets Tom, (played wonderfully by Jud Williford), a handsome and physically fit but otherwise unremarkable office worker, inside a crowded cafeteria at lunch. The two share a table and Tom quickly becomes enamored with Helen, as does the audience thanks to Klein’s vibrant and charismatic portrayal. Helen boldly gives Tom her business card, tells him to call her and entices him with a hopeful statement. The two begin dating, enjoy a mirthful relationship and fall in love.

However, viciousness ensues after Tom’s two superficial colleagues discover that his new girlfriend is plus size. Aside from their obvious shallowness, each holds their own motivations for being cruel. There's the grating, sexist Carter, (portrayed superbly by Peter Ruocco), who crudely assesses women’s value solely on his perceived attractiveness of their bodies and who continues to feel resentment toward his obese mother after her weight caused him public humiliation as a teenager. The attractive, non plus size Jeannie, (played with marvelous spite by Alexandra Creighton), is not just Tom’s co-worker but also his on again, off again lover. She finds out that Tom no longer wants a relationship with her in the harshest of ways, when the juvenile Carter deliberately discusses Helen in front of her. Despite this, Tom still struggles to tell Jeannie the truth and that he's now dating Helen. This gives insight into the weakness of his character, while neither Carter nor Jeannie possesses the depth to recognize Helen’s beauty or numerous personal attributes.

Instead, the pair embarks on an unrelenting campaign directed at Tom and against Helen. Their mean spirited actions include Carter coaxing Tom to show him a photograph of Helen, then grabbing it from his hand, running off with it and posting it in a mass company e-mail that mocks her weight. For the infuriated, 28-year-old Jeannie, her preoccupation with her looks and clothes only superseded by her desperation to be married, she cannot fathom why Tom would want to be with that “fat bitch” rather than her. This and a company picnic at the beach, forces Tom to make a decision: Continue the happy relationship he enjoys with Helen or succumb to societal pressures and break up with her.

To some, the title of the play and the dialogue may seem severe and feel uncomfortable. But sadly to most fat women living in society today both will be all too familiar, reminding them of similar exchanges they have personally experienced, often with complete strangers.

In “Fat Pig,” LaBute demonstrates his gift for stripping away the layers of the characters he creates and infusing them with genuine emotion. Although he does pepper the play with some tired fat stereotypes—Helen is overeating when she and Tom first meet and Carter tells of how his mom fills up four grocery carts at the store and checks the calorie content of bags of candy—at least LaBute takes on fat phobia, a prevalent, social ill that is rampant yet rarely discussed. For that, this work is highly commendable.

With brilliant direction by Barbara Damashek and powerful performances by its four-member cast, the Aurora Theatre Company’s compelling production of “Fat Pig” makes for vital theater.

“Fat Pig” through Dec. 13. Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. One hour, 45 minutes with no intermission. $15-55. (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org.

Broadway by the Bay enchants with Rodger and Hammerstein’s “The King and I”

By Stephanie Wright Hession
Arts and Culture Writer

A colliding of cultures, a test of wills, the challenge of learning to embrace people very different from yourself and the darker issue of human slavery are the enduring themes in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I,” which continues to resonate strongly with audiences nearly 60 years after it first debuted on a Broadway stage.

Broadway by the Bay is currently bringing this classic musical to life with lush vocals, beautiful orchestration, delightful dancing and exquisite costumes in its current production directed by Dennis Lickteig, with choreography by Jayne Zaban and musical direction by Mark Hanson, which opened on July 16 at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center.

Based upon the book “Anna and the King of Siam” by Margaret Landon, it tells the true account of a fiercely independent, widowed English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens, (portrayed superbly by Susan Himes Powers), who arrives in 1862 Bangkok with her young son Louis, (played sweetly by Hunter Lowdon), to tutor the King of Siam’s numerous children and wives.

In the opening scene Anna and her son make the transition from the familiar to the foreign when they disembark from the ship Chow Phya, with its wary English Captain Orton (John Duggan), and enter the mysterious Bangkok. Trouble immediately ensues when Anna discovers she and Louis will live in the royal palace despite the King's (Jared Lee) promise that they would live in their own home outside the palace walls. Her lack of familiarity with the city, and the new culture in which she now lives, doesn’t prevent Anna from immediately asserting herself and demanding a ten minute meeting with the king—in a land where this is simply not done. It all occurs on an exotic set designed by Premier Sets that features a pair of stone gates adorned with carved faces, back dropped by the ornate skyline of Bangkok and a crimson sunset.

Two poignant numbers convey the tragic aspect of this story. The first is when Meryll Locquiao, as Tuptim the enslaved and secret lover of Lun Tha (Romar De Claro), sings “My Lord and Master" which exhibits her gorgeous, haunting voice. The other is Himes Powers’ performance of “Hello, Young Lovers,” whose lovely voice produces chills.

