Armstrong and Carlin

Gareth Armstrong, a Welsh-born veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, will be in the 200-seat Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for four nights. On Wednesday and Thursday (October 23 and 24), Armstrong will be performing his own play, Shylock, which Armstrong wrote after playing the part in an English production of The Merchant of Venice. The script explores Shylock’s character, partly in response to Armstrong’s feelings while portraying one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters, Shylock the moneylender. Armstrong has toured the show extensively in Europe and this country, including a brief visit to UC Davis last year.

Armstrong also will perform a new piece, Dr. Prospero, at the Mondavi Center on October 25 and 26, again in the Studio Theatre. Written by Stephen Davis after the playwright enjoyed Armstrong’s Shylock, Dr. Prospero is based on Elizabethan scientist John Dee, who was the queen’s philosopher and one of the noted scholars of his day.

Both Shylock and Dr. Prospero will play at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14.50 for students and children and $29 for adults. Call (530) 752-1915 for more information.

Also returning to Sacramento is Aviva Jane Carlin, writer and performer of Jodie’s Body and Almost Grown Up. Both plays enjoyed long runs at the Sacramento Theatre Company and earned Carlin a considerable local following.

Carlin will be appearing on Thursday, October 24, at 7 p.m. in the Art Court Theatre at Sacramento City College for a special, one-night-only performance of another solo piece, The Mother Teresa Monologues. Tickets are $5 for students and $12 for general admission. Call 558-2228.