(Above, left to right: Kory Weimer, Blake Nelson, and Chelsey Megli play in Cottage Theatre’s, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[Revised]; photo by Emily Bly)
By Randi Bjornstad
Unlike many of the theater companies in the area, most of which design their season’s to straddle the year end, the Cottage Theater keeps their entire season within a calendar year.
That’s why, although they’ve announced their 2020 season already, they still have a couple of plays coming up to close out the 2019 season. One, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[Revised], hits the boards Oct. 11-27. Just as it sounds, it’s a madcap, exhausting romp through Shakespeare’s oeuvre, covering 37 plays in 97 minutes, and all it takes is three indefatigable actors who find everything they need in a trunkful of strange props and quick-change costumes.
The actors are Kory Weimer, Blake Nelson, and Chelsey Megli. The play originated at the Edinborough (Scotland) Fringe Festival in 1987, and it has been a stage favorite somewhere all over the place ever since. But don’t expect the characters and details to be staid or necessarily even Elizabethan, and you won’t hear a lot of incomprehensible forsooths, thees, and thous.
This thoroughly modern take on the bard is directed by Rachel Froom, with Bil Morrill as stage manager and Ashlee Winkler as assistant stage manager. Rhonda Turnquist is costume designer, with props by Glenda Koyama, fight choreography by also-actor Kory Weimer, lighting by Amanda Ferguson, and projection and sound by Rachel and David Froom.
Those who attend the Shakespeare melange will be among the first to experience the first phase of the Cottage Theatre remodel, including new seats to replace the old blue ones, which executive director Susan Goes said were made by a company that went out of business 43 years ago.
The finished revamp will change the spatial relationship between the stage and the audience and will add 50 more seats to accommodate more viewers of the theater’s almost always sold-out shows.
The 2019 season will conclude with Oliver!, written by Lionel Bart to adapt the tale of the London orphan originated by Charles Dickens in his novel, Oliver Twist. The musical dates to 1960, when it premiered in London, and opened on Broadway three years later. It includes some of the most memorable — and singable — songs in musical theater, including Food, Glorious Food, Where is Love?, Consider Yourself, and As Long as He Needs Me. That show runs Dec. 6-22, with tickets on sale starting Nov. 6.
Then comes the 202o season, which will feature the following:
- Arsenic and Old Lace — Jan. 31 to Feb. 15
- Mamma Mia! — April 3-26
- Seeking Red (West Coast premiere) — June 5-21
- You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown — Aug. 14-30, 2020
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame — Oct. 2-25, 2020
- Elf, The Musical — Dec. 4-20, 2020
Season tickets for 2020 go on sale Nov. 1, 2019, for new subscribers; tickets for individual shows go on sale one month prior to each show’s opening night.
