On June 21, 2011, Shakespeare Santa Cruz Artistic Director Marco Barricelli announced the casts and creative teams for the upcoming season of summer plays. They are: The Comedy of Errors, The Three Musketeers and Henry IV Part One. On a promotional video Barricelli makes this comment about The Comedy of Errors. “Danny’s original production remains to this day a favorite of SSC audience members, and is a great celebration of our history.”
On the video, director Scheie adds, “It’s a perfectly constructed play plot wise, a beautiful intricate machine. I like that the play does what film can’t. We’re trying to deliver that special visual effect of hilarity with no slight of hand, no smoke and mirrors and no tricks.”
Local Testimonials for Scheie’s Past Versions of Comedy of Errors
Former Santa Cruz resident Jeffrey Smith, English instructor at Solano College in California, attended the festival every year. He said of Scheie, “When I watched a play of his, I was aware that a lot was going on that was transgressive and risky, but my main feeling was what magnificent fun this was, and how perfectly in tune with Shakespeare's no-holds-barred approach to comedy.”
Shakespeare Santa Cruz Advisory Board member Don Rothman taught writing at UCSC for 34 years before his retirement. Eloquently stating Scheie’s expertise, he said, “Many of us remember Danny Scheie's 1993 production of The Comedy of Errors as having reached the pinnacle of comic theatricality. Whenever people talk to me about it they smile broadly, ask if I recall the windows (doors?) opening and closing in astounding precision, and wonder if he will ever do the play again.”
He adds, “It's as though Danny has helped us to carry in our minds and bodies the essence of Shakespeare's comedy, and we want to once again experience the outright joy and delight that brilliantly staged Shakespearean comedy makes available, even in our memories after over two decades of seeing a performance.”
“As a director, I'd say, Danny Scheie has a joie de vivre and the genius to make it contagious. In seeing one of his plays, we get a glimpse of his ebullient, Dionysian spirit combined with profound respect for the audience's capacity to take aesthetic risks. To be in the audience of a Danny Scheie directed play is to be invited to explore one's willingness to be emotionally moved, chagrined, surprised, and delighted. He is a master of disruption,” he concludes.
Shakespeare Santa Cruz Thirtieth Anniversary Plans Celebrate a Milestone
The celebration will continue over the next three years. In the press release of Jun 21, Barricelli says, “This season of great plays created by great artists is the perfect celebration of our past, present, and future. There are not many arts organizations who have reached this milestone. Our hope, and indeed our mandate, is to continue improving and growing as we look forward to the next thirty years of Shakespeare Santa Cruz.”
More About Director Danny Scheie
The press release states that Scheie is a Professor of Theater Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and was also Artistic Director of SSC from 1992 – 1995. In addition, Scheie is an acclaimed actor with recent credits at California Shakespeare Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, and Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival. His production of The Comedy of Errors was first presented by SSC in 1988, was revived in 1993, and returns in 2011 as part of the 30th Anniversary Season.
Joining Scheie this season is scenic designer John Iacovelli, designer Brandin Barón (UCSC Associate Professor of Theater Arts), lighting designer Kent Dorsey and sound designer Mathew Schrieber.
The Comedy of Errors Moves to Montalvo Art Center after Santa Cruz Run
SSC The Comedy of Errors runs from July 19 – August 28, 2011, then moves to the outdoor Montalvo Art Center for a further run where Scheie has performed in the past. About the venue he said, “It is so great, so gorgeous to perform there! I can’t wait to get back!”
- For more information on Shakespeare Santa Cruz
- 2010 Shakespeare Santa Cruz Summer Festival Season
June Smith - I am the retired owner of a pioneering winery founded in the early '70s in California's Santa Cruz Mountains, with dozens of food, wine ...
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