STAGE REVIEW : A Jealousy Festival in Santa Cruz

Two jealous husbands. Two doomed wives. Two plays in one weekend.

It’s true Shakespearean repertory, and it’s thriving at Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

Here last weekend, you could watch Charles Shaw Robinson as the schemer Iago and Ron Dortch as the jealous general in “Othello” on Saturday, then see Robinson and Dortch as victims of Othello-style jealousy in “The Winter’s Tale” on Sunday. For Dante Di Loreto, the roles were reversed: the innocent Cassio in “Othello,” the furiously avenging Leontes in “The Winter’s Tale.”

This cross-production actor-watching wouldn’t be much fun if the productions didn’t stand up strongly on their own. These do.

This “Othello,” directed by former Angeleno Mark Rucker in the 540-seat Performing Arts Theatre at UC Santa Cruz, is a whirlwind, a production that really roars. “The Winter’s Tale,” in the outdoor Festival Glen, operates at a more leisurely pace, befitting the play, but most of it is intriguing.

“Othello” is set in a contemporary American naval setting. Driving, bombastic music. Dress whites and tans. Solid, anonymous desks. The names of Shakespeare’s locales, Venice and Cyprus, are unchanged. But it doesn’t seem impossible that Cyprus, at any rate, might be used as a base from which to stage raids into Iraq or Kuwait.

Yet the setting works best not for cosmetic or speculative reasons, but because Robinson plays Iago as a very American, street-savvy bully, the kind of guy who was pushed into the Navy by his parents 20 years ago--so they wouldn’t have to deal with him any more--and whose guile has since raised him through the ranks.

He has a tattoo on his arm and a barking laugh. He likes to shadow box and slap his comrades on the back. When he wants to act impressed, he whistles. When he wraps himself around his wife (Amy Thone, in military garb that reflects her no-nonsense manner), first seductively and then threateningly, it’s chilling.

Dortch’s Othello seems a calm, judicious fellow. But when Robinson begins to drop his hints about Desdemona and Cassio, this general quickly loses his command over the situation. In one extraordinarily moving moment, Dortch unleashes a gospel-tinged howl of grief and anger that shakes the theater. His Desdemona, Camilia Sanes, moves with the sort of sensuous grace that might be misinterpreted by a jealous husband.

“The Winter’s Tale” in an outdoor glen in the summer? Well, the somber contemporary suits of the first half, set amid court intrigues, do look odd next to the sun-dappled redwoods in Santa Cruz. But when a giant bear emerges from behind the flat, circular stage, and consumes one of the characters, suddenly the sylvan setting seems perfectly appropriate.

In fact, much of “Winter’s Tale” has a summery feeling; the play’s middle section is set at a sheep-shearing event, staged here as a hillbilly fair, and the colors are lively during this part of the staging by British director Sarah Pia Anderson.

The accents wandered a bit farther astray than one might expect, and vocal projection wasn’t helped by a slightly buzzy sound system. Still, these young Santa Cruz actors do make most of the great poetry accessible and fluent.

Although I didn’t see it, “Amadeus” is the third entry in this season--yet another take on jealousy, this time of the professional variety. Working in one of the most appealing summertime retreats imaginable--the hilltop campus of UC Santa Cruz--artistic director Michael Richards has put together a season that stimulates both serious cerebration and blithe celebration.

It continues through Sept. 2. $15-$18; (408) 459-4168.