Zoe Hertzberg, Sophia Blake, and Mae Linh Young in “The Bed Trick” at Chance Theater. Photo by Eric Keitel Photography.
Sex abounds in Shakespeare’s plays—for example, when Hamlet suggestively mentions “country manners” to Ophelia (“That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs.”) “All’s Well That Ends Well” is all about it, as we’re made well aware in Keiko Green’s clever remix of the Bard’s problematic rom com in “The Bed Trick” (playing at Anaheim’s Chance Theater through October 4).
College students are going to hook up on purpose, of course, but nothing is what it seems here, in a provocative study of truth vs. deception. Friendships are tested amid the messy goings-on in this play, with surprises around every corner and plenty of pointed social commentary built in for good measure.
Sharp performances by an ensemble cast (most making their Chance debut) under the perceptive direction of H. Adam Harris result in a consistently entertaining show. Fred Kinney’s scenic design makes excellent use of the theater’s Fyda-Mar stage. Info: chance theater.com.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and October is a busy month—tributes to Ellington and Coltrane, Brooklyn Rider, the Pacific Symphony presenting Mahler, Dukas and Strauss, “Beauty and the Beast” continuing its North American tour and Houston Ballet, to name a few.
My top pick would be the Houston Ballet, making its West Coast debut with the elegant “Sons de L’âme” (“Sounds of the Soul”), October 15-18. The program is is set to piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin, and choreographed by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch AM. The evening promises to be considerably enhanced by renowned pianist George Li in live performance, and a company of 20 blending solos with elaborate partnerings and ensemble sections.
Houston Ballet, founded in 1969, is the nation’s fourth-largest ballet company. The troupe tours internationally with a global reach across 116 countries. George Li made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 11 and won the silver medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition. Info: scfta.org.
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