Lake County >> Shel Silverstein has made his way to Lake County — or at least his writing has made the journey. Two short plays by the “Where the Sidewalk Ends” writer, as well as six others, are currently being brought to life by a talented cast of new and veteran actors and directors for the Lake County Theatre Company’s (LCTC) show “An Evening of One Acts”.
The production opened Friday night at the Gard Street School in Kelseyville, with shows following on Saturday and Sunday. Three more performances are slated for next weekend in the Weaver Auditorium at the Historic Schoolhouse Museum in Lower Lake. The shows are at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
“One of the big differences between this and a full length show is this is like … the theatrical equivalent to channel surfing,” explained Tim Barnes, the mentor-director overseeing the entire production.
This is the first year LCTC has organized An Evening of One Acts. The show features eight one act plays with a variety of different actors, directors and writers. The production is a way to bring old and new faces to the theater, be they directors or actors. “It was a good opportunity for some of our new people to get an idea of what it was and what it takes to put on a show without a full scale commitment,” said Barnes.
The show succeed in drawing in old faces. Marg Brooks, a director who’s been working in little theater for 40 years, directs “Patient Confidentiality,” a one act broken up into eight parts throughout the evening to create consistency. She took a step back from the stage for a few years, but with a deep-seated love for the theater, she couldn’t stay away. “I just decided this would be a good way for me to get back into the theater group,” she said. “These one act plays, they’re just delightful. The variety of different little plays and the talent is great and I love working with them. And the fact that I’ve never gotten over being a theater person.”
An Evening of One Acts enticed about 15 new directors and actors, each as talented as the last. “We got some really talented young people who are doing a really good job with us,” Barnes said. “It’s been a really great tool to bring in new people and people that have fallen away.”
Newcomer Bianca Torres acted alongside Barnes in “Best Daddy.” The play, which was devoid of props and relied entirely on the two actors, elicited peals of laughter from the crowd throughout. “I’ve been doing this for about 20 years now and she’s just got a natural talent you don’t find all too often,” Barnes gushed.
The production was also an opportunity for LCTC members to try their hand at something new. William McAuley, co-director of “One Tennis Shoe” and “Best Daddy,” has been acting with the company for six years, but this was his first round at directing anything other than a children’s play. Because a one act is much smaller than a full-length production, McAuley thought the show was the perfect play to explore his interest. “I saw it as an opportunity to get my feet wet a little more with directing,” he said.
Though one acts are somewhat easier to put on than a full-length show, they can still present challenges for a director. “You have to be a lot more focused when you have a variety of different types of acts,” Brooks explained. “Each director has to be very focused on what they’re doing. It keeps you on your toes.”
McAuley agreed that directing these shorter plays comes with its own obstacles, but he’s been enjoying every minute of it. “It’s not necessarily better than a bigger one,” he said. “With a big production, you have to plan out your time to cover all the scenes in the rehearsal time before you open … You gotta approach it different than a bigger production. It’s been a fun challenge to have all these things happen in one fifteen minute scene.”
It’s been a rewarding experience for veteran actors like Barnes, who get to hone in on their skills. Barnes is in three different one acts, portraying three different characters. It’s not enough to change costumes. For each act, he has to embody a new person, from the gait of their walk to the movements of their hands. “It’s the chance to create a character on a small scale,” he said. “For more experienced actors that are in multiple shows, they get that chance to refine their character work skills.”
An Evening of One Acts has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for everyone involved. “Everything has just gone very well,” said Brooks. “It just flows, the whole concept flows and it’s such a wonderful thing to have new talent, new writers, new directors, as well as veteran directors doing these one acts.”
McAuley has similar feelings. “With this show we have a lot of really, really talented people, both on the acting and directing and writing front,” he said. “So it’s been a really good melding of talent, new and old and it just came out as a really, really good show. It has a lot going for it.”
This success is likely due to the hard work and multitasking abilities of everyone involved. Often the directors and actors helped back stage, applying makeup, finding props and running the lights. “We have some actors that are just in one show but when they’re not on stage they also get utilized back stage,” Barnes explained. “It’s really become this whole all inclusive full experience of theater in one show … It turned into this really big cooperative effort by everybody to see all the other shows succeed too.”
The cast and crew wish to see many occupied seats this weekend. “We’re hoping these performances … are going to fill up because they’ve got some really good people in these shows,” said Brooks. “And there’s some really, really funny, good one acts and one very tender one people are going to love.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
