Janis Stevens News

Season 45 continues at Theater at Monmouth with Oscar Wilde's deliciously witty satire, A Woman of No Importance, opening Friday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. Fraught with epigrams and pithy sentiments, A Woman of No Importance probes the societal hypocrisy of punishing women for the sin of passion while lauding men for their conquest. Surely the basis for Downton Abbey, Wilde's dark comedy lays bare the moral contradictions of Victorian England.

William Shakespeare's pastoral comedy, As You Like It, opens at Theater at Monmouth on Friday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. Set in the 1940s, As You Like It explores the ups and downs of love and courtship. Filled with mistaken identities and misplaced devotion, As You Like It lampoons the often puzzling, yet utterly gratifying, labor of love.

William Shakespeare's pastoral comedy, As You Like It, opens at Theater at Monmouth on Friday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. Set in the 1940s, As You Like It explores the ups and downs of love and courtship. Filled with mistaken identities and misplaced devotion, As You Like It lampoons the often puzzling, yet utterly gratifying, labor of love.

California Stage will bring 4 provocative plays to Sacramento audiences throughout 2014. The theatre will open its 23rd season with the world premiere of Nelda Roberts' captivating new drama The Vanishing Point, followed by RC Sherriff's Journey's End, Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade, and Rick Foster's Love Isadora.

The British are coming to Monmouth for Theater at Monmouth's 45th season. The British Invasion, running from June 28 through September 28, 2014, features a line-up of plays from England's greatest playwrights.

California Stage will bring 4 provocative plays to Sacramento audiences throughout 2014. The theatre will open its 23rd season with the world premiere of Nelda Roberts' captivating new drama The Vanishing Point, followed by RC Sherriff's Journey's End, Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade, and Rick Foster's Love Isadora.

Capital Stage continues its ninth season, THE HOMEFRONT: Soul-Stirring plays, with a love story told with the sharp wit of celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard. The 1984 Tony Award-winning play THE REAL THING illuminates the mysteries of love and the complexities of marriage. Capital Stage's production will be directed by Janis Stevens and will run from tonight, January 22, 2014 through February 23, 2014, with a press opening on January 25.

Capital Stage continues its ninth season, THE HOMEFRONT: Soul-Stirring plays, with a love story told with the sharp wit of celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard. The 1984 Tony Award-winning play THE REAL THING illuminates the mysteries of love and the complexities of marriage. Capital Stage's production will be directed by Janis Stevens and will run from January 22, 2014 through February 23, 2014, with a press opening on January 25.

Capital Stage continues its ninth season, THEHOMEFRONT, Capital Stage's 2013-14 Season of Soul-Stirring plays with an original adaptation of William Shakespeare's dark tragedy, MACBETH.Shakespeare, the father of English literature wrote MACBETH between 1603 and 1607. Since then, the Macbeths have remained one of the most fascinating couples in all of drama. Capital Stage's production will be adapted and directed by artistic director,Stephanie Gularte and will feature Scott Coopwood and Janis Stevens as the murderous couple. MACBETH runs from October 23 through November 24 with a press opening on October 26.

Fresh off the highly popular and critically acclaimed season of 'Power Plays,' Capital Stage will explore the theme of 'The Homefront' in its ambitious ninth season as Sacramento's home for bold, thought-provoking live theatre.

Shows featuring a solitary performer onstage are a hell of a thing. Playwrights/authors put their thoughts and ideas into a piece that is often biographical, and just as often fictional. The sole performer then must bear their soul onstage, working one on one with a director to inhabit the persona of the character. With no nets, no outside help, this actor or actress then leave themselves emotionally naked onstage with only themselves for help; equally terrifying and fulfilling. Janis Stevens does just that in her performance of THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING at the Theater at Monmouth. A performance that will leave you in awe.

Rounding out Theater at Monmouth's 2013 summer fare is Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, opening tonight, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. In this adaptation of her best-selling memoir of the same name, Didion presents a life-affirming approach to the grief experienced after the death of a loved one. Told with eloquent language, humor, and the searing candor Didion is known for, this one-woman tour de force paints an insightful portrait of a lifetime of love and a moment of loss.

When Thornton Wilder premiered his new play OUR TOWN in 1938, I would wager that more than one person left the theatre asking why anyone would want to watch the lives of "ordinary" people on stage. Fast forward to present day where millions of people the world over tune in to reality tv shows, following the lives of "ordinary" people. The difference is, that there is nothing "brilliant" about the lives of the so-called stars of reality TV. However, Wilder's OUR TOWN is light years ahead of it's time, and the talented cast of his well-known play bring out it's brilliance at the Theater At Monmouth.

Rounding out Theater at Monmouth's 2013 summer fare is Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, opening Friday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. In this adaptation of her best-selling memoir of the same name, Didion presents a life-affirming approach to the grief experienced after the death of a loved one. Told with eloquent language, humor, and the searing candor Didion is known for, this one-woman tour de force paints an insightful portrait of a lifetime of love and a moment of loss.

Season 44 continues at Theater at Monmouth with Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Our Town, starting tonight, July 18. Our Town presents a timeless tale of everyday life in the fictional Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. Teenagers George and Emily meet, fall in love, and marry; enduring both the joys and sorrows of everyday life. Wilder transforms their ordinary story into a poignant and captivating exploration of mortality and the wonder of living.

Season 44 continues at Theater at Monmouth with Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Our Town, starting Thursday, July 18. Our Town presents a timeless tale of everyday life in the fictional Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. Teenagers George and Emily meet, fall in love, and marry; enduring both the joys and sorrows of everyday life. Wilder transforms their ordinary story into a poignant and captivating exploration of mortality and the wonder of living.

Whether it be live theatre or cinema, most theatergoers are looking for entertainment and often an escape. We buy our tickets, step through the lobby and enter a dimly lit space waiting with expectations of entertainment; comedy, drama, musical, horror, what have you. Every once in a while, the silence in the theatre is broken by 'that person'; the annoying audience member who feels the need to comment on the action or talk back to the performers. They are usually met with disdain, constant 'shooshing', and often removal from the theatre. However, Francis Beaumont's comedic masterpiece written nearly 400 years ago not only makes these 'annoying' talkback artists part of the show, it makes his work timeless and hilarious.

Theater at Monmouth kicks off Season 44 tonight, July 4 at 7:30 p.m. with Francis Beaumont's The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Monty Python meets Don Quixote in this hilarious comedy by one of Shakespeare's most popular contemporary playwrights.Imagine Homer and Marge Simpson attending a play only to climb on stage to redirect the show with Bart as the star, and you have some idea of the fun unleashed in Pestle. Loaded with laughter and song, this play is a celebration of the way Elizabethan audiences expected to be part of the action-with superlatively silly results!

Theater at Monmouth kicks off Season 44 on Thursday, July 4 at 7:30 p.m. with Francis Beaumont's The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Monty Python meets Don Quixote in this hilarious comedy by one of Shakespeare's most popular contemporary playwrights.Imagine Homer and Marge Simpson attending a play only to climb on stage to redirect the show with Bart as the star, and you have some idea of the fun unleashed in Pestle. Loaded with laughter and song, this play is a celebration of the way Elizabethan audiences expected to be part of the action-with superlatively silly results!