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“Born with Teeth” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
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“Born with Teeth” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

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“Born with Teeth” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Born with Teeth

OSF Presents the Alley Theatre Production
By Liz Duffy Adams
Directed by Rob Melrose

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

This two-person show is good entertainment. Witty, quick, well-acted.

The plot has contemporary playwrights William Shakespeare (Bradley James Tejeda) and Christopher “Kit” Marlowe (Alex Purcell) sparring over words, personal behavior, and sex. In talks the director has said that academics who have read the script say that nothing in the plot couldn’t have happened. However, warning! That doesn’t mean any of the interactions on stage actually happened.

The plot explores relatively recent research into Marlowe’s life. The current theory, I have been told, is that Marlowe didn’t die in a random bar fight as history has previously said. Instead, he was targeted and killed because he was involved in palace intrigue, spying and turning over innocent people to the authorities, and blatant homosexuality.

Marlowe was allowed to be known homosexual only because his lovers included powerful people but in the end powerful people were uncomfortable with what Marlowe knew and did. In the final scene Marlowe and Shakespeare say good-bye as Marlowe knows that assassins are waiting for him.

Alex Purcell Bradley and James Tejeda. Photo by Jenny Graham

On stage we see Shakespeare and Marlowe flirt, a couple times very physically. Marlowe is also chronically trying to recruit Shakespeare into his spy ring, but Will refuses and insists on sticking to writing… until Shakespeare commits an out-of-character act at the end which helps end the play. (I am still shaking my head saying, “Tsk, tsk!” at Shakespeare’s uncharacteristic political deed which is best left unspecified but which makes the performance a short one-act.)

The dialogue is fast, fun, and full of the lovely feel of Shakespeare… probably because some of Shakespeare’s lines are used to illustrate the writing happening on stage.
Overall, the scenes fly by. There are a good number of good one-liners. There is sincere laughter from the audience. It’s fun. We were amused to watch the actors and we enjoyed the language, especially the words from the 17th Century.

Born with Teeth is especially engaging for Shakespeare fans who are up on the latest AI that shows which acts of which Shakespeare plays are more stylistically Marlowe and were probably written by Kit not Will.

On the whole this was simply fun to watch and hear. That’s not a bad thing, but we don’t really learn anything about their collaboration or how the possible flirtation influenced their writing or made anyone’s lives different in real life.

I am happy to have seen this theater-goers mental masturbation show which was well done but fails the “so what” test. Go see it if you’re in town. It’s a good

By Galen Workman|2024-04-24T13:44:41-07:00April 24, 2024|osf, plays|0 Comments

“Peter and the Starcatcher”

story by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
adapted for theater by Rick Elice
music by Wayne Barkerr
directed by Matt Goodrich

Ashland, OR
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Peter and the Starcatcher (2020): Preston Mead (Boy), Grace Chan Ng (Molly). Photo by Jenny Graham, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. — **Peter and the Starcatcher (2020): Preston Mead (Boy), Grace Chan Ng (Molly).**
Photo by Jenny Graham, Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

I didn’t grow up watching, reading, or otherwise being infused with Peter Pan lore. Sure, I knew that there was a kids’ story about him and fairy we clapped for named Tinkerbell. But, when I walked into the theater for Peter and the Starcatcher I didn’t remember anything about lost boys, Mrs. Darling, or any plot.

My ignorance ultimately didn’t keep me from applauding this very fast-paced comedic prequel. But, it took me a while to figure out who people were and why I cared. For much of the first act characters popped up and took roles that most of the audience apparently recognized from Peter and Wendy. Those in the know enjoyed the fresh take on the characters and appreciated the skill of the backstories. On the other hand, I was left a little dizzy at the rapid-fire, sometimes very broad or very obvious activities on stage.

The moments of juvenile humor didn’t help my struggle to get into the play. Fart jokes –even when executed with the supreme skill of K.T. Vogt — start me looking for the exit.

