Back by popular demand, Playwrights' Arena will present “Golden Tongues 2” —staged readings of plays from Spain's Golden Age, presented in contemporary English adaptations by up-and-coming Los Angeles playwrights — at UCLA’s William Andrews Clark Memorial Library on Sept. 6 and 7. The presentations are part of the popular Arts on the Grounds series performed in the Clark’s five acres of beautiful gardens, public spaces, outdoor “rooms” and lawns.
“Golden Tongues 2” will feature professional actors reading adaptations of three classic works, kicking off on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 3 p.m., with a reading of “Unhappily Married in Valencia,” by Laurel Ollstein, an award-winning actress, writer, director and teacher in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and San Francisco. The piece was inspired by Guillén de Castro's 1618 “Los mal casados de Valencia,” an edgy farce about mismatched couples who cannot be reconciled. In Ollstein’s version, two unhappily married couples living in Valencia, California, declare love for their neighbors' spouses as one husband's mistress manipulates the cast.
A reception will follow and, at 5:30 p.m., a reading will be performed of “Goat Springs Eternal!” by Paula Cizmar, a multi-genre writer whose plays have been produced all over the world. The work is based on Lope de Vega's 1619 “Fuenteovejuna,” inspired by a 1476 uprising in the Spanish village of Fuenteovtheejuna, during which the villagers kill the town’s tyrannical leader and resist all efforts to identify the assassin. Cizmar’s spin on the story relocates the action to factories along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Golden Tongues" was designed by Professor Barbara Fuchs, an expert on Spanish classical theater and director of the UCLA Clark Library. Last summer, “Golden Tongues” played to nearly sold-out crowds.
“The versions created for the ‘Golden Tongues’ show how relevant and powerful (these plays) remain here and now,” Fuchs said.
On Sunday, Sept. 7 at 5 p.m., a reading will be performed of “Fixed,” by Boni B. Alvarez, a Filipino playwright whose work has been staged at local venues. "Fixed" is based on Calderón de la Barca's 1637 tragedy “El médico de su honra,” which centers on a misunderstanding that leads to the “honor killing” of the protagonist’s wife. Alvarez’s more lighthearted adaptation is set in a massage parlor in Los Angeles’ historic Filipinotown.
Tickets, which are $10, must be purchased in advance here. Free parking will be available at the Clark. Learn more about the Arts on the Grounds series at the Clark Library calendar.
