TAOS ONSTAGE MOVIE
Linda Stokes (Frank Larson's wife Fiona Foster) has appeared in several Taos plays and is a soloist with the Taos Gospel Choir. However, the five less experienced members of the cast and the supporting staff contribute immeasurably. Actor Joel Larson (as Frank Foster) studied with Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company and has worked in many branches of the entertainment industry as actor, director and producer, in Hollywood and Las Vegas, among other places. Director Jane Ayles has taken charge of a number of plays not only for Odenbear but also Taos Onstage and The Space Theatre.
TAOS ONSTAGE SERIES
He participated in the TV series "Better Call Saul" and "Longmire." Among his other tasks, he was in charge of set and lighting.
A veteran teacher, director, producer and actor, he is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Actors' Equity. Jim Hatch is founder, Artistic Director and owner of Odenbear. The comedy's success is due in no small part to three exceptionally experienced Taos residents. It sounds like a bit of a mess, and in less able and experienced hands it probably could be. During one scene, two families host dinner parties on stage, with the trick that the dinner parties, although viewed simultaneously, actually occur on different nights. The two living rooms, with class-coded details of decor, are shown simultaneously on the stage, with characters entering and leaving, arguing and smooching, yelling and joking, fighting and knocking each other down in both houses at the same time. The houses are linked by two phones, one chic and the other utilitarian, both prominently perched on a stool at center front stage. The story transpires in the living rooms of two houses. The third couple socializes with the other two, attends dinner parties with both, and floats in and out of their houses. A second couple is rough, working class and young. One couple is middle aged, prosperous, upper class and genteel in the English manner.
The plot recounts the tribulations of three couples. How the Other Half Loves is not an easy play to stage. Ayckbourn, author of 81 plays, has won both the Olivier and Tony awards. Odenbear Theatre's production of the 1970 British comedy by Alan Ayckbourn How the Other Half Loves is a delightand surprisingly relevant to the gender and class antagonisms that roil contemporary society.
TAOS ONSTAGE PROFESSIONAL
If Albuquerque's theatrical elite believe they have reason to look down their noses at thespians in the outback, they should visit the village of El Prado, where a complex and difficult British comedy is currently unrolling on stage with split-second timing, skilled direction, and professional acting.