Peter and the Starcatcher (2020): Cyndii Johnson (Ted), Grace Chan Ng (Molly), Preston Mead (Boy), Dan Lin (Prentiss). Photo by Jenny Graham, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. — **Peter and the Starcatcher (2020): Cyndii Johnson (Ted), Grace Chan Ng (Molly),**
**Preston Mead (Boy), Dan Lin (Prentiss).**
Photo by Jenny Graham, Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

The second act was much better for me. There was more word play and no farts. Moreover, by then I’d figured out who was who and had some sense of their motivation. That let truly enjoy the comedic acting gems on stage.

Throughout the performance, even when I was dazed by the early comings and goings, the cast gave perfectly-timed, strong moments. Preston Mead (Boy) has a sense of presence that’s for days. He was innocent one moment and determined the next. I kept checking the program trying, in vain, to find the Equity* asterisk that would have explained his experience in developing character in a basically fluffy piece. Michael Hume (Captain Scott) was a sometimes stuffy, sometimes knowledgeable, caricature who was just believable enough to support the story. Very fun.

I was especially happy to see Brent Hinkley (Smee) be differently ridiculous than I have seen him before. And, wow! — James Ryen (Black Stache) was simply fun.

This is another OSF production where I feel that each actor should be separately praised. Molly, the boys, the crew members, the teacher, the other lords — everyone fit in and zinged the story along.

One of my favorite moments is a scene of mermaids, and the gaudy, but appropriate, outrageous by costume designer Melissa Torchia were a real treat. Those items of apparel doth definitely proclaimed the maids.

By the end of the second act I was hearing and understanding and immensely enjoying every moment. There’s so much inventiveness and witty words, I would like to see Peter and the Starcatcher a second time. It’s may be a romp, but it is a head-spinning romp.

I saw the play opening night, and some of the rushing and frenzy of the first act could be related to that excitement. After some performances, the timing and clarity may improve and draw in people not steeped in Peter and Wendy lore. For the show I saw Act I was 3 stars while Act II was 5… so

Ozdachs rating:

By Galen|2020-05-31T12:00:32-07:00March 29, 2020|plays|0 Comments

“The Underpants Godot”

The Underpants Godot

By Duncan Pflaster
Directed by Alan Quismorio

Jordan Ong (as Mark, an actor playing Estragon) and Francisco Rodriguez (as Tim, and actor playing Vladamir) Photo by Joseph Tally.

San Francisco, CA
at Theatre Rhinoceros

What fun! Especially for a theater fan who still cringes when he remembers going to a production of Waiting for Godot when he was precocious senior in high school.

I was too young, too tired, or too something for the non-action on stage. I don’t remember the details of the play, but I remember the agonizing pacing, and I remember wondering if the plaudits for Beckett’s writing weren’t a giant hoax aimed at too trusting and too serious students who were trying to understand Culture.

Getting the references and riffs in Theatre Rhinoceros’ pop-up production of The Underpants Godot made that long night of theater 40-some years ago worthwhile.

Duncan Pflaster’s script is a masterpiece that often mirrors the cadence and character relationships of Beckett’s Godot. But Pflaster makes intelligent and understandable points about theater, people, and life. There are a lot of comments about theater, and they are both insightful and very, very funny.

The plot tells the story of a Waiting for Godot production where the characters are gay men wearing, at most, underpants. We watch as a rehearsal is stopped by the visit of a representative of the estate of Samuel Beckett. She has to determine if this underpants version violates the terms of the license which demand faithfulness to the text and to Beckett’s intent.

As the characters explore the legitimacy of the underpants concept, a lot of theater is discussed in a humorous, yet meaningful way.

The estate representative, for example, lists in rapid-fire the different concepts she’s seen used in producing Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “One set in Greenwich Village where the Fairies were actually the Mafia? One set in a drive-in where the Fairies were B-movie Monsters from Beyond the Silver Screen? One set at Christmas with Oberon as Santa Claus and Puck as an elf? One set outdoors in a park, where the Fairies were the Homeless?”

Funny, yes. But, also on point in the discussