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Fledgling acting troupe to stage Shakespearian play
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By Sue Webber - Sun Newspapers
A fledgling group of local actors is poised to take on William Shakespeare and break into the Twin Cities arts scene next week.
The Mechanicals, self-characterized as "a loosely-banded acting troupe of friends" ages 12 through adult from the western suburbs, will stage "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at 7:30 p.m., beginning Wednesday, Jan. 27, and running through Saturday, Jan. 30, at the Perpich Center for Arts Education, 6125 Olson Highway, Golden Valley.
"We started talking a year and a half ago about who would do this, what we would do and how we would do it," said Steven Ramirez of Crystal, who with his wife, Linda Saetre, is organizing and directing the project.
"We e-mailed a bunch of friends and came together in September to figure out how to stage ourselves," Ramirez said. "As actors, we wanted to do Shakespeare. It's difficult material. We chose a play that would be accessible, timely and a lot of fun."
Linda has a major role in the play, and Ramirez's daughters, Tiana, 16, and Kaesha, 14, both students at Armstrong High School, also are cast in the production. Their 19-year-old brother, Roman, is helping with the production as well.
A number of students at the Perpich Arts High School are helping with the production, as are friends of the family, Ramirez said.
"It's really turning into a group effort," he said. "It's been an intriguing process."
The group took its name, The Mechanicals, from a motley group of actors Shakespeare wrote about in "A Midsummer's Night Dream," Ramirez said.
"Like their namesake, these players are craftsmen, technicians, teachers and students who share a love of theater and performance," Ramirez said. "The mission of the Mechanicals is to provide an entertaining and affordable theatrical experience to the community-at-large, as well as focus on the actor's art of exploring language, form and genre on a shoe-string budget."
The cast is doing its own costuming and sets, he said.
"We don't have much," Ramirez said. "The costumes are coming out of our closets and local thrift sores. We've been looking through cupboards and at garage sales to find props. We've spent some of our own money for a few things."
Free wooden palettes left along the side of the road were used to make a stairway for the set, he said.
One of the Perpich students is helping with choreography, Ramirez said, while another will help with lights and sound for the production.
This is the first show he has directed since he was in college 16 years ago, Ramirez said.
"Because of my daughters, I got back into theater," he aid. "They developed an interest in theater four years ago, and that got the bug back in me."
He and his wife met doing a show together in Minneapolis, Ramirez said.
A native of Indiana and graduate in mechanical engineering at Purdue University, Ramirez works as a quality auditor in Maple Grove. His wife is a special education teacher at the Perpich Center.
Whether The Mechnicals will do additional plays remains to be seen, Ramirez said.
"It depends on the level of interest," he said. "We don't have any kind of a formal organization."
Members of the cast include: Allie and Lou Abela, Chanhassen; Jon and Megan Babb and Joshua Krauskopf, Maple Grove; Greg Marchand, Jordan; Katie Miller, a senior at Armstrong High School, Plymouth; Sue Ritchie and Diana Wilde, Plymouth; Brandyn Tapio, a senior at Armstrong High School, Plymouth; Linda Saetre, Crystal; Glen Stone, St. Louis Park; Nicholas Swenson, a senior at the Perpich Arts High School, Brainerd; and Angela Walberg, Minneapolis.
Fairies/production assistants include Marley and Simone Ritchie, students at Cooper High School; Tianna and Kaesha Ramirez, students at Cooper High School; and Tony Carlson, Eric Williams, Kayla Mudgett, Zoe Parmeter, David Loose, Cody McNallan, Ben Schultz, Mariah Himmelwright and Brenna Kelly, students at the Perpich Arts High School.
Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the Perpich Center for Arts Education.
General admission tickets for "The Merry Wives of Windsor" are $5.
Tickets/more information: 763-634-8150.
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