Troubadour’s “Twelfth Dog Night” At Miles Is “The Funniest Show in Town”

Richard Schulenberg

Special to the Mirror

   I had a religious experience Saturday night. I entered with a pinched nerve and left cured. Lourdes? No, the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica. Norman Cousins had it right -- laughter can cure you. 
   The Troubadour Theater Company's production of "Twelfth Dog Night” (written by the Company "with add'l material by William Shakespeare") takes a running leap at Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," vaults over it and does a prat fall on the other side. Their production of "Twelfth Night" is aided and abetted by the inclusion of songs from the 70's rock act, Three Dog Night, and any other stray thoughts which seems to pass through their collective wacky minds. The end result is a triangulation between the Bard, Cirque du Solei and burlesque (the comedy -- not the strippers). The end result is also the funniest evening of live performance in my recorded memory.
   Forget the plot, mostly and loosely Shakespeare's, not that it really matters. From the beginning, you get the hint that you are in for something different when you are introduced to the characters one by one, ending with a ten foot tall (not a typo) pirate who appears to be Father Guido Sarducci on speed -- in fact, it is Beth Kennedy, with the night's prize for best cross-dressing. (Michelle Anne Johnson's Viola was my all-time winner until the curtain call and Kennedy's wig and beard came off -- I'm not infallible.) You have to admire a Shakespearean production where actors frequently enter and exit by way of trampoline, which has a full-time slide-whistle and cowbell for sound effects, an excellent pit (rock) band, and the second half of the evening starts with a spirited session of "Simon Says" with children from the audience.
   "Twelfth Dog Night" is directed by the Artistic Director of The Troubador Theater Company, Matt Walker, who also plays the clown Feste. My red nose is off to the man. The Company has been around since 1993 and my only complaint is that it has taken me six years to discover them. This traveling company may be the only true commedia dell'arte company still in existence.
   They have worked together for years (some of them even go back to Santa Monica High School together) and the ensemble work is remarkable. Up until Saturday, there have been only two theatrical companies which, if the call would ever come, I would drop everything and run away to join without a second thought (the Royal Shakespeare Company and the aforemention Cirque du Soleil. Now there are three.
   The City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica City Council have chosen The Troubador Theater Company to participate in the inaugural season of the newly re-opened (post earthquake) Miles Memorial Playhouse in Reed Park (Wilshire and Lincoln). My red nose also is off to the City Council -- way to go, Council! (Note to the guys in Editorial: Please immediately start a full-force editorial campaign to have The Troubador Theater Company permanently installed as the resident company at the Miles Memorial Playhouse.)
   Every member of this troupe should be singled out for special praise, but I'm so over the top with my praise so far that my objectivity may soon be in question. Suffice to say that this is the funniest show in town. It is very children friendly and makes it the perfect family outing, running about 1 hour 45 minutes, including a 15 minute intermission.
   To show I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is, this coming weekend I will not only be back again, but I'm personally springing for tickets for a least a dozen friends.
   The Troubador Theater Company's "Twelfth Dog Night", directed by Matt Walker at the Miles Memorial Theater (1130 Lincoln Boulevard, Reed Park, the corner of Wilshire and Lincoln in Santa Monica). admission : $10, Children 12 and under Free. Fridays and Saturdays, August 20, 21, 27 & 28 at 8:00 PM.