Event Article

Fullerton College's Theater Department will present the "mammoth" play Three Musketeers, with the first performance on March 20, followed by five more. performances ending on March 29.

Three, Musketeers, with Gary Krinke directing, features extravagant costumes, elaborate sets and ornate props.

Filled with action, comedy and adventure, Alexaire Dumas' play recounts the story of D'Artagnan (Pete Shilaimon) as he attempts to become one of the king's musketeers.

"The story is an adventure," said Shilaimon. "When Gary puts on a. show, he puts on a show."

One, of: the factors in Krinke's decision in choosing the Three Musketeers was "that the characters are appropriate for our students," >according to Krinke, who has gone all out for the show.

"We wanted to do something escapist,"' he said. "When we are in the kind of recession we are in, people want to go to a theater where they can sit back and relax and enjoy."

Members of the audience are not allowed to rest too much, though. There is always something happening on stage, and quite often more than one thing.

"It's always more fascinating to the eye to see many things at the same time," said Shilaimon

"There's a lot of swashbuckling," said Don Carlson, who plays one of the three musketeers, Athos."Definitely an audience show, and you're not gonna get some wild interpretation."

Krinke, Combat Choreographer Richard Pallaziol, and Brian Fichtner combined to create a more romantic version than most versions of the play. There was an attempt made to bring the play more in line with its original romantic fun.

"The movies went further with romance and glorification of this time period than we could afford to do," said Krinke.

Action is the key to this play, though. Krinke recently saw Three Musketeers performed by another group and thought their version "dull." That he said was the best lesson.

"Dull" is not a word that can be used to describe the upcoming play. During rehearsals, cast members, along with the directors, have turned potentially dangerous fight scenes into a spectacles for the senses to enjoy.

Peter Raby, the writer, has kept many parts of. the basic storyline very close to the Dumas version.

Improvisation comes into play, but mostly during the combat scenes, where safety becomes the most important thing.