Upcoming visit to Shaw Festival/Theatre in Costa Rica

[Alex Hawkins]

>Date:         Sat, 8 Jun 1996 15:43:38 -0600
>Reply-To: The Theatre Discussion List <THEATRE at PUCC.BITNET>
>Sender: The Theatre Discussion List <THEATRE at PUCC.BITNET>
>From: Andres Saenz Lara <asaenz at NACION.CO.CR>
>Subject:      Upcoming visit to Shaw Festival/Theatre in Costa Rica
>To: Multiple recipients of list THEATRE <THEATRE at PUCC.BITNET>
>
>Dear List Brethren:
>
>I will be covering the Shaw Festival from July 1 to July 5 for La Nacion,
>the leading paper here, where I double as theatre and music critic. I'll be
>able to fit in about seven of their productions. I am truly looking forward
>to this experience and to the performances of Shaw's "potboiler" The
>Devil's Disciple and to his seldom performed fantasy The Simpleton of the
>Unexpected Isles, as well as other productions.
>
>I have the option of reaching Niagara-on-the-Lake via Toronto or Buffalo,
>and I was wondering whether some list members could advise me on which is
>preferable. Also, my understanding is that it's cheaper to rent a car in
>the States, something I'd like to do from July 6, to visit my teenage son
>and daughter who live in Quebec. Is it possible to rent a car on the US
>side of the Niagara Falls, for instance, and would that be a better option
>for me - or would it be better to go all the way to Buffalo and then come
>back to Canada and continue on to Quebec and then return to Buffalo to
>catch my flight back? Or would it be better to enter and exit Canada via
>Toronto, rent a car there after the Festival and drop if off on my way
>back?
>
>I'd really appreciate some feedback from any of you about this, as e-mails
>to the Niagara-on-the-Lake Visitor's Bureau www site have not been
>acknowledged. Also, any suggestions on other www sites that could help me
>out in this matter (not the Shaw Festival site, BTW). The whole point, as
>you all may gather,is to figure out what will be the easiest on my
>pocketbook, something you can all sympathize with, I hope.
>
>Here, the Compania Nacional de Teatro --the National Theatre Company--
>opened 3 weeks ago their production, in the Teatro de la Aduana, of French
>playwright Bernard-Marie Koltes' __Roberto Zucco__, directed by Alfredo
>Catania. The play is based on the events sorrounding the life and death of
>a young inmigrant serial killer in France some years ago. It explores the
>demonizing of criminals, eschews all psychological explanations of the
>young man's deviant behaviour, but is not an apology for criminal action,
>either. I found the staging, a big production, quite riveting, and the
>acting very convincing on the whole, and gave it a very favourable review.
>The play has been a hit with audiences, too. The Aduana theatre seats about
>400.
>
>Another hit has been __Baby boom en el Paraiso__ (Baby Boom in Paradise),
>by the young Costa Rican actor/playwright/poet/mother Ana Istaru, a very
>witty, funny and intelligent monologue, which Ana peoples with various
>characters, depicting the adventures of the female egg, from ovulation
>through conception, and the effects this and the ensuing pregnancy have on
>the mother-to-be, her husband and relations. The play won an important
>prize in Spain last year and is playing to packed houses --Thursday to
>Sunday, the usual theatre performance days here-- in the Teatro Vargas
>Calvo, a small venue seating about 90.
>
>In San Jose, where professional theatre is concentrated, there are 5 fairly
>long-running commercial shows also, mostly vulgar sex farces, not worth
>bothering about, but still doing business. On campus, the Teatro
>Universitario, run by the drama school at the University of Costa Rica, has
>a faculty/student production of The Marriage of Figaro, by Beaumarchais.
>
>Greetings,
>
>
>
>
>andres saenz
>asaenz at nacion.co.cr
>