‘Vinegar Tom’ Merits a Look for Wit, Brevity

Last week’s reports of on-campus controversy may have helped fill the theater to near capacity for the opening of “Vinegar Tom,” but the show itself, at Cal Lutheran University, largely failed to live up to that advance hype.

Twenty years old, “Vinegar Tom” was written by British playwright Caryl Churchill, setting modern feminist themes in 17th century European witch trials.

The current production, directed by Kristin Kundett-Gibbs, is advertised as recommended for “mature audiences only,” and includes a number of graphic sexual images, mostly projected on television screens and reflecting Kundett-Gibbs’ attempt to reinforce Churchill’s writing.

As it turns out, the TV screens are small, and anybody farther back than the first few rows would have to strain to see them--and there’s nothing there that most college students and other adults haven’t seen already.

That said, the play, while no “The Crucible,” has many merits in this production, frequent wit and relative brevity among them.

* “Vinegar Tom,” through Sunday afternoon at Cal Lutheran University’s Preus-Brandt Forum, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks. (805) 493-3415.

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Shakespeare: Down the road, Moorpark College is offering a production of “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Director Katherine Lewis presents a boisterous leading couple in Kate (Jennifer Castle) and Petruchio (Joe Sanfelippo). Notable among the supporting cast are Ryan Gesell as the servant Tranio; William Wilson as Kate’s father; and John Green as Biondello.

* “The Taming of the Shrew,” through Saturday at Moorpark College Main Stage Theater, Moorpark. (805) 378-1485.

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Back to the ‘50s: Samuel Beckett’s mid-’50s theater of the absurd landmark “Waiting for Godot” is at Ventura College, under the direction of Jay Varela, who has cast a woman, Kat Swaim, as one of Beckett’s male characters.

Those who go--and the production is definitely worth seeing--should consider a Friday or Saturday night performance, after which Varela and the cast hold an elucidating discussion group.

* “Waiting for Godot,” through Sunday afternoon at the Ventura College main-stage theater, Ventura. (805) 654-6397.