Unexpected Guest and Teatro ZinZanni provide two great entertainment options!

Unexpected Guest - - Delivered well, as expected!

The Orinda Starlight Theatre is a stalwart hometown theatre that works very hard to deliver some truly heartfelt theatrical experiences, a true community theatre in every sense of the word. Under the artful direction of Charlotte Meyer, this handy band of thespians have pulled one of Agatha Christie’s more delightful old chestnuts out of the fire and warmed it up for your evening’s enjoyment. The Unexpected Guest is a typical Christie murder mystery “Who Done It”, a delightful (albeit farfetched) tale that stirs in a dash of suspense, a little imagination, a convoluted plot, and a splendidly mischievous mix of comedy, all coming together to provide you with a very enjoyable evening of theatre under the stars.

The Unexpected Guest began its life on the Duchess Theatre Stage in London in 1958, where it ran for a respectable 18 month run. Author Agatha Christie is considered one of the most prolific playwrights in history, second only to William Shakespeare. In addition, she is the author of over 66 novels with over one billion copies of her novels in English alone, with another billion copies in 103 other languages in circulation today. Her play, Mousetrap, began a run at the Ambassador’s London in London on November 25th, 1952, and is still running continuously today, celebrating over 20,000 continuous performances.

As the play opens, a man whose car has run into a ditch because of a terribly thick local fog, is desperately seeking assistance and finds himself knocking on the French doors of Richard Warwick’s home study in South Wales. When Michael Starkwedder (Geotty Chapple), the unexpected guest, cannot seem to rouse anyone by banging his knocking, he cautiously opens the doors, calls out, steps into the Warwick home, and unknowingly, enters into the midst of a murder scene.

Mr. Starkwedder nearly stumbles over the body of a man slumped over in a wheelchair directly in his path. Mr. Starkwedder quickly concludes from the bullet hole in the man’s still bleeding head, that the man in the wheelchair has just been murdered a few minutes before his arrival. Standing in the shadows, a terrified Laura Warwick (Susan England), Richard Warwick’s wife, stands with gun in hand, trying to figure out what to do next. Obviously confused and disoriented, she admits, somewhat unconvincingly, that she has murdered her husband.
Starkwedder quickly concludes there is more here than meets the eye. He refuses to call the police until Laura Warwick explains to him what has happened and why. When she admits that her husband has been an abusive and mean-spirited husband for many years, Starkwedder feels sorry for her and attempts to help her to construct a plausible explanation for someone other than herself to be blamed for the murder.

It turns out that almost every member of the household has a reason for rejoicing at Richard Warwick’s death, including some who would even profit from it. The story gets more convoluted as the cast of characters grows.

The cast is very good, with Geotty Chapple and Susan England leading the way. Police Sergeant Cadwallader (Jim Fritz) and Inspector Thomas (Malcolm Cowler) provide the typical British investigative team. Family members include Jan Warwick, a mentally retarded younger brother to the mean-spirited Richard Warwick, who is played exceedingly well, exceptionally convincingly by Brian Edwards. The deceased husband’s mother, Mrs. Warwick, is played by Marian Simpson, the household secretary, Miss Bennett ( by Dee Moore), and a neighbor, Julian Farrar (by John Edwards).

Tickets are $15 each, but only $7.50 for Seniors and Students. The theatre is located at 26 Orinda Way, in the Orinda Amphitheatre adjacent to the Orinda Community Center, Park, and Library. The OrSVP (Orinda Starlight Village Players) have been serving Orinda residents and surrounding communities for approximately 30 years. Performances are every Friday and Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m., and tickets may be purchased at the ticket booth adjacent to the theatre. Reservations are not necessary as the seating is open on a first come, first served basis. Remember to dress warmly (perhaps even bring a blanket to cover the legs) as many of these evenings in the Orinda hills can be very chilly. My wife and I always bring folding chairs or “tush” cushions, as this outdoor theatre’s seating is very hard.

The Orinda Starlight Village Theatre has been around for many, many years and continues to bring a satisfactory mix of amateur and seasoned community actors to Orinda Audiences that will provide very reasonably priced entertainment.

The Zinful Zaneiness of Teatro Zinzanni captivates Pier 29 Audiences!

