THEATER NOTES : Can Bard Bash Shake Life Into LATC?

The Sixth World Shakespeare Congress is coming to L.A. The public will be able to join an estimated 1,000 Bard buffs from 37 countries at four high-concept Shakespeare productions by local companies at Los Angeles Theatre Center, April 10-21.

The congress, made up primarily of college English professors, has met every five years since 1971--in Vancouver, New York, London, Bonn and Tokyo. Besides panels and papers, Shakespearean productions are part of the program.

L.A.’s many theaters and large pool of theatrical talent were among the reasons the city was picked for this year’s congress, said Nancy Hodge, executive director of the co-sponsoring Shakespeare Assn. of America. Also, the theme of this year’s meeting, “Shakespeare in the 20th Century,” made L.A. the “obvious” choice, she said, because Hollywood movies “are the main reason why millions of people have seen Shakespeare.” The congress will include films at the 225-seat Mark Taper Auditorium of the downtown library (delegates probably will fill all those seats).

Shortly after L.A. got the nod in 1992, Hodge met with Mark Taper Forum officials about the possibility of doing a production in conjunction with the congress. But by February 1995, she said, it became clear that the Taper schedule wouldn’t offer a Shakespeare or a Renaissance play in April 1996.

The Taper’s fiscal state right now doesn’t allow Shakespearean-sized casts, said Taper producing director Robert Egan. The congress sponsors and the Taper talked about raising money for a production linked to the congress, but “the reality is we were not met with a great deal of enthusiasm on the money-giving circuit. It didn’t work out,” Egan said.

So Hodge turned elsewhere. L.A. director Louis Fantasia, who is active with the group that raises funds to restore the Globe Theatre in London, put Hodge in touch with the city officials who run LATC. As a result, the conference’s production package has been organized--and much if it is being financed--by Will & Company, one of LATC’s resident companies.

Will & Company’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” set on the Navajo reservation, will occupy the 498-seat Tom Bradley Theatre. Inner City Cultural Center will revive C. Bernard Jackson’s 1979 play, “Iago,” in which an academic delves into “Othello,” in the 320-seat Theatre 4.

Cornerstone Theater will revive its 1994 production of “Twelfth Night”--set on a Southern California naval base and previously produced at Taper, Too--in the 296-seat Theatre 2. In the 99-seat Theatre 4, the new Oasis Theatre Company, a group of Juilliard graduates with ties to Actors’ Gang, will stage a “Measure for Measure” set in Newt Gingrich’s Washington.

Will & Company will put up about $60,000 of the $100,000 production budget for all four shows. By producing in all four of LATC’s theaters at the same time, Will & Company artistic director Colin Cox sees “a great opportunity to get LATC going again.” L.A. theaters have long paid lip service to such cooperative efforts, he said, “and I want to put my money where my mouth is.”

For its part, the city is offering about $30,000 plus free facilities; the city and Will & Company will split the box-office take. Also, the city and Will & Company hope to be reimbursed from the proceeds of a star-studded gala, held in connection with the congress April 9 at the Biltmore Hotel. Any excess income from the gala will go back into LATC general programming.

Taking into account the brevity of the run, Actors’ Equity has granted a concession--the three productions in the larger spaces will operate on the least demanding level of the Hollywood Area Theatre contract, which means they’ll use pay scales that are normally restricted to spaces of 100-199 seats.

The congress itself is furnishing only its core audience of around 1,000 to kick off ticket sales (“academics are not people with deep pockets,” Hodge said). So there will be several thousand additional seats available to the public and local school groups in the first week, and all seats will be available in the second week of performances, which will take place after the congress leaves town.