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The White Snake

Ashland, Oregon
World Premiere
Opening Performance, February 25, 2012
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

The White Snake

The White Snake
Written and Directed by Mary Zimmerman

Playwright Mary Zimmerman has distilled an ancient, often modified, Chinese legend of The White Snake into a coherent, relevant, engrossing, artistic, and accessible 138-minute story. The text is stylized and full of Eastern cultural references, but Zimmerman’s lively, humorous, and rich approach somehow [“somehow” as in “the magic happens here”] honors the fable’s roots while letting it transcend its place and time of origin. 

The White Snake avoids being artsy fartsy as Zimmerman’s works have been in the past (I’m thinking specifically of Berkeley Rep’s Metamorphoses which I disliked, its later Broadway Tony notwithstanding), and instead rises to a mesmerizing blend of straight-forward narrative, stylized symbolism, humor, gorgeous visuals, and conflicting morality. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s own January-deadline publications warned that the script had not yet been written, yet at its opening the play was polished, professional, and ready for prime time. (more…)

By |2012-02-26T12:13:00-08:00February 26, 2012|osf, plays, Uncategorized|1 Comment
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Romeo and Juliet

Ashland, Oregon
Opening Night
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare

In Director Laird Williamson vision, Romeo and Juliet is a farcical melodramatic moral play filled with bawdy clowns.  It’s a slapstick tragedy, a category  underrepresented on modern stage.  The script’s only fault is the pesky obvious rhymes and flowery language that can be best gotten through in a quick pace at high volume. 

Williamson has ordered up so many pelvic thrusts for the hormonal young men that the show is unsuitable for school tours.  What in other productions comes off as witty sexual innuendo, Williamson unmasks as full-on, lowest-common-denominator sleazy talk. He gets the audience giggling at the sex, tittering at the over-wrought emotions, and focused on the comic characters of nurse, friar, and apothecary. (more…)

By |2012-02-25T12:04:00-08:00February 25, 2012|osf, plays, Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Sequel’s People

As exhibitors, our favorite dog show is the Golden Gate Kennel Club’s event at the Cow Palace.  The show runs the last Saturday and Sunday of January every year, and it’s unusual because it is “benched.” That means the dogs in competition must come be on available for public viewing the whole day.  Just like at the Westminster show, at the Cow Palace dogs and their owners cannot show up just before ring time and leave as soon as judging is over. They have to remain on the bench so non-exhibitors can see them up close.

For the past three years Sequel has been on display by 10 am and hasn’t left before 4:30 or 5, except for a brief foray into the judging ring each day. It’s a long day for a little dog.

Cow Palace Crowd

But, what fun!

A fan of SequelHundreds of people come by our spot on the dachshund bench, and most want to see her, pat her, and learn about dachshunds. 

We’ve talked to a teary-eyed elderly woman who remembered the pet she had before the war… it looked just like Sequel.  There was the group of Egyptian exchange students who had never seen a pet dog before coming into the Cow Palace, and they were stunned at the different looks, sizes, and temperaments of the canines around them.  Smiling adults come by to share their stories of childhood companions and more recent dog friends.  And, most of all, there are the wide-eyed children who come by to try on the different breeds.

We generally sit in front of the bench with Sequel in our laps.  Signs everywhere warn the visitors to ask before petting dogs, and most do.  Sequel is a good girl, and doesn’t squirm when packs of youngsters approach with their hands out.  She gets very tired, but refuses to fall asleep in her kennel like the other dogs.  She won’t close her eyes and miss anything or any of her public.

I have published more pictures of Sequel’s People here.

By |2012-02-21T07:37:00-08:00February 21, 2012|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Want to Make Sure Your Dog isn’t From a Puppy Mill?

Geoff and Sequel at the Cow Palace Show in 2011Saturday and Sunday the Golden Gate Kennel Club holds its annual dog show at the San Francisco Cow Palace.  Come on down to find a responsible breeder for a healthy dog, or simply gawk at the variety of canines… there will be over 1,000 to stare at!

This show is special.  At most dog shows the exhibitors show up just before their dog is judged.  They do last-minute fluffing, go into the ring, get their ribbons, and go home.

At the Cow Palace the dogs have to be on a bench by 10 am and they cannot go home until 4:30.  The only time the dog (and owner) aren’t on the bench is when they are in the ring to be judged.

The time on the bench is the perfect moment for you to talk to the owners and learn more about the breed.  Owners are always happy to chat about their show girl or boy, and they know the special characteristics of their breed.

Some… but not all, of the exhibitors are also breeders.  So, if you’re considering a pure-bred dog, you can meet the person responsible for a litter.  You can find about the parent’s health and temperament.  Here are some hints at worked for us when we were looking for a breeder of long hair miniature dachshunds:

  • The breeder should ask you more questions about your fitness to parent than you ask about the dog.
  • The breeder probably should tell you that they have no puppies now but may have some in the future… even if they have 8-week-old puppies all over their home.  Saying “Not now, but…” takes the pressure off and it’s a great segue to a conversation about your lifestyle and ability to take care of a dog.
  • If a breeder has puppy picture books and grabs you as you go by the bench, smile at them, but do not stop. 

If you know what breed you’re interested in, the show is a good place to meet breeders and to get an introduction to the local owners.  If you’re shopping for the best breed for your apartment, family, or elderly relative, the Cow Palace show lets you do your breed comparisons by walking from row to row.

If you’re interested in seeing dogs judged (a la Westminster) you can also visit the rings in the center of the building where judging starts at 8:30 and Best in Show comes about 4 (I think).  You can look up the ring time for a breed you’re interested in online.

We have loved our time on the bench at the Cow Palace shows.  We’ve met little old German women coming by on walkers who teared up when they saw Sequel and remembered a dachshund from their youth.  We’ve been assaulted by exuberant five-year-olds pointing at her shouting, “What kind of dog is THAT?”  We’ve heard many stories of dogs gone by who enriched the lives of the people who stopped by our spot on the bench.

Come on down… and stop by the dachshund area in the South Hall (out back).

By |2012-01-27T12:54:00-08:00January 27, 2012|dachshunds, sequel, Uncategorized|1 Comment
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