On the North Coast

Club Shampoo, the potpouri event inaugurating the Arcata Playhouse, played to a full house Saturday night. It was a real community event, from the children and teenagers in the audience, to the conversation in line about a memorial service for someone who had recently died. The audience seemed to know all the performers, and the performers knew each other. There was a lot of affection expressed for hosts Jackie Dandeneau and David Ferney.

There was music (including some sharply political songs from Joyce Hough and Fred Neighbor), clowning (the Los Payasos Mendigos duo) and two brief stories by Jeff DeMark that gave voice to the moral essence of the venture. Everyone seemed happy to see this Arcata venue back in business. Carole Wolfe, director of Vagabond, told me that they've already received several solid inquiries about renting the space. Jackie announced that donations to Four on the Floor Productions would be matched dollar for dollar by the Humboldt Area Foundation.

Among the attendees was Michael Fields, co-AD of Dell'Arte, back from the Company's travels, which included a five week gig at the Marin Theatre, doing eight shows a week of a version of Tartuffe developed in Blue Lake, which he hopes to present locally at part of this summer's festival.