Trees, Twain and time travel

Michal Gavish, an artist whose creative home base is Palo Alto's Cubberley Studios, has a master's in painting and a portfolio that includes watercolors, painted sculptures and landscapes. This year, she's ventured onto a new stage, lending her skills to theater.

Playgoers who see the new dramatization of Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" at the Pear Avenue Theatre will also get a look at Gavish's art. She painted the dreamy backdrop with trees, hills and a distant castle.

Twain is getting a new treatment in the show, too. The play is a new dramatization of his book by Diane Tasca and Rebecca Ennals, running through May 29.

So we've got a hero who's transported from 1880 to the Middle Ages, with his story told with 21st-century sensibilities. 'Tis true time travel.

Pictured: On stage at the Pear Avenue Theatre. Photo courtesy of Michal Gavish.