Review: ‘Twelfth Night’ at SSC

Paul Vincent O'Connor as Sir Toby Belch (left) and William Elsman as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. (r.r. jones)

For sheer entertainment value, it’s hard to beat a Shakespearean comedy. The shipwrecks, the cases of mistaken identity, the reunion of long-lost twins, the cross-dressing, the drunks: who doesn’t love these tropes? Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s current production of Twelfth Night, built on this formula, delivers the madcap goods with style and belly laughs a-plenty—along with the peculiar sense of unease that this very odd “comedy” imparts.

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Dickens Universe at UCSC

Charles Dickens is "the greatest novelist in English," according to Dickens Universe Director John Jordan.

The Dickens Universe brings together around 300 Dickens scholars and fans for one week of full-time Dickens immersion, focused on a different Dickens novel each year. Daily lectures and scholarly discussions are a staple of the event, as are tea parties, parties hosted by graduate students and even a Victorian dance party that, last year, featured three costumed Miss Havishams (the wealthy spinster in Great Expectations).

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Recession Crushers at Bittersweet Bistro

Rebecca King hosts the Voodoo Dinner at her sheep ranch Sept. 22. Photo by Melissa Schilling.

Thank God for Bittersweet Bistro, where dining doesn’t have to break what’s left of your bank. Recession Crushers are those happy and delicious little daily specials — $6 each—served starting at 3:30pm and all evening long in the bar and on the outdoor patio. How about a quartet of raw oysters with housemade cocktail sauce ($6) and a Stoli vodka martini ($5)? This is good news. Or truffle fries and aioli. Coconut crusted prawns with Asian slaw. Chicken quesadilla with salsa fresca and sour cream. See what I mean?

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Guardianship Case Highlights Plight of Elderly

Guadalupe Olvera’s right to move in with his daughter in Aptos was disputed by Nevada authorities for almost three years. (Photo by Chip Scheuer)

For most of the last three years Olvera and his daughter, Rebecca Schultz of Aptos, have been entangled in a messy and expensive guardianship dispute with his court-appointed guardian, Jared Shafer, a professional guardian and fiduciary who operates a business in Las Vegas. But the three-year dispute with Shafer wasn’t over the finer details of Olvera’s care. It was over who was entitled to serve as guardian of him and his nearly $1 million estate: Shafer or Schultz, Olvera’s only living child.

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A Dance Video A Week

Daniel Mollner's definition of dance has broadened since he began his yearlong project. (KatKimDesign.com)

Filmmaker Daniel Mollner waited over four decades before calling himself a dancer. Now he’s making up for lost time. “It’s almost like this slingshot thing,” Mollner says. “After years of resisting and being afraid to call myself a dancer, there’s all this pent-up energy. I’ve been holding back for so long.”

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