In San Francisco, Teatro Zin Zanni, permanently housed in a grand Spiegeltent at Pier 29, continues to provide an evening of wild and wonderful, “Zinful Zaneiness”, sporting a cacophony of courageous, crazy and clever circus acts, topped off by a taste bud scintillating dinner.

Karen and I have had attended several different productions over the years by this outstanding company and have enjoyed each one fully. With each show the cast and characters change to meet the needs of a new storyline. This covey of high energy clowns, acrobats, waiters, vocalists (ranging from opera to jazz), and production impresarios, keep you laughing and entertained every minute, even while you are eating your dinner.

This year’s comedia cirque del extraordinaire evolves around a wacky Queen Krissie Illing, who snorts and cavorts her trashy romantic escapade among the Zin Zannia-land family as she chases after and embraces an old flame, the show’s madcap Juggling Chef par excellence, Michael Davis. None of this wacky show’s storyline is meant to change the way you live your life nor to have any profound lasting meaning, but it is so much fun, and the food is so delicious, that you will be hard pressed not to remember it for a very long time.

The circus acrobatics include some pretty incredible performances of “suspended” animation, beginning with the very beautiful Berlin born Crystalle, performing a gravity-defying rope suspension ballet, high above the audience. Another exquisite, award-winning aerial dance ballet, is performed by Sam Payne and Sandra Feusi, as they perform a “Vertical Tango”, a dangerous dance of love, climbing and cavorting on a tall slender shaft of steel. In an outrageous mixture of fun and buffoonery, “Die Maiers”, consisting of Sabine Maier and Joachim Mohr (total opposites in looks and demeaner) captivate the audience with their clever acrobatics. A master of prime mime, Svetlana, performs an amazing robotic marionette contortionist act, like a puppet without strings, who mysteriously moves in fits and jerks, demonstrating to all her hilarious pinnacle of cleverly articulated hijinks. Sarah Dash delivers a Bourbon Street Jazz sound with her husky melodic tones, quite the opposite in style to the exquisite operatic music sung by Svetlana Nikitenko. Eugeniy Voronin confounds our senses with his Count Dracula demeanor and slick slight of hand illusionist tricks, and Peter Pitofsky clowns around in many malleable caricatures.

Throughout the entire evening, including while the audience is being served their next meal course, the cast of characters roam around the room, interacting with the audience (all while staying completely in character). Individual members of he audience are asked to participate in a couple of acts.

In one such act, the Chef called for a volunteer, preferably someone with juggling experience. In this evening’s performance, the friends of an audience member volunteered him to assist the Juggling Chef, Michael Davis. The young man reluctantly arose and was taken to the center of the stage where he admitted that he had done some juggling “many years ago!” Mr. Pierce then went on to practically steal the act, not only copying the performing actor/juggler but on occasion, actually out shining the “mentor”. The act became a bit messy by the time they began to juggle a chicken, bread, and a large blob of margarine, Mr. Pierce proved he could not only be a good sport, but a great competitor. The audience loved it and cheered the guest performer on!

The Teatro ZinZanni orchestra delivers equally impressive accompaniment that keeps the show on an upbeat, razz-ma-tazz musical tempo. The overall evening of entertainment was superlative. Music Director and Associate Artistic Director, Norman Durkee was assisted in part by Berkeley Repertory Company’s Artistic Director, Anthony “Tony” Taccone.

My wife and I both elected to partake of the herb marinated lamb sirloin with roasted potatoes, fava-bean hash and baby carrots (one of four entrées available). The Lamb sirloin meal was perfectly prepared and literally melted in our mouths. Even the antipasto plate that was awaiting our arrival at the table, was excellent, followed by a tantalizing Carrot – Ginger soup, then a crip and cold bay shrimp and romaine salad. The meal concluded with the tangy lemon mousse dessert, which brought the evening’s meal to a perfect conclusion. I’m getting hungry again, just thinking about it.

This show is a great collage of music, acrobatic skills, and comedic talents. Tickets range between $123 and $147 each, which includes the show and dinner. Alcoholic beverages are available for at extra cost. Call (415) 438-2668 for reservations or go to their website at http://www.zinzanni.org/ for more information. The weekly schedule is Wednesday through Saturday at 6 p.m., with Sunday performances at 5 p.m.. The Circus Tent is located at Pier 29 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.