Ready for The Imaginary Invalid

We're headed to OSF today to see "The Imaginary Invalid." I just read the Wikipedia synopsis to Aubrey and it sounds hilarious.

I bought our tickets last May through the "family day" special -- where every seat in the house is $15 on this day -- and we've got A+ seats this time! We took our kids to see "Pirates of Penzance" earlier this year -- we had balcony seats then -- and that was a hilarious time, too.

I think my new favorite thing about going to plays is sitting next to Dane and Aubrey and seeing what makes them laugh. At "Pirates," Aubrey was on the edge of her seat giggling most of the time.

We'll see what happens today.

Misty over Mockingbird

OSF's production of "To Kill A Mockingbird" was so good. The three child actors who played Scout, Jem, and Dill were outstanding, even if Dill's voice wasn't always carefully projected. I was impressed by how well they handled the show resting on their small shoulders. They were almost always on stage, with lots of lines and actions.

The actors who played Atticus, Calpernia, and Tom Robinson were lovely, amazing, well-cast. I loved trusting them in their roles in this tried and true story. (Below: Tom Robinson and Atticus with Sheriff Tate. Calpernia not shown.)

I'm not sure what I thought of Boo Radley's actor, but the character of Boo Radley is set up so perfectly in the story, climaxing with such perfection, that perhaps anyone could've played him and tugged so fully at my heart. Which is what happened last night.

I tried to tell Dane and Aubrey about the story on our walk to school today. I described the setting, the characters, the racial tension. I tried to tell them how it's about doing the right thing even if people hate you or threaten you, and how it's about understanding who you are in the world -- and I didn't even get to the subplot of Boo Radley. I think the best way to give them all that stuff is to just dive into the book with them.

I told them that if they're interested, I'd read it out loud with them this summer. I read it to myself in 7th grade. They'll only be entering 4th and 5th, but this is a different world, and they're different kids. If they're interested, I'll walk alongside them.

I think Atticus might do that, too.

---

This is interesting: After I wrote the above thoughts, I found a review published in today's Ashland Tidings about last night's performance. So, before you read it, let me add three more thoughts I had that I didn't articulate above:

1 - I thought the courtroom scene was long. Mr. Ewell, was played by a deaf man. I've seen this actor in other shows and have adored his presence. In the courtroom, though, to have his daughter Mayella have to sign everything to him and interpret everything was cumbersome. I felt like it slowed the pace too much. I told Mick this morning that I probably wasn't tolerant enough, that I'm not very p.c. or evolved -- but it slowed the story too much for me. And it really didn't make sense when his testimony said he heard Mayella screaming. Huh?

2 - I thought the simple stagework was spot on. I focused on the acting and words.

3 - I thought the narration at the end of the play seemed trite and cliche. I told Mick I wanted to re-read Harper Lee's book ending, because I thought the play's ending had the wrong tone and didn't seem right.

So, given my three opinions here and my many opinions in the first section, read the following and see how our reviews compare. That writer's the professional reviewer, and I don't claim to be an expert, but we have some obvious differences of opinion (and some surprising similarities).

By Roberta Kent

for the Tidings

 Posted: 2:00 AM March 02, 2011

I am a bit at a loss as to why OSF chose to present this theatrical adaptation of Harper Lee's iconic novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Yes, it examines the themes of truth, justice and compassion and is a good counterbalance to "Measure for Measure." But, unfortunately, the playwright, Christopher Sergel, has not given us a very well-written play.

There is always a danger when the playwright, the director, the actors and the audience are in awe of the material. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is mythic in American literature and culture and an adaptor of Harper Lee's iconic 1960 novel does so at his peril.

This production is directed by Marion McClinton, an award-winning director new to OSF this season. His artistic conception is flawless and he really does make the best of this weak adaptation. I look forward to seeing what he can do with material worthy of his skill.

