Melora Marshall News

Two beloved plays by William Shakespeare are set to welcome audiences back to the spectacular outdoor venue at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum this summer.

William Shakespeare's rollicking and ever-popular comedy of mistaken identity, TWELFTH NIGHT, brings its magical combination of mischief, madness and romance into the outdoor amphitheater at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum this summer where it plays in rep through September 28. Written in 1601 and first seen in the Inns of Court shortly after Christmas (hence, the title), the holiday was celebrated as a festival during which everything was made delightfully topsy-turvy, much like the world of the play's Illyria. And you could not ask for a more ideal cast of characters to bring The Bard's non-stop, high energy hijinks to life.

I am a huge fan of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. It is literary genius in its storytelling of the lifespan of two families in Grovers Corners, New Hampshire It's almost as if Wilder turned Our Town upside down, shook it a few times in snowglobe fashion and created The Skin of Our Teeth. It's also a family drama but it covers more than one lifespan, as it combs a five thousand year period from the Ice Age to the 20th century in Excelsior and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Antrobus family is bound throughout: the father (Mark Lewis), the mother (Melora Marshall) and their two children Gladys (Gabrielle Beauvais) and Henry (William Holbrook) and their maid Sabina (Willow Geer). Their lives change through time, and plotwise, there is always a crisis they are exposed to. What is mos effective to witness is how they manage to pull through each obstacle...and survive.

The Skin of Our Teeth — The story of humankind told through the lives of the Antrobus family. Set in 20th century New Jersey and the Ice Age, Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a whirlwind of modernity and antiquity.

The Skin of Our Teeth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning tribute to the indestructibility of the human race by Thornton Wilder, opens on the beautiful outdoor stage at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on Saturday,July 13, where performances continue through Sept. 29. 

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its mission to resist and struggle against the forces of inequality and injustice by presenting socially conscious classics that speak to today. A new version of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, freely adapted by artistic director Ellen Geer and co-directed by Geer and Melora Marshall, joins Theatricum's 2019 summer repertory season beginning Saturday, June 22.

Actor Will Holbrook made a big splash as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet when he first arrived in Los Angeles in 2016 at the Archway Theatre Co. The grandson of Hal Holbrook, Will is ambitious with two plays scheduled to perform this summer and the presentation of his new production company dedicated to film. In our conversation, Will talks with candor and enthusiasm about his plans for this summer and beyond.

Mischief, madness and romance are in the air this summer when Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents William Shakespeare's rollicking comedy, Twelfth Night, in its magical, outdoor Topanga amphitheater. Twelfth Night opens Theatricum's summer repertory season onSaturday, June 1 at 8 p.m., where performances will continue through Sept. 28.

A celebration of one of the greatest novels ever written and a triumph of theatrical imagination. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents Moby Dick-Rehearsed by Orson Welles.

Mischief, madness and romance are in the air this summer when Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents William Shakespeare's rollicking comedy, Twelfth Night, in its magical, outdoor Topanga amphitheater. Twelfth Night opens Theatricum's summer repertory season on Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m., where performances will continue through Sept. 28.

Theatricum Botanicum takes on Shakespeare's stinging drama CORIOLANUS this summer on its outdoor stage in Topanga Canyon and offers an intriguing look at the cynicism of politics and power. The work includes a massive cast of 45. Some are seasoned veterans and many are young actors in the early stages of their careers, including a sweet Geer granddaughter (Quinnlyn Scheppner). Together they bring forth the early days of Rome when democracy was in its infancy and mob mentality could turn the tide in the blink of an eye.

 A mystery of hidden pasts, lost loves and false identities in a world where living things cannot grow. Members of the Geer family star in a revival ofThe Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold, a unique comedy that blends witty humor with insightful truths. Susan Angelo directs Bagnold's captivating psychological chamber piece for a June 30 opening at Theatricum Botanicum's outdoor amphitheater in Topanga.

A parable of mass hysteria that draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and McCarthyism, which gripped America in the 1950s, The Crucible by Arthur Miller remains eerily timely in today's climate of fake news. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, its own history firmly rooted in the McCarthy-era Hollywood blacklist - when actor Will Geer and his wife, Herta Ware, created the theater as a haven for blacklisted actors - opens a new production of Miller's modern classic onJune 30. Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer, Will's daughter, is at the helm, with family members Thad Geer,Willow Geer and Melora Marshall featured in the cast.

William Shakespeare'sCoriolanus, a tragedy based on the life of legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus, opens the summer season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on June 2.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum is back with an exciting summer line-up of socially conscious theater, music and performance. The Summer 2018 Season, including five plays set to open in rapid succession and perform in repertory throughout the summer together with a host of satellite events, will open June 2 and continue through mid-October in the company's breathtakingly beautiful outdoor Topanga setting.

ANIMAL FARM, Orwell's brilliant political satire about the corrupting influence of power, charts the fall of idealism and the rise of tyranny after the animals of Manor Farm rise up against their oppressive human owner in a struggle for rights, equality, gaining the right to make their own choices on how to live their lives. Onstage, the story is read by two children, the girl (Sierra Rose Friday) and boy (Shane McDermott), keeping the audience informed as to the action taking place or what has gone on off stage leading to that particular scene. It all begins as the animals, led by Snowball, an idealistic pig (Christopher Yarrow), take over the farm from Mr. Jones (Steve Fisher). Their plan goes well at first; all the animals are equal and content. But eventually, several of the other pigs, led by Napoleon (Mark Lewis) and Squealer (Melora Marshall), yield to the lure of power and start to make decisions that serve their own interests best, eventually leading them to proclaim that some animals are more equal than others. The quote, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely,' certainly applies to Orwell's masterful work.

The manicured life of a conservative actor-turned-politician and his impeccable wife is upset when relatives arrive at their Palm Springs home for the holidays - including politically liberal daughter Brooke, who's about to publish a tell-all memoir. Mary Jo DuPrey directs Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities, opening July 8 at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum.

The manicured life of a conservative actor-turned-politician and his impeccable wife is upset when relatives arrive at their Palm Springs home for the holidays - including politically liberal daughter Brooke, who's about to publish a tell-all memoir. Mary Jo DuPrey directs Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities, opening July 8 at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum.

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice opens the summer season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on June 3.

How do lies become truths? An acclaimed stage adaptation of Animal Farm, the classic novel by George Orwell, opens at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on June 17, part of the company's "Rising Up" Summer 2017 Repertory Season.