Christopher Durang’s witty work hits the Actors’ Theatre

Theater director Gerry Gerringer sits in a tiny office, and we talk, like therapist to patient, which is ironic, since he’s directing a play about such things, with Christopher Durang’s “Beyond Therapy,” opening up at the Actors’ Theatre on Feb. 25 and running through March 19.

“It's really a clever, funny script,” Gerringer says. “It was kind of a play for its time, and now as time has elapsed since the ’80s when it was written, it becomes kind of a satire that’s relevant today. Though all of the characters in some ways have their strangeness, the two therapists who are in this play are so out there and eccentric that it's almost going beyond therapy to think that they can help these people. Comedy is very therapeutic. I think humor connects people and provides access to dialogue about different political issues. Laughter is one of the best things you can do on a regular basis.”

Cirque du Soleil's delicious new "eggs"stravangza is a winner

Hold the fly swatter! "Ovo," Cirque du Soleil's fascinating new outing, is more than a headturner. It's simply outstanding.

A memorable, often spellbinding frolic from beginning to end, the show, which opened in The City last fall, has settled into its San Jose digs. But in a fun turn, the outing takes audiences inside the inner workings of the ecosystem. More specifically, a place where a bountiful universe of  bugs—all kinds—engage in great mysteries. Here, Cirque's clever creatures fret over the arrival of a mysterious egg--by a neurotic fly (fittingly)--which forces everyone to question the egg's existence and perhaps their own. In other words: This is the best eye-candy of the season!

Newbie theater director discovers a new spark

It’s Dec. 1, the beginning of a new season. Twinkle lights abound, Christmas carols are humming overhead in grocery stores, and Alan Fox is sitting in a downtown Santa Cruz coffee shop, remembering his partner who died three years ago today. For him, it’s not necessarily a “holly jolly Christmas,” but for the first time it’s not a humbug holiday either. In the last year, Fox’s creative life has taken off, and he’s experiencing the peace and excitement that comes with that.

After enduring quite a bit of grief over the last few years, Fox, an executive recruiter for nonprofits, decided to get back in touch with his creative self by taking a documentary film class in San Francisco. He read a ton of books, was mulling over an idea for a film, when wham, the stock market took a dive and he realized that it might be a bit indulgent to spend a bunch of money on a first-time documentary. So, instead of pursuing that route, he took a few classes at Cabrillo College, including a scriptwriting course and a directing class. The directing end of things really resonated with him. The teacher of the class encouraged Fox to direct a 10-minute play—the experience was challenging, enlightening and inspiring. “I saw that there was something that I could do to get that spark back,” Fox says. “There is a future.”

The Sweepers
As the newbie theater company on the scene, Fox Whole Productions may have found a unique niche with its first production, “The Sweepers.” Not only is it a compelling story of women whose husbands and sons go off to the war, and the secrets that these women hold behind, but director Alan Fox has gone to lengths to create an interactive experience for theatergoers.

As patrons arrive, they will be greeted by actors (in character), and during intermission the audience will be treated to locally catered Italian finger foods.

Two artists embrace the green movement during Encore Weekend of Open Studios

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any ‘greener,’ now we’ve got a ‘green’ Open Studios. As the countywide annual art offering kicks off its encore weekend, GT decided to take a look at two artists who are not only creating stellar art, but also doing so with a green consciousness. Meet a few of our ‘green’ female artists at this year’s Open Studios: There’s the 29-year-old painter Sarah Bianco, and the 45-year-old maker of functional art, Polly Goldman. The two women are changing the concept that creating art can be wasteful.

Bianco resides at The Tannery, the new live/work space studios and apartments off of River Street near downtown Santa Cruz. She’s one of the lucky ones who were able to snag an enviable piece of real estate. Keep in mind, though, that her pursuits to live at The Tannery were hard earned. Bianco and her husband camped out in a parking lot just to hand in their rental application. From there, the pieces fell together, and they were able to move in. They have a two-bedroom space where they live, and where Bianco creates her painting artwork, and the two also run their painting business, which offers house painting, faux indoor painting, and more.

New performance space opens up in town
When Joan Van Antwerp was thinking about creating the second half of her life, she decided to enroll in a theater class at Cabrillo College. As a first-time thespian, she had no idea that her experience in this class would alter the direction of her life. And eventually, she would partner with local entrepreneur and theater aficionado Debbie Quigg to launch a theater arts space that has just opened, called The Mill Works Theatre.

This new space holds court at The Mill Gallery in downtown Santa Cruz, and is open every other Monday night as a works-in-progress venue where theatrical types can gather to put a short piece up on stage, try out a monologue, do a staged reading, and so on. The venue offers what can be hard to find around town—inexpensive performance space.