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FULL CAST: (from left to right) back row: Andrew Vose(06), Karel Ebergen(09), Andrew Akraboff(07), Kevin Devine, Josh Wartens(00); middle row: Lesley Benedict(03), Emily McGowan, Alanna Fox, Sarah Kingon(05), Taylor Chan(10); front row: Sean McQueen and Michelle Drexler(07) (Number in parentheses indicates year of graduation) Courtesy of Brian Bookwalter
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A theater troupe featuring an all-star cast of alumni performed an Italian comedy at the Steve Silver Theater to sold out audiences this month. Lowell drama also presented the first Lowell Theater Award to Lowell Alumni Association executive director Terence Abad on a special night for alumni.
Bathwater Productions, a group founded by five alumni, staged Carlo Gozzi’s commedia dell'arte comedy The Green Bird, adapted by noted playwright David Bridal, with direction by alum Anne Marie Bookwalter, daughter of drama teacher Teresa Bookwalter. The play featured ten Lowell alumni, including recent graduates who attribute their success and start of their careers to their time spent in the drama department.
The farcical plot of The Green Bird surrounds the quest of twins Renzo and Barbarina as they attempt to locate their biological parents. The evil Queen Tartagliona is determined to stop them. However, with the help of the ominous green bird, the twins are able to resist her sexual temptations — the main source for jokes in the show — and in the process, discover their true destinies.
“The story was a perfect fit for me,” Anne Marie Bookwalter said. While studying at UC-Los Angeles, she fell in love with clowning, a European art style inspired by royal court jesters, and used their antics throughout the play. “I’ve been exposed to commedia dell'arte before and I know it gets the audience involved.”
The troupe and the visual and performing arts department held a special performance on Aug. 13 for Lowell Alumni Night and awarded Lowell Alumni Association executive director Terence Abad with the first Lowell Theater Alumni Award. The award recognizes Abad’s many contributions to the drama department. “Terry has been immensely integral to the success of the theater program,” Teresa Bookwalter said. “Without his advocacy on behalf of the theater program we would not be so fortunate to receive grants from the LAA.”
Among other contributions Bookwalter noted Abad’s and the LAA’s important role in bringing actors from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to perform at Lowell, funding a charter bus to take drama and theater tech students to the annual two-day theater competition at Ohlone College and securing funds to pay for the entire salary and benefits of theater tech director Philip Gallegos, after the school site council decided to eliminate the position from the 2010-2011 budget. Abad also serves on the Board of Directors of Bathwater Productions.
In the future, the award will be given to alumni who “have made a significant contribution to the welfare of the Lowell Theater Program,” according to the program.
FULL CAST: (from left to right) back row: Andrew Vose(06), Karel Ebergen(09), Andrew Akraboff(07), Kevin Devine, Josh Wartens(00); middle row: Lesley Benedict(03), Emily McGowan, Alanna Fox, Sarah Kingon(05), Taylor Chan(10); front row: Sean McQueen and Michelle Drexler(07) (Number in parentheses indicates year of graduation) Courtesy of Brian Bookwalter
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