Sergel's script consists of well-known anecdotes from the novel strung together by narration that quotes verbatim great swaths of Harper Lee's prose. Neither the characters nor the action propel the story. It is painstakingly explained to us by the adult Jean Louise Finch (Scout), played by Festival veteran Dee Maaske as she meanders around the stage while the actors fill in her narration with little bits of dialogue.

To be sure, Mark Murphey does a smooth job as Atticus Finch. With his unruly forelock and wire-rimmed glasses, Murphey evokes the look and the spirit of Gregory Peck from the movie version. But this play never allows him to truly come alive as Atticus. He says all the right things, has all the right moves and is a predictable two-dimensional figure.

The same can be said for Isabell Monk O'Connor playing the housekeeper/nanny Calpurnia. She does a fine workmanlike job with a stereotyped role.

Unfortunately, the children playing the key roles of Scout (Kaya Van Dyke), her brother Jem (Braden Day) and their friend Dill (Leo Pierotti) are merely adequate. They avoid being too cute and remember their lines — even if they don't project them very well. A lot of their key banter about the elusive Boo Radley is completely lost to the audience.

If the rest of "To Kill a Mockingbird" was as good as its courtroom scene, it would be a powerful piece of theater, indeed. Michael Hume's dry, no-nonsense Judge Taylor, Howie Seago as Bob Ewell with his inexpressible rage against Finch, Susannah Flood as his diffident daughter and Peter Macon as the falsely accused Tom Robinson light up the stage. It is the only time that actual dramatic events drive the play.

It's been said about badly written material that sometimes you come out of the theater humming the scenery. This is the case with "To Kill a Mockingbird." Designer David Gallo has given us a stark proscenium arch with marvelous projections (courtesy of Lynn Jeffries) and spare props to evoke the small-town Southern milieu. Likewise, Deborah M. Dryden's costumes, Dawn Chiang's spectacular lighting and original music by Michael Bodeen and Rob Milburn take this production above and beyond its flaws.

Sergel was the president of Dramatic Publishing from 1970 to his death in 1993. It's a company known for publishing adaptations of classics from other mediums and licensing them to community theaters and schools. It is telling that he wrote this adaptation in 1970 and it wasn't produced by any theater until 1990. It is my guess that Dramatic Publishing has the rights to the Harper Lee novel and there are no other adaptations out there. Pity.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" runs through July 8 in the Bowmer Theatre.

Roberta Kent is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Reach her at rbkent@mind.net.

YA GOT TROUBLE!
(the good kind)

OSFs production of
THE MUSIC MAN

In honor of Mick's parents' birthdays, we took them to The Music Man at OSF's Angus Bowman Theater on Sunday. They were down here for a week of the kids' two-week Spring Break (those two weeks are another story, related to Oregon's economic crisis) and we thought that seeing this light musical with the family would be fun.

We took Mick's parents, our kids, and my mom -- and Uncle Kai came, too, which was particularly great because he'd been in the Curtis High School production of this show back in the day. (1989?) Mr. Barbershop Quartet, so I hear.

Whattayatalk?Whattayatalk?Whattayatalk?
I've never seen the play, and I thought it would be a fun show -- but I had no idea I would be so smitten.

From the opening "train" scene with all the salesmen singing and moving with a train engine rhythm, to the love ballad "Till There Was You" (which even the Beatles liked, see below), to that fabulous library scene with the sultry teen bookworms moving to "Marian the Librarian," this musical was absolutely charming.

Two big turn-ons in this production:
Bill Rauch directed the play, he's the OSF Artistic Director, and he did two things I thought were brilliant:

1 - Rauch had the entire town and its townspeople clad in gray when the music man comes to town. This set up the town's emotional status perfectly, visibly demonstrating their closed-off, drab, uninspired lives. Only the music man was in color at the beginning, in his bright red jacket. As the town slowly warmed to him and his ideas, bright clothes replaced gray ones, until only the stubborn mayor remained sans technicolor. If you've seen the movie Pleasantville, it had that same powerful effect.

