October has opportunities galore for Y-S theater

October is a month of opening nights for area theater-goers.

First up is "Wit." It opens Friday at The Acting Company, 815 B St., Yuba City, with Pat Hill starring in the dramatic lead.

This sad but inspiring tale of a woman dying of ovarian cancer, and the few people surrounding her as she declines, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for playwright Margaret Edson. The TAC production is directed by Chris Collier.

The story revolves around Vivian Bearing, an English lit professor who is something of an authority on the poetry of John Donne and a loner in life; because, in so immersing herself in her academic life, she has cut herself off from the world at large.

Faced with approaching death, she takes part in an experimental treatment program at a teaching hospital, and that is the setting of the play.

Having some experience with several people slowly dying of inexorable medical conditions, the bare plotline struck me as the kind of movie I didn't want to see twice, so to speak.

But a conversation with Mary Knapp, one of a small group of Yuba-Sutter theater-lovers who traveled to see this play in Ashland, Ore., changed my mind.

Knapp sketched out the back story of how the trip to see "Wit" took place and its powerful effect on those who went. Upon returning to Yuba-Sutter, this committed group set about convincing others that this was a play that ought to be seen here.

And, as you can see, they were ultimately successful.

"Wit" addresses metaphysical issues such as self-awareness, love, harmony and that difficult to express sense of being in what some have described as "a state of grace."

Knapp was very cautious about revealing too much about the details of the play, but I will venture that play-goers will witness what I can only describe as proof positive of one actor's commitment to the art and her willingness to sacrifice all for it.

It runs through Oct. 26. Tickets are $15. Shows are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets may be purchased at the door 30 minutes before show time.

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Also coming to TAC is "The Completely True Story of Gretel and Hansel," a new work written and directed by local playwright John Elliott, who is gaining something of a reputation as a good storyteller for young people's theater.

The cast list for this rendition of this timeless tale includes Taylor Manning, Darien Torrisen, Tad Crother, Kathleen Hansen, James Murphy, Mark Hodge, Bonnie Williams, Eryn Valler and Breanna Valler.

The inimitable Joe Moye will be the narrator.

"Hansel and Gretel" runs Oct. 11 to 25. Shows are on Saturdays at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the TAC box office, 815 B St., Yuba City.

Please be at the theater at least 30 minutes before the show starts for seating convenience. Reservations can be made by calling 751-1100.

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Another October show coming to the Yuba-Sutter area is Aeschylus's Greek classic, "The Persians," as translated by Ellen McLaughlin and directed David Wheeler.

It opens Oct. 10 at the Yuba College Theatre and runs through Oct. 26, and, from all I've been able to derive from research into the genesis of this play, it shapes up to be a great show.

In a March 27 review in the Santa Barbara Independent, Charles Donelan described it this way: "At the prompting of playwright Ellen McLaughlin's friend Tony Randall, who felt that 'The Persians'' message of warning to arrogant empires had a contemporary significance at the beginning of the war in Iraq, McLaughlin took on the task of translating this ancient play for the modern theater. The result is a script that thoroughly re-imagines the choral parts, allowing for individual voices to emerge, and character development to take place within."

I'll have more to say about the Yuba College production next week.

For the moment, though, the tickets are $8 for general and $5 for students and seniors. For more information, call 741-6829.

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Meanwhile, "On Golden Pond" continues at the Nevada Theatre on Broad Street in Nevada City. It runs through Oct. 26.

The much-acclaimed play (and later movie) was written by Ernest Thompson. The Foothill Theatre Company production is directed by FTC's Lynne Collins, who co-directed the smashing "Urinetown" musical.

Ted Barton, another stand-out from "Urinetown," plays the Alzheimer's-challenged Norman Thayer Jr.

Tickets range from $31 for general admission to $12 for children 6 to 12 years old. Plus, there are some extra-special rates, including a clever "student date night" rate of $10, good on Fridays only. That last deal is sure to promote propinquity.

Tickets can be obtained at 265-8587 or through FTC's Web site at www.foothilltheatre.org.

Award-winning journalist and author Tom Nadeau has written for and acted on stage, screen, radio and television. Write to him at theaterland @gmail.com.