It’s 1930s Munich, and a zeppelin hovers over the crowds at Oktoberfest, causing them to look up in wonder each time it passes over on its way to Oberammergau. World War I is over, fascism is on the rise and Germany finds itself in the grip of recession with rampant unemployment. The men of Oktoberfest are either thugs or businessmen on a sexual lark, and each of the women, from potential prostitute to office worker, is on the prowl in hopes of bettering her life by bartering body and soul for a modicum of upward mobility. Through Saturday, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Department of Theatre and Dance is affording the rare opportunity to observe this scenario through Hungarian playwright Odön von Horváth’s 1931 comedy/drama, “Kasimir and Karoline.” Kasimir (Zach Martens) has just lost his job as a chauffeur. As a result, his fiancée, Karoline (Jenni Putney), dumps him. During the Oktoberfest revels, Karoline falls in with a protective naïf named Schüzinger (Zach Harrison) and two basely intentioned businessmen, who proceed to get the two of them exceedingly drunk. Meanwhile, Kasimir comes under the influence of a petty criminal named Franz (Hugo Medina) and Franz cruelly abuses Erna (Sara Garcia), who is a good woman to Kasimir. The sideshow freaks include Juanita the Gorilla Girl (Zoë Chao) and numerous others. Emcee (Cate Campbell) of the Oktoberfest freakshow guides onlookers through the play a la Marlene Dietrich with top hat, song and mustache. The company numbers 18, among them the aforementioned MFA actors, the majority of whom are in their third year of the acclaimed UCSD MFA program. Second-year MFA student Larissa Lury stages the complicated metaphorical work, which might just as well be set in present day La Mesa. MFA designers are Gaeun Kim, scenic designer; Sarah Cogan, costume designer; Sherrice Kelly, lighting designer; and Nicholas Drashner, sound designer. Though a Hungarian, von Horváth aspired to become a German citizen. However, he was forced to flee Nazi Germany, only to be killed by a falling tree limb on the Champs Élysées in 1938. La Jollans are privileged to have UCSD for a neighbor because they perform such works that otherwise might not be seen. “Kasimir and Karoline” is of social and political interest, and it provides experience to a vast array of young thespians and designers. Next, UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance produces August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” the year’s Quinn Martin Endowed Chair production, directed by Kyle Donnelly and playing Nov. 18-20, 27-28 and Dec. 3-4 at the Theater District’s Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.
