San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
King Charles, Aphra Behn and Nell Gwynne (David McBean, Jo Anne Glover, Jacque Wilke, clockwise from left) had a lock on Restoration English life.
- Photo by Erin Bigley
With last weekend’s opening of Or, MOXIE Theatre’s bond with playwright Liz Duffy Adams is only getting stronger. This funny piece centers on firebrand Aphra Behn (Jo Anne Glover), one of Restoration England’s most prolific writers, who took numerous lovers of both genders (including King Charles II, played by the great David Bean), was a spy for Charles during the Dutch Wars, did a stint in debtors prison and was widowed only a year after her marriage— all by the time she was 26.
Duffy Adams honors her liberated spirit as only she can amid a trademark deftness of language. Glover’s genteel King’s English complements Charles’ stuffy repartee perfectly, and Jacque Wilke’s bawdy Nell Gwynne peppers Restoration vernacular with modern street-isms when you least expect it (she hails Charles as “the bloody king of bloody England! I mean, jackpot!”).
Still, there’s something odd about Duffy’s character choices. Bean and Wilke make hair-trigger costume switches to play secondary characters—and while both actors excel in these parts under Shana Wride’s direction, I found the assignment of multiple roles both strange and vaguely in gratiating.
Costume changes advance plots involving mistaken identities and some-such, but here, there’s no similar requirement; why not simply assign the roles to additional actors?
Meanwhile, Omar Ramos’ clever sound beds include everything from generous baroque stylings to Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” in this very good middle farce on a Restoration figure who has a lot to show the 21st century about how to live.
Through April 23 at The Rolando Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd. in the College Area. $20-$40. moxietheatre.com
Opening
Plays by Young Writers: The 26th annual Playwrights Project event features staged readings and full productions of plays written by the winners of the Project’s California Young Playwrights Contest, all of whom are younger than 19. Opens April 2 at the Lyceum Theatre, Downtown. $9-$20. playwrightsproject.org
The Book of the Dun Cow: Wyrm takes on all the animals of the world in an attempt to spearhead a global reign of darkness. Produced by Lamb’s Play- Or, ers Theatre, it opens in previews April 1 at the Ione and Paul Harter Stage in Coronado. $22-$58. lambsplayers.org
Now Playing
Fiddler on the Roof: Tevye the milkman tries to keep his family’s traditions in place and marry off his three daughters as the Russian Revolution threatens to gain steam. Produced by Lyric at the Birch, it runs through April 3 at the Birch North Park Theatre. $32-$52. lyricoperasandiego.org
The Lieutenant of Inishmore: Padraic’s and Mairead’s sharpshooting skills are about to come in handy amid an Irish mini-revolution over a dead cat. Produced by Ion Theatre Company, it runs through April 9 at BLK BOX @ 6th & Penn in Hillcrest. $25-$29. iontheatre.com
And Then I Wrote a Song About It: Set to the rhythm of the disco era and beyond, this musical follows an overworked actor-singer-songwriterdancer-secretary as he searches for love and fame in the early 1980s. Through April 10 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. $30- $35. diversionary.org
The Atom and Eve and Bury the Dead: Sen. Eve Baldwin faces a vote on a controversial revolutionary initiative; a group of dead soldiers demand they be allowed to rejoin the living: Produced by Vanguard Theatre, the two plays run through April 10 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Point Loma. $10-$13. westminstersd.org
In the Next Room (or the vibrator play): A group of men and women get curious as a gynecologist treats “women’s problems” with a newfangled electric vibrator in 1885 upstate New York. Produced by San Diego Repertory Theatre, it runs through April 17 at The Lyceum Theatre, Downtown. $29-$53. sdrep.org
* miXtape: Generation X was torn between disillusionment and hope in this cavalcade of music from the 1980s. Produced by Lamb’s Players Theatre, it runs through April 23 at the Horton Grand Theatre, Downtown. $28-$58. lambsplayers.org
Rafta, Rafta: Two newlyweds find that starting their life together under the groom’s family’s roof is no honeymoon. Through April 24 at The Old Globe Theatre mainstage, 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. $29-$70. oldglobe.org
Shotgun Wedding Anniversary: What can happen after 25 years of marriage in a less-than-blissful union? For Basil and Petals, it can mean murder. Produced by Mystery Cafe, it runs through April 30 at Imperial House restaurant in Bankers Hill. $59.50, including dinner. mysterycafe.net
Cabaret: A cabaret singer, an American writer and the denizens of Berlin’s Kit Kat Klub are caught up in the swirling maelstrom of a changing society on the eve of Hitler’s rise to power. Produced by Cygnet Theatre Company, it runs through May 15 at the Old Town Theatre in Old Town. $25-$54. cygnettheatre.com
