CSULB students produce Shakespeare

THEATRE REVIEW

By Lori Gailey, On-line Forty-Niner

August 6, 1998

Three Cal State Long Beach students are living a dream come true this summer.

With passion and determination, Lisa Coffi, Keith Gotowicki and Stephanie Courtney have formed the CCG production company with the vision of producing Shakespearean plays in outdoor venues, producing director Coffi said.

"When I looked around last summer at the performance spaces in the parks that weren't being used, it made me want to do something about it," Coffi said.

Assisted by the City of San Pedro Department of Recreation and Parks and Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr.'s office, CCG Productions secured funding from Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Thus, "Shakes-peare by the Sea" began, Coffi said.

Cal State Long Beach theater arts students comprise the majority of the cast of the trio's inaugural production, Shakes-peare's "Comedy of Errors".

"Comedy of Errors" is a comedy of mistaken identity.

The farce portrays the comic misadventures of twin brothers separated at birth. After 20 years of searching, one brother unknowingly arrives in the town of his twin brother and cannot figure out why he is greeted by strangers who know him.

Constant mistakes add to the confusion and mayhem for the entire city. Shakespeare adds to the confusion by giving the twins a servant each, with the servants also being twins.

Point Fermin Park, with its spectacular ocean view overlooking Catalina, is the ideal spot for the company's first production. Performances are scheduled at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings through Aug. 8. Performances are free, Keith Gotowicki, co-producing director said.

Hundreds of people attended opening performances and the trio hopes the performances will become a part of the park's already established Music by the Sea event, Coffi said.

Coffi and Gotowicki are entering their final year of the California Repertory Company theater management program and are utilizing theories and techniques they have been studying for the last two years.

"It's an excellent way to put our ideas to the test," said Coffi. Courtney, the director, is a theater arts performance major as well as President of CSULB's Honor Society. After contributing to more than 20 productions, Courtney is enthusiastic about directing a production for the City, Coffi said.

"It's exciting to be directing Shakespeare in an outdoor venue," Courtney said. The production is "about the actors, the text and the elements. It's theater at its most challenging level."

Coffi thoughtfully addresses the question "Is Shakespeare Relevant?" in a written passage on the playbill given to audience members.

"In romance and comedy, Shakespeare touches a timeless cord in human relationships which will always be significant ... Shakespeare is both relevant and unconnected, and therein lies the excitement," Coffi explains.

Visiting from northern California, 18-year-old Robert Hickerson attended the show with his family. He is planning to complete a degree in theater arts and aspires to perform or direct professionally.

"Even though I don't know any of [the CSULB students], I felt proud to see them doing something for the community. And to see the positive response of the audience was really cool," Hickerson said. "It actually made me think about going to Cal State Long Beach."