2 - Rauch had the character of Marcellus Washburn (the Buddy Hackett character in the 1962 film) played by a deaf actor. It was mesmerizing and, at the risk of sounding condescending, heart-warming! It made the dialogue fascinating as the music man and Marcellus communicated with each other in a rhythm of words, grunts (that sounds weird, but it's true), and sign language. Furthermore, sign language even found its way into the choreography of one of the numbers the town sings. The sign language was obvious, but at the same time it seemed subtle in the way it sort of bloomed casually from everyone's hands. It was endearing (as is the character of Marcellus) and exciting to see on stage.

Kids favorite parts
At times I wasn't sure my kids knew what to make of the musical. I went over the general plot with them ahead of time and told them it would be a long production, but that's about it. Dane was pretty stoic throughout, and Aubrey smiled and laughed (taking cues from me while she sat on my lap? I don't know).

Afterwards, Dane said he liked the part at the end when the music man's been found out and the town is about to decide his fate when the uniformed marching band surprisingly shows up. He liked the uniforms, the kids, how they showed up to make a difference in the music man's fate, and how they played miserably but their parents were proud.

Aubrey said she liked the walking bridge scene, where a giant blue fabric is whooshed across stage under sparkly lights to look like the river.

Both kids liked the library scene.
(Dare I say it? Maybe... I got trouble!)

Even the Beatles like The Music Man...

Sunday Summary

Two things to report:

1 - Hired a babysitter this afternoon and went with Mick to the OSF production of Death and the King's Horseman. Excellent play. The playwright, Wole Soyinka, is an African who won the Nobel Prize. This particular play is rarely performed outside of Africa, but this year it's being performed in two places: London and Ashland. That makes me happy.

The play takes place in the 1940s and "is based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during British colonial rule when the ritual suicide of the Horseman of an important chief was prevented by the intervention of the colonial authorities.^[1] In addition to the British intervention, Soyinka calls the horseman's own conviction toward suicide into question, posing another problem that throws off the community's balance."

There were many poignant moments, highlighting the conflicts of colonialism and change, but one line stands out for me, affirming what I understand of colonialism. A young African man who has studied medicine in England returns to Africa and reflects on the current crisis in light of his experience abroad, saying, "Your people disrespect what you don't understand."

I love that. What a brilliant way to point out the presumptuousness of dominant nations and their citizens.

Anyway, Mick and I liked the play, liked getting out, and liked our prawn nachos at Tabu afterwards. We also liked coming home to two jumproping kids in the living room, who now call for my attention - so I have to cut this short.

But one more thing...

2 - Went skiing with our family and Kai and his two girls yesterday. Sweet powder. Evidently there was some sweet chubby-chick-snowboarder-butt-crack, too. But it gets better. Kai pointed to said crack as Mick was skiing down the hill. Evidently, the chick sitting was on the hill adjusting her boots, and had a pretty deep crevice atop her drawers. Mick flew down and stopped right before her, spraying her backside with a perfect whoosh of powder that filled the top of her pants and her crack. Then he had the nerve to look uphill when she turned around, miffed -- and act as if he was looking for me. Kai took off skiing and laughing to himself. Later he told me Mick made a perfect little cone in her crevice. I thought maybe we should coin the term "snow coning."



Watch out!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY mua-ha-ha-ha....

Mick and I celebrated Valentines Day last night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's opening night of Macbeth. Mick found me wandering the halls at 3 this morning in my gauzy linen sheath, wringing my hands and crying, "Out, damn'd spot! Out, I say!"

It was an excellent performance, with a compelling set, stunning dresses for Lady Mac, and well-chosen actors for the lead roles - especially Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches.

We both bought $100 Flex Passes yesterday, so we'll get to see the other five plays this season. The Flex Pass is good on certain days of the week in Feb-May and then in Sept-Nov. The tickets come to $20 each, where they can otherwise range from $40 to $90. Mmmm... I love a good deal.