Theater Talk: Crossing the Rubicon

Later this month, Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre Company finally reopens, more than two years after the pandemic put the kibosh on live theater everywhere, and long after virtually every other venue in the area has returned to roughly regular schedules. The mounting of theater shows again at the converted church a few blocks from downtown Ventura is indeed a welcome addition to the arts scene as RTC has been instrumental in developing and premiering new works as well as presenting highly praised productions of existing musicals and dramas. 

The new seven-show season launches March 16 – April 3 with RTC favorite and Emmy winner Joe Spano and Emmy and Academy Award nominee JoBeth Williams in the timeless two-hander The Gin Game, the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama from D.L. Coburn, directed by RTC’s frequent collaborator Jenny Sullivan. The season also boasts Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Anna Deavere Smith’s transformative study of the 1992 L.A. riots that were sparked by the non-guilty verdict in the Rodney King police brutality case in a Ventura County courtroom in Simi Valley, which opens on the 30th anniversary of the April 29, 1992 date. 

Call (805) 667-2900 or visit rubicontheatre.org.

Moving north, Carpinteria’s Alcazar Theatre “Women Making Change” series celebrating Women’s History Month is presenting Four One-Act plays about Women, Worth, Wisdom & Will, March 10-13. Because She Was stars its actress author Robin Riker, a theater veteran whose credits on IMDB also include 100 different TV shows and movies. Colleen Neuman’s Bothered, Brandy Walker’s Isabelle,and Hello Waitress! (author unknown) round out the program. 

Visit thealcazar.org or call (805) 684-6380.

Back in town, Lights Up! Teen Theatre Company follows up its smashing success with the area premiere of Something Rotten at the Marjorie Luke last month with another relatively recent hit in Matilda, the Musical at the Luke, March 10-12. The five-time Tony Award-winning tale of a little girl who uses her power of telekinesis to empower herself, and those close to her, to transcend abusive relationships. The adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic features a huge cast of budding thespians from city college and high schools to middle and even elementary schools.  

Details at (805) 963-0761 or luketheatre.org/events or lightsupsb.com.