AXIS Theatre prides itself on producing work that's on the edge, unusual and often new to Baltimore. Its latest production, "Telling Tales," achieves all of these goals.
You get an idea of just how unusual the production is as soon as you see David M. Barber's set design, which consists of a giant sand box filled with black sand. But the new and different elements extend beyond the set.
"Telling Tales" is a collection of short monologues by Hispanic-American playwright Migdalia Cruz. Though she is an established writer, Cruz will probably be new to most local audiences. And director Gina S. Braden has cast a quartet of actresses who are all making their AXIS debuts.
"Telling Tales" marks Mar Garcia's theatrical debut as well. She displays a genuine knack for conveying a sense of childhood wonder, whether relating the poignant story of a short friend who became a midget wrestler, or her gratitude to the prostitute who offered comfort and a haven while the child watched her family's apartment burn.
Like Garcia, Tara G. Cariaso plays a single character delivering several monologues. In this case, however, the character goes from childhood in the South Bronx to adulthood in a suburban Connecticut town where she is the sole Puerto Rican. Cariaso spans the age range adroitly, and her opening monologue provides an initial explanation for the sand-box set as the site of a violent episode of vengeance from her character's youth.
References to sand recur in Anna Joseph's disturbing account of a bad drug trip experienced by a pair of Native American sisters. Joseph also delivers the production's final monologue, an odd piece whose arty obscurity is only accentuated by the director's decision to have the other three actresses appear on stage bearing candles.
The most haunting monologue is delivered by Claude Marbaix, a performer with a strong stage presence that is tough and appealing at the same time. Describing a woman she claims to loathe, she speaks with an intensity of feeling that makes her eventual revelation of her relationship to this woman both credible and unsettling.
The backdrop for this scene is a slide of a skull adorned with lipstick and a wide-brimmed hat -- one of a number of projections, designed by Dominic Veccheiollo, that enhance the production. Sten E. Severson's sound design, varying from street sounds to Latino music, also contributes to the evening's overall mix of grittiness and the exotic. Frequently intriguing -- and only occasionally baffling -- "Telling Tales" provides a welcome window into a world rarely portrayed on stage.
Show times at AXIS, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, through March 28. Tickets are $10 and $14. Call 410-243-5237.
Traveling with Beckett
The motto of Baltimore's Action Theater could be: "Have Beckett will travel." The company is about to take its production of "BeckettLand" on a two-week, nine-city tour of the Netherlands, beginning March 19. The tour is the result of the production's success at the 1997 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, after which Action acquired a Dutch agent, HDV & Associates.
In this latest incarnation, "BeckettLand" consists of five short Samuel Beckett plays, "What Where," "Catastrophe," "Rough for Theater I," "Footfalls" and "Breath," performed by Robb Bauer, Derek Letsch, Donna Sherman and Tony Tsendeas, who also directed the production. Stage manager Cassandra Davis will also travel with the company, as will lighting designer Paul Christensen, who will serve as technical director.
In April, after returning to the United States, "BeckettLand" will be part of the International Beckett Festival in Washington with a one-week run at the Scena Theatre. For information, call 703-684- 7990.
Internships offered
The Baltimore Playwrights Festival has announced its first internship program.
Aimed at high school students aged 14 to 18, the program will run from mid-May to early September. Interns will work part-time with directors and stage managers and also help with sets, props and costumes.
Although no stipends are available, interns who work on three or more shows will receive a certificate and be honored at the festival's annual awards ceremony. For information, call Shirley Bell, internship coordinator, at 410-488- 2404.
In addition, the festival will hold another free marathon of staged readings beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, and a reading of John Teahan's one-act, "Shepherd's Pie," will be presented at 8: 30 p.m. March 16.
All readings are held at Fell's Point Corner Theatre, 251 S. Ann St. Call 410-276-2153.
Musical's world premiere
Signature Theatre, the Arlington, Va., company that recently produced the world premiere of John Kander and Fred Ebb's "Over & Over," has announced another world premiere musical for next season. This time, the show is a commission.
"The Highest Yellow" -- with music by promising New York composer Michael John LaChiusa and a book by John Strand, a playwright-in-residence at Signature -- will debut in 2000. The musical will focus on creativity and madness in the mind of an artist, as explored by the doctor who treated Vincent van Gogh after he cut off his ear.
Signature will also present the area premiere of the 1997 Broadway musical "Side Show," about Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton.
"Over & Over," by the way, broke all box office records at Signature.
"We certainly never have had anything sell out so fast," said managing director Paul Gamble. "The initial six weeks sold out in two-and-a-half days, and the one-week extension sold out in about 15 minutes. We never had a seat go empty the whole run." Signature's previous biggest hit was Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" in 1996.
Auditions
Phoenix Festival Theater. "West Side Story," a musical in June; "The Mousetrap," a play in June and August; and "Fiddler on the Roof," a musical in September. For adults, ages 1 and over, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at the Harford Community College Chesapeake Theater, 401 Thomas Run Road, Bel Air. For children, ages 6 to 15, 10 a.m. to noon Sunday at the theater, for the "Fiddler on the Roof' production only. To audition for musicals, take sheet music for any song, and dress for a dance routine. To audition for the play, be prepared to read scenes from the script and prepare a one-to three-minute comic or dramatic monologue. Call 410-836-4369.
Pub Date: 3/08/99