Eugene Weekly : Theater : 5.31.07

Opening Nights

SPRING INSPIRATIONS

Opens at LCC’s Blue Door Theatre Friday, June 1.

This celebration of student one-acts caps off a season in which the Student Productions Association has basically kicked butt and won a vote for extra student fees to fund theater at LCC for the foreseeable future. It should be an exciting mix of promising directing, acting and definitely backstage work (LCC’s sets and costumes always impress audiences). Show dates are June 1-2 and 9-10. Call 463-5761 for tix.

 

FORTINBRAS

Opens at the Very Little Theatre Friday, June 1.

What the heck happens after the inevitable, depressing bloodbath at the end of Hamlet, when “young Fortinbras, with conquest comes from Poland”? Apparently, the result is quite a bit funnier than the best tragedy of all time: Lee Blessing’s Fortinbras, the VLT’s publicity tells us, begins with Fortinbras saying “What the heck happened here?” Fortinbras doesn’t want to believe Horatio and bruts about a Wag the Dog scenario in which the Polish destroyed the Danish succession and forced Fortinbras to power. Some of us adore Hamlet with fierce loyalty, so we’re a little alarmed by this: “Blessing has taken Shakespeare’s plot and injected his own 20th-century zaniness, right down to Hamlet being mysteriously trapped inside a television with Ophelia holding the remote control! Whether or not you enjoy Shakespeare, you’ll get a kick out of Fortinbras!” But that probably makes for a fascinating play. Show dates are June 1-3, 7-10, 14-17, 22 & 23. Call 344-7751 for tix.