DAVID BAZEMORE PHOTOS
EMAIL: ARTS@INDEPENDENT.COM O
L I F E
JOHN BLONDELL’S TROUPE HEADS TO CENTER STAGE
COURTESY LOBERO
PAGE 47
Mark Dendy
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heater doesn’t come much more universal than Hamlet, the “poem unlimited” that many people consider the greatest work of literature of any kind. And directors don’t come much more global than John Blondell, who, along with the rest of the Lit Moon Theatre Company, has been crafting modern interpretations of Shakespeare all over the world for decades. From Montecito to Macedonia, Bitola to Beijing, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, Blondell has traveled tirelessly (with his family, no less) to direct these shows and be part of an extraordinary international community of roving Shakespeareans. After being invited to participate in the Globe’s project for the London Olympics in 2012, Blondell returned to teaching at Westmont College in 2013, only to be recognized yet again. When the Kennedy Center recently held its annual College Theater Festival, The Pirates of Penzance that Blondell created along with his wife and collaborator Victoria Finlayson earned three awards: Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Scenography for a Musical for Danila Korogodsky, and Distinguished Director of a Musical for Blondell himself. While some people might seize this occasion as an excuse to rest on such
SPOTLIGHT ON: Victoria Finlayson (above) stars in Lit Moon Theatre Company’s new production of Hamlet. The company presents Shakespeare’s famous play at Center Stage Theater this week.
luxuriant laurels, Blondell does not do rest — he does theater. This weekend one of Lit Moon’s most distinctive “signature” pieces comes to life again, when Hamlet gets some new Santa Barbara artists in the cast. Jeff Mills takes on the title role this time out, as the company prepares for October, when Lit Moon will travel to Beijing to present their Hamlet at the National Theatre of China. In conversation earlier this week, the director confided that the new production, while retaining the fundamentals of Milon Kalis’s brilliant set design, will move forward and evolve from its original conception. The huge hanging paper wall, through which characters sometimes cut or even burst, will be back, but the show will, according to Blondell, be “more particular and psychological.” This change will be effected by a strategy that combines more deliberate pacing —“a
slower pulse,” as the director describes it — and a renewed emphasis on the characters’ exposure and disclosure of interiority. Audiences can also expect to hear Jim Connolly’s distinctive musical score featured more prominently than in previous, more expressionistic productions. “Conventions in theater have a shelf life,” Blondell said as he reflected on the new approach.“The original version could be presented as a kind of museum piece, but that would not express the intensity of now, which is what I want.” Fans of another great playwright, take note, as Lit Moon is simultaneously developing a new production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, which is slated for debut this fall. Until then, Lit Moon’s Hamlet comes to Center Stage Theater ( Paseo Nuevo) on Thursday-Saturday nights, March 27-29. For tickets and information, call 963-0408 or visit centerstage — Charles Donelan theater.org.
FUTURE ISLANDS SINGLES
When Future Islands first plugged in at Muddy Waters Café back in 2010, it took folks a few minutes to adjust. There in the low light, the Baltimore-based trio came out swinging — literally. Deep bass grooves butted up against pulsating synths and drum-machine staccato as frontman Sam Herring unleashed his stage persona, a stalking mix of guttural growls, poetic speak-sing, and theatrical posturing. In the four years since, the band has unleashed two phenomenal albums, a handful of EPs, and a few B-sides. But it’s the newly
unveiled Singles (their first for AD) that’s threatening to break them through to the masses. Future Islands’ draw has always been a hybridized mix of art-punk bravado and danceable hooks, and Singles boasts both of those elements in multitudes. The whole thing opens with “Seasons (Waiting on You),” a jam that almost tricks you into thinking it’s a waltz until the drums kick in, ushering an aerobic-like anthem about how time heals all wounds. Herring’s lyrics are famously romantic affairs, even at their most gut-wrenching (see 2012’s On the Water), but here they seem to have a hopefully realist drive to them. Take “A Dream of You and Me,” which finds Herring intoning lines like,
“I asked myself for peace, and found it at my feet.” The fact that Singles’ 10 tracks each shine on their own speaks as much to the album’s title as it does to Future Islands’ growth as a band. It’s a record that reflects the long road traveled, from a band that sounds like they’ve finally arrived. — Aly Comingore
DANCEworks 2014 KICKS OFF
Spring has officially sprung, and Santa Barbara dance fans know what that means: DANCEworks is about to usher in a fresh new season. Starting next Monday, March 31, New York–based choreographer Mark Dendy and his company will spend one month in residence on the Lobero stage, creating an evening-length work of dance theater. They’ll be crafting a piece called Dystopian Distractions: a darkly comic work of social commentary that considers contemporary American culture, from the cult of celebrity to the machinery of war. As in years past, locals have a chance to join the professional dancers onstage for the culminating performance. Yet instead of appearing in a short segment of the producTHE tion, community members will be woven throughout the work. Back in February, Dendy spent one week in town selecting dancers of all ages to join in rehearsals; if you missed the boat and want to take part, there may still be a few spaces. (Email shecaldwell@gmail.com for info.) For those who’d rather dip into the creative process, there are multiple opportunities: a master class on Monday, April 7, and a “Friday Club” for those who donate 50 or more to watch rehearsal and chat with the artists at the end of each week (April 4, 11, and 18). Those who have taken part in past residencies should mark their calendars for Friday, April 18, when there will be a DANCEworks reunion party. And anyone who supports the arts in Santa Barbara belongs at the culminating performance on Saturday, April 26, to witness the intensely athletic, wildly irreverent results. It’s rare indeed for a choreographer to spend a full month in the theater to develop new work; to be part of DANCEworks is to participate in the legacy of American dance making. For tickets, call 963-0761 or visit lobero .com. To learn more about DANCEworks, check out sbdanceworks .com, and for more on Mark Dendy Projects, head to markdendy.com. — Elizabeth Schwyzer
LOBERO WELCOMES
MARK DENDY
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