Capistrano's Cool Librarian Reviews Camino Real Playhouse Feature

Greetings Intellectuals of mostly Orange County whose email addresses you’ve shared with me, 

I’d planned to send this out Saturday afternoon, after having spent the whole day hanging out at the Park as part of San Juan’s 50th celebration. Well, after seven hours of assisting little kids with making thumb print bookmarks, selling some used books, plugging library programs, and just happy that it didn't rain, the mail didn't get sent Saturday. 

So here it is Monday afternoon and I’m back at the library ready to share the latest production of the Camino Real Playhouse, "See How They Run.” http://www.caminorealplayhouse.org/see-how-they-run.php 

The play is an English farce, hence my clever Subject line in the email. Now I didn’t realize that there is a definite recipe for a farce which I’d like to share as stated in Wikipedia. Now I don’t usually like to use that particular website as my main source for reference work but it’s as good as any so here it is. Farce - a comedy which aims to entertain the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humor of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include sexual innuendo and word play and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases, culminating in an ending which often involves an elaborate chase scene. It is also characterized by physical humor, the use of deliberate absurdity or nonsense and broadly stylized performances. 

Voila! That is exactly what I had the pleasure of seeing last Thursday night at the Camino Real Theater, after Italian happy hour at the Regency Theater, the finest movie theater in town. There are only nine performers and I was familiar with five of them, who I’ve seen appear in various other productions over the past 12 months. This play is English so most of the cast have lovely English accents and ½ of the cast end up dressed in the same Vicar outfit. You see it all takes place in the Vicarage where Vicar Lionel Toop lives with his former American Actress wife Penelope. Other characters include the mettlesome town busybody Miss Skillon, the young cockney maid Ida, the Bishop/Uncle, the intruder, a visiting Vicar, and local Sergeant. As both the title states, and the farce meaning describes, you, the audience really see them run throughout the 2 acts. In one door out the other, out the window in the window, some in various states of undress or sleeping attire. I will say that Vicar Toop, who I had already been a fan of after seeing him as a Pirate Captain and also El Capitan, is quite the patriot as seen by his Union Jack drawers. And what a completely different character Darrel Hill as Clive, Penelope’s former/acting friend/now Corp. from his great performance as Mickey Gorski last December in “Greetings,” who I know will be nominated for a “CaminOvation Award” this summer. 

“See How they Run” runs the next two weekends, ending with a matinee performance on Easter Sunday. I’ve included the theater’s website at the beginning of this email so you can click on it and see the exact dates, times, and ticket information for when you might be able to make that trek just a stone’s throw out the back door of Swallow’s Inn. Speaking of that lovely establishment, I always enjoy Tom Scott’s welcome where he reminds the audience to turn off the cell phones, covers the safety issues by reminding people that the entrance they came in is also the emergency exits should they need to make a fast exit. And if such an emergency arises, everyone knows to meet up at Swallow’s. The library is just down the street but our proximity to the Basilica makes it our emergency meeting spot. Guess the particular emergency one would be experiencing would deem whether you needed a stiff drink or the closest confessional. 

 And while I’ve got your attention, I’d like to plug a wonderful program the Friends of the library are sponsoring Sat. April 16 from 10 – 12 noon in La Sala Auditorium. It’s a “Morning of Storytelling” with Storytellers Cynthia Callard and Victoria Burnett, who are guaranteed to entertain all ages with their communication skills that mesmerized generations before radio and TV came along. It’s all free and part of the year long celebration commemorating the 50th Anniversary of San Juan Capistrano as a city. 

Well, thanks for reading if you got this far. I want to give a shout out to Jonathan & Steve for the wounds they received in helping me break down my booth Saturday and getting all the stuff back in my car. I owe you both and you know how I’ll probably repay you next time you’re at a program of mine. And if you go to the play and some of you better, mention my name. It won’t get you a better seat but it will let Tom & Beverly know that I’m earning my seat. 

Ciao & Cheerio!

Teri Garza, Librarian/Theater Critic/Park Partier

 

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[Steve Behmerwohld]

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