Stuffed animals and papermaking

The Craft Center’s winter schedule includes classes in stuffed animals, glass casting and bookbinding, as well as three new offerings: paper making, pinhole photography and felting.

The center, housed in the South Silo, offers more than 100 classes in all, ranging from one-day workshops to seven-week courses. Click here for the complete schedule.

Registration is scheduled to begin Jan. 3 — online and in person, or by telephone. That same day, the center will host an orientation session for new volunteers, from 5:15 to 6 p.m.

The center is closed for winter break until the first day of registration; hours starting that day are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends.

The center and its classes are open to all students, staff and faculty, as well as the general public (ages 18 and up). There is no priority registration for students.

To use the online system, you must have created a profile in Campus Recreation's Online Store. After doing so, or, if you already have created a profile, click on the Craft Center tab in the navigation bar on the left-hand side of the page. Then, browse the classes and sign up, and be prepared to pay by credit card.

Note: The winter quarter classes will not be displayed until Jan. 3. And, when any class fills up, it will be removed from the list.

For upper level classes (such as furniture building), you must call the Craft Center, (530) 752-1475, to obtain permission codes; this is to ensure that you are qualified to take the particular upper level class or classes that you may be interested in.

If registering by phone, keep in mind that the phone lines are very busy the first day of registration.

More information, including the class schedule and the form for mail-in registration. Questions? Call (530)-752-1475 or send an e-mail to craftcenter@campusrec.ucdavis.edu.

Auditions: The Flood and Moby Dick Variations

The Department of Theatre and Dance announced auditions Jan. 3 and 4 for two productions: The Flood, devised and directed by Granada Artist-in-Residence Dominique Serrand; and Moby Dick Variations, devised and directed by Master of Fine Arts candidate John Zibell.

Each person who plans to audition is asked to prepare a contemporary monologue of 60 to 90 seconds, plus one unaccompanied verse of song. Audition signups are being taken in 101 Art Building.

Audition hours are 6 to 9 p.m. both days in Main Theatre. Callbacks are scheduled for Jan. 5.

Serrand's newest devised work, The Flood, is scheduled to be presented March 3-6 and 11-13 in Main Theatre. Rehearsals are set to begin Jan. 10.

In exploring the epic forces of a flood, the work takes the structure of an oratorio built from song, dance, story and character, according to a news release from the Department of Theatre and Dance.

"Just as Faulkner’s novella Old Man used the Mississippi flood of 1927 as the backdrop for his story, here the key elements of Faulkner’s story form the point of departure: two convicts set free by the rising of the river, a young pregnant woman marooned in a tree, a riverboat full of refugees, a deer swimming for its life, the birth of a child, the bursting of the levees, and the reconciliation of the river meeting the sea," the news release states.

Moby Dick Variations is scheduled to be presented May 5-8 and 12-15 in Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Like Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, Zibell's work is "about perspectives and is a polycultural, polytheistic, polyrhythmic, polyvocal, nonlinear exploration of being in the universe," according to the Department of Theatre and Dance news release.

Set in the here and now, Moby Dick Variations investigates the disappearance of the human animal from the natural landscape.

Twelfth Night in the gazebo

The Davis Shakespeare Ensemble is planning its second production in the arboretum gazebo. This time around, the play is Twelfth Night, and it is being presented in partnership with the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum.

The play is scheduled to run from Jan. 13 to 23 — and the show will go on no matter what kind of weather the nights may bring, the organizers said. The gazebo is covered, and the organizers added, heaters will be brought in to keep the audience warm.

The ensemble describes Twelfth Night as Shakespeare's most musical play as well as his greatest comedy. The organizers said the production will feature a live rock band playing original pieces, with music directed by UC Davis student Richard Chowenhill.

The newly formed ensemble used the gazebo once before, in September, for the ensemble's debut production: Romeo and Juliet.

The ensemble is not affiliated with UC Davis, but eight of the nine founders have connections with the university.

Performances of Twelfth Night are scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, Jan. 13-16 and 20-23.

Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for students, and $5 for children 12 and under. Ticket reservations and more information: (760) 310-0323 davis.shakespeare@gmail.com.