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“Smote This” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Smote This,
A Comedy About God …and Other Serious $H*T

Created and performed by Rodney Gardiner
Directed by Raz Golden

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival March 22 – May 12, 2024

SMOTE This masthead

 

This one-person show by OSF veteran Rodney Gardiner is intense, personal, real, and not to be missed (and like all of the one-person shows the run is too short, so go now).

I am struggling to figure out which level of the show I should tell about. On the top-level, the physical story starts out with Rodney at his father’s funeral which leads to a discussion of his family and how he came to the United States. That leads to dealing with his father’s long-term health issues, his mother’s life and how she parented. We learn about isolated events in young Rodney’s life, the “miracles” that touch him, and eventually his life with a wife and two Blewish children.

This show is billed as a comedy, and Rodney has very witty, fun lines. He is physically humorous, energetic, and a happy ball of energy on stage.

Except the jokey story is actually about the struggle of undocumented refugees living in a poor community among drug dealers and other distractions. The family has issues, and we spend a lot of time giggling at the “funny” lines about things like his father dying alone under the photograph of a blond white Jesus. Or, about how as a child he woke up from a dream because his mother started beating him and his two brothers while they were sound asleep in bed. Very funny scene, except …

Rodney Gardier in Smote This

Rodney Gardier in Smote This. Photo by Jenny Graham

The first time I saw the show I was very bothered by all the humor. I guess the second time I knew what was coming, and Rodney is a great comic. But, still, we are laughing at awful stuff.

Throughout the show there is a genuine tension between the organized religion Rodney’s been taught and the spirituality of his community and family. “What to believe” is a central issue which strengthens the story, but really isn’t reinforced as the dilemma to consider when seeing the performance.

This new show was a great 50 minutes. And like many new works of art, we spent a lot of time afterwards reflecting and considering how we would improve it. For one thing, we didn’t like “Smote This…” as a title. I object mainly because I am not sure Rodney comes down on the side smiting anything, certainly he’s not throwing away all of the religion he’s been exposed to.

A lot of the humor and emphasis compares feeling-rich, family-rich, religious-rich Black Caribbean community with the dominant white world. His perspective is revelatory and sharp. But, his struggles with what to believe, family, and religion are more widespread. When he rewrites the show for its second incarnation (not planned, that I know of), I hope he projects his personal experiences into a more universal dilemma. His perspective and insight are spectacular, but his observations apply to a wider scope of experiences.

Thank you, Rodney, for sharing so much of your background and life. Thank you for sharing your comedic talent. Now, let’s figure out how to get me released from my guilt at laughing at tragedy and also make your pointed themes apply more broadly.

This excellent performace rates Rating: 4 and 1/2 Syntaxes out of 5

By |2024-04-27T11:48:17-07:00April 24, 2024|osf, plays|0 Comments
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Imaginary Comforts
or the Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit

Berkeley, CA
at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Set of IMAGINARY COMFORTS, OR THE STORY OF THE GHOST OF THE DEAD RABBIT
Opening Scene of IMAGINARY COMFORTS,
OR THE STORY OF THE GHOST OF THE DEAD RABBIT

Imaginary Comforts or
The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit

by Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket)
WORLD PREMIERE

I am unreasonably pleased at not knowing how to start a discussion of Imaginary Comforts. 

The locally-produced theater I’ve seen in the Bay Area in the past decade has been linear, easily described, one-dimensional. Some productions, especially recent Theatre Rhinoceros shows, have been quality, great fun events. But, none has risen to the gob-smacking, “I got to think about this” level that the productions at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival frequently obtain. In fact, the only mind-twisting disrupted narrative I’ve seen on stage in San Francisco has been the packaged OSF production of The Unfortunates. Until today.

Imaginary Comforts is not a straight-forward, easily tracked narration. It is simultaneously clear and chaotic. The purpose of each scene is obvious, but only when it is.

So, how to tell you why it’s amazing art you want to see?

I can tell you the play is about a character who is a rabbi, another who is a recovering alcoholic, another who is an alcoholic who fails recovery, another who is an alcohol therapist, another who is a bookkeeper, etc., etc.  They interact with each other. There are funerals and searches for connection. You don’t see how the different characters could matter to each other. But they do. Eventually.

It’s a play about storytelling, and the power of the stories told. The main character is really The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit. Most people will think the story is horrible. We don’t ever hear the full story. It’s in virtually every scene.

The play opens with Clovis (Michael Goorjian) and his friend who is playing the ghost of the dead rabbit (Danny Scheie) practicing a dramatization of the rabbit’s story. The main character is on stage from the start!

Rabbi Naomi Middleton (? on the last name — it’s mentioned in dialogue but not in the playbill, played by Marilee Talkinton) is consumed with the need to find stories for the funeral of Dr. Gold (Julian Lopez-Morillas). Naomi is all about stories, they’re central to her identity as a Jew and her calling to be a rabbi. She hears the story of the Ghost early on. She initially is repulsed by the story; ultimately she is strengthened by it. The story doesn’t change.

Rabbi Naomi’s insistence on coming back to the central importance of storytelling to Judaism made me consider the style of my own church’s new Senior Minister. Even if they both weren’t redheaded religious leaders, their similar dedication to the power of stories would be striking. It’s not just the Jewish religion that finds power in a good story. All religions and cultures use stories. And, it is not just rabbis or ministers or priests who are consumed with finding the right story for the moment. The rabbit gets to everyone.

But, this isn’t a “good-for-you” intellectual thought piece. Throughout the play the dialogue is God-awfully fun. Witty, meaningful, and wickedly well written. Lots of funny moments. Sophisticated language is interspersed with low-brow physical humor. It works wonderfully.

IMAGINARY COMFORTS poster by Berkeley Rep

Moreover, Imaginary Comforts passes my continuity test. There are no orphaned illusions or actions. If we see a gun in Scene 1, it’s used before the curtain comes down. In a play that seems scattered at first, having every bit of dramatic fabric woven into the complete production is a satisfying accomplishment.

I have only mentioned a few of the characters because I think it really needs the 90 minutes to property describe how the people on stage fit together. I don’t mean to short the actors, though. The entire cast rings true.

The set needs a special shout out, though. Applause to designer Todd Rosenthal. The scenes are rotated into place on two turntables, and the interaction between the components mirrors the complex integration of the characters’ stories. The design and movement are strong, simple, and also intricate. The physical stage helps thrust the characters, including the Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit, into the lap of the audience. It’s an excellent design.

This world premiere is fun and meaningful and well acted and well produced. There are a few moments when the language seems a bit stilted, so I wouldn’t discourage an editorial review. And, there were some minor flubbed lines in the matinee we saw.

But, wow! Thank you Berkeley Rep for offering the Bay Area a very enjoyable play that demands attention, analysis, and discussion.

Ozdachs rating:
Rating: 4 and 1/2 Syntaxes out of 5

By |2017-10-29T09:36:53-07:00October 29, 2017|Berkeley Rep, plays|0 Comments
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The Happiest Song Plays Last

Ashland, Oregon
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival


The Happiest Song Plays Last
by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Soldiers Daniel Duque-Estrada and Barzin Akhavan.

Daniel Duque-Estrada (Elliot) and Barzin Akhavan (Ali). Photo by Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

The Happiest Song Plays Last, the third installment of Iraq war veteran Elliot Ortiz’s struggle with his combat experience and aftermath, fulfills the promise of the complex emotional saga. While nominally about Elliot,  three characters have legitimate claim to be considered the lead: Elliot (Daniel Duque-Estrada), his cousin Yaz (Nancy Rodriguez), and Yaz’s neighbor Agustin (Armando Duran). Even then, some of the deepest scenes center on other characters, Ali (Barzin Akhavan) and Lefty (Bruce Young).

This play is a gripping, draining, intense, tender, and difficult. Like the two earlier chapters in Elliot saga (Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue and Water by the Spoonful), The Happiest Song Plays Last lingers on psychological damage and the details of personal terror.

The play exists to discover the relationships between the characters and the characters’ growth. The Ashland production succeeds magnificently because of the vision of the director, Shishir Kurup, and the cast.  I have read views of other productions from around the country, and they and the awards panels have favored Water by the Spoonful to the The Happiest Song Plays Last based on what they perceive as the strength of the core stories.  All I can say is that they just didn’t see The Happiest Song Plays Last at OSF.

Because I have friends who are refugees from the Middle East and Northern Africa, I was smacked particularly hard by the scenes in Jordan and Egypt.  The vignettes between Elliot and Ali, an Iraqi army veteran now working on the same war movie that Elliot is starring in, were so simple and so wrenching.  Truly brilliantly underacted by both men, the exchange of soldier understanding between people who fought on different sides was powerful beyond words.  The look in Ali’s eyes, the pauses, and the awkward recoveries of both soldiers back to the manly present were brilliantly written and executed.

Those moments were key to the Elliot’s eventual integration of his soldier past into the present with a new generation of Americans and Iraqis.  They were beautiful, tear-inspiring moments.

Duque-Estrada’s Elliot also is an order of magnitude more impressive than the one we saw on stage last year.  In Water by the Spoonful Elliot was played by a young, less mature, physically-never-a-Marine actor. This Elliot looks the part both in size and in world-experience expression.

Elliot’s sojourn through the war didn’t just affect him.  Throughout the play series, his family and neighborhood in Puerto Rican Philadelphia struggled with his soldiering and trauma. In this concluding part of his story, his cousin and her neighbor further the family and community’s distance from Elliot’s initial service.

Armando Duran and Nancy Rodriguez in "The Happiest Song Plays Last"

Armando Duran (Agustin) and Nancy Rodriguez (Yaz). Photo by Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Agustin, the neighbor, is given the spotlight as his personal journey and musical compulsion well represent his age and its more ethnically centered worldview.  Agustin’s scenes are simultaneously lyrical and realistic. His chemistry with Yaz spans the generations, and the shared neighborhood exposure glues their relationship.

