For the upcoming production of “Bakersfield Mist,” the Ojai Art Center Theater will be turned into a gallery. Selected works from local artists in the community will be featured during the play’s four-weekend run.
Other entries, including those from local students, will join the arrangements in the theater “gallery.” The idea is to give play attendees the feeling that they are walking into an art gallery when they come to see the play.
“Working together and involving different media and genres in the arts helps strengthen community, which is what I feel we need in Ojai especially after what we have gone through in December and January,” explained the play’s director, Susan Kelejian. “By being inclusive, we hope to welcome another audience in addition to the existing Ojai theatergoers.”
“Bakersfield Mist” is about a “hard-drinking broad,” Maude, portrayed by Lee Ann Manley, who buys a painting for $3 as a joke, because she thinks it’s so ugly. Someone suggests it could be a real Jackson Pollock. When snooty art appraiser Lionel, portrayed by Paul Sulzman, is dispatched to her trailer to authenticate the painting, the sparks and Jack Daniels start flying, as the two face-off in an argument over what’s real and what’s not. The bottom line: is it a missing Pollock worth $100,000,000 or a fake?
“Bakersfield Mist” is a 90-minute, two-character play. “Well, three characters if you count the Jackson Pollock painting,” added Kelejian.
Artistic director Richard Camp agreed. “The Pollock is the focal point of the play. Is it a real Pollock?” asked Camp. “Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maude believes it is and goes to great lengths to convince Lionel that it is. Who wins the battle is the crux of this serio-comic play that’ll not only make you laugh out loud, but will make you think, as well.”
The production — with its attendant art pieces — opens May 4 at the Ojai Art Center Theater. For tickets visit http:// www.OjaiACT.org or call 640-8797