There are also lighter and endearing moments as well, such as when the royal children meet Anna during the number “March of the Siamese Children” and one of them curiously lifts Anna’s hooped skirt—much to the dismay of the King,(portrayed brilliantly by Lee). It also gives the audience the chance to spy the array of costumes provided by The Theatre Company and created with sumptuous fabrics in vivid hues such as fuchsia, violet, deep green and accented with luxurious brocades.



Other playful numbers include “A Puzzlement” sung by Lee, who gives a charismatic and commanding performance as the powerful, macho and domineering—yet secretly insecure—King. Other charmers include “Getting to Know You” sung by Himes Powers, Lowdon, the Royal Children and the Royal Wives,(played by the ensemble cast), and when Anna (Himes Powers) takes the King (Lee) for an effervescent whirl during “Shall We Dance.”



By far one of the most deeply moving scenes happens during the number “We Kiss in a Shadow” as Tuptim, (portrayed eloquently by Locquiao), and Lun Tha, (played tenderly by De Claro), gently face and caress each other while dreaming and longing for a life of freedom together.

Zaban's choreography adds a powerful element to the production’s most intense scene, a Siamese version of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and the number “The Small House of Uncle Thomas.” The tension is palatable as the master Simon, (interpreted splendidly by Erin McKevitt), uses a pack of menacing dogs to hunt his slave Eliza, (interpreted gracefully by Yoshi Humfeld). Throughout the chase a female chorus chants “run, Eliza, run,” as the the scene builds to a crescendo. The choreography between Eliza and the Angel, (interpreted enchantingly by Joshua Lau), enriches it further and the masks worn by the characters add to the eerie nature of it all.

Overall, Broadway by the Bay’s production of “The King and I” provides an engaging evening of musical theater.

“The King and I” plays through Aug. 2 at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center, 600 N. Delaware Ave., San Mateo. For tickets call (650) 579-5565 or visit www.broadwaybythebay.org

"Habitat" engages and thrills with grace, strength and skill

By Stephanie Wright Hession
Arts and Culture Writer

Audience members ambled up a creaky set of wooden stairs, its banisters wrapped in vivid blue tulle, to the second floor Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco. They appeared eager to attend the December 14 opening of Sweet Can Productions' "Habitat," a mixture of circus arts, dancing and theater, written and directed by Rob Rodgers.

Inside the petite theater's ebony walls and on an uncomplicated set with props such as a free standing door on wheels and a step ladder, Rodgers presented a series of vignettes dealing with the themes of public and private personas. He demonstrated how each character possessed one face for others and another for the privacy of his or her abode. He also addressed the longing for personal connections and the process of letter writing with all the emotions that come with it, as mailboxes levitated and massive envelopes appeared on the stage.

Mirthful, poignant and enchanting “Habitat” didn’t disappoint, thanks to the grace, strength and skills of local theatrical circus artists Beth Clarke, BeeJay Joyer, Kerri Kresinski, Jeremy Sheets, Daniela Steiner and Matthew White, who portray the Inhabitants. Live music performed by musicians Dan Cantrell, Peter Jaques, Patrick Kaliski, Alex Kelley and Pawel Walerowski added to the ambiance with an eclectic array of tunes, composed by Cantrell and Kelley and under the musical direction of Kelley.



A particularly flirtatious scene featured all six characters waiting for a bus, as each one tumbled, twirled and danced from a bench, backgrounded by gypsy style music that reached a manic level. Each also mirrored one another's movements in a delightful way, including crossing legs in unison. Choreography by Kresinski, Clarke, Sheets and Natasha Kaluza added richness to this scene and others in "Habitat."

Each member of the cast captivated both the adults and the younger set in the audience and brought the production wonderfully to life.

Acrobat Matthew White demonstrated his comedic skills, amazing strength and balance when he played a man surrounded by two beige and ivory striped walls and a floating window. Each time he hung his sweater up it fell down, with it eventually becoming absorbed into the wall. Suddenly, White flipped and spun off the walls. Then he crawled up the walls and topped each with a dramatic handstand.



Kerri Kresinski exhibited grace and fortitude during her solo performance on pale blue, aerial silks. In moves that included dangling upside down by her wrapped feet and dramatically whirling from the ceiling to the floor, with the silks wrapped only around her waist, she thrilled the audience.

Beth Clarke demonstrated her physical agility as the woman who attempted to retrieve a letter-only to end up bent in half inside a large, metal garbage can with her head and feet poking out. She also executed a superb routine on the slack rope. And she and White were touching and romantic when they paired on the aerial silks for a supple and sensual performance.



When Daniela Steiner spun in the darkened theater from the trapeze she proved truly stunning and exhibited a powerful command over her body, which looks like a fine sculpture.

Jeremy Sheets’ balletic performance on the German wheel was both poetic and fluid. He was also charming and endearingly funny in several other scenes.

Juggler Beejay Joyer portrayed an overly confident juggler with wonderful comedic timing as he kept a trio of white orbs airborne behind his back, making them seem weightless.

It all made for a refreshing and alluring evening of theater.

Sweet Can Productions "Habitat" through Jan. 6. Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th Street, San Francisco. For tickets ($12-$20) or more information call (415) 273-4633 or visit www.sweetcanproductions.com.