Elliot, Agustin, and Yaz are all major roles.  Ali, Shar, and Lefty are given less stage time, but have real, significant impact on the story. Ali in particular is irresistibly compelling.  I found myself bidding on a dinner hosted by the actor at a charity auction, and I think it was because I wanted to know more about Ali and his life.

The crafts were faultless.  Set, clothing, lighting, sound all were top-notch professional. But, to be honest, The Happiest Song Plays Last is completely dependent on the acting. And, each actor on stage deserved the standing ovation.

The production also has the best cell phone announcement ever.  Before the play starts, street-person Lefty is on stage arranging flowers, blankets,… whatever.  He then stops and chats with the audience about cell phones and cough drops.  His brief banter deserves some iPhone or Android award.

I did feel that the ending of the trilogy left some questions unresolved.  Elliot buries the past in the final scene. Does it stay buried? Does his cousin simultaneously recover from her emotional funk? And, how about the 3-year-old Iraqi described very late in the play?

I guess we are never assured that the happy ending sticks.  But, without wanting to risk the unraveling shown Into the Woods, I would have liked the story to seem more final and less wrapped up in 5 minutes.  Still, it’s an excellent experience.

Ozdachs rating:
Ozdachs Rating: 4 1/2 Syntaxes out of 5

By |2015-08-26T15:05:37-07:00August 25, 2015|osf, plays|2 Comments
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The Count of Monte Cristo

Ashland, Oregon
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas

Sword fight between Raffi Barsoumian and Al Espinosa

Raffi Barsoumian (Danglars) and Al Espinosa (Dantes). Photo by Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Who knew that a revenge melodrama could be so much fun?

Oregon Shakespeare Festival presents a sharp, finely timed, excellently acted, satisfying evening of a classic payback story written as a book by Alexandre Dumas in 1844 and adapted for the stage as early as 1848.

The version of the play OSF picked to perform is meaningful.  This Count stems from an adaption by Charles Fletcher in 1868. The play was further adapted by James O’Neill who bought the rights to produce the play and made a career taking The Count of Monte Cristo from town to town.  James was also the father of Eugene O’Neill whose Long Day’s Journey Into Night is running contemporaneously in repertory in Ashland.  That play’s father character’s professional career mimicked that of O’Neill’s real-life father, and the dialogue includes references to the actor’s one-hit legacy.  OSF’s decision to stage the father’s star vehicle and the son’s classic family tragedy side by side is a neat bit of play picking.

James O’Neill’s Count transformed Dumas’ adventure novel into a more vengeful, emotional piece. Not everyone, including about 1/3 of the OSF audience, likes that direction.  O’Neill’s approach was historically derided the December 31, 1887 San Francisco Evening Post News Letter:

In his hands the romantic story Monte Cristo has degenerated into an extravagant melodrama. The romance that amused and interested the intellectual world has become a bit of coarse theatricalism, that pleases only the more ignorant of theatre-goers. (source)

Fortunately for me, I am in the 2/3 of people who loved the over-the-stop script.

The melodrama genre demands virtuous heroes, stinky villains, complicated twists and turns, and a happy ending.  The production, directed seamlessly by Marcela Lorca, delivers all of these in style.

The character’s asides to the audience and broad actions could easily become overacted, unintentional comedy.  In this Count, the pieces instead work together in the framework of the melodrama.  There is an inevitability in much of the final moments of the play.  The audience knows the bad guys are going to get it.  But, it is a satisfying inevitably that fits the structure of the storytelling.

Al Espinosa is strong as Edmond Dantes, aka: the Count.  He’s open-faced, clear and believable in his purity.

Indeed, each person on stage is brimming with the characteristic intended: Peter Frechette (the prosecutor) is weakness incarnate, Raffi Barsoumian (Danglars) is greedy treachery personified, and Vilma Silva (Edmond’s fiancee Mercedes) is the picture of honest love. The script may make the characters one dimensional, but the actors fill the stage with the differing personalities and together the cast makes a artistic collage of people.

Richard Elmore (Caderousse the innkeeper) is becoming a reliable, unintentional scene stealer with his perfect character reads and understated —  appropriately stated —  actions. There are a couple of small Elmore gem moments in the Count which deserve a call out of special appreciation.

Another special thanks to fight director Christopher DuVal.  The duels were fun and crisp. We wanted more.

Oregon’s Shakespeare Festival delivered an energetic, accurate, and enjoyable The Count of Monte Cristo.  This production is as good a production of the James O’Neill’s adaption of Dumas classic as you’re ever going to see.  My advice to the people who were put off by the evening’s style: buy another ticket to Long Day’s Journey into Night and boo and hiss when dad comes on stage.

Ozdachs Rating: 4 1/2 Syntaxes out of 5

By |2015-08-23T12:15:12-07:00August 22, 2015|osf, plays|0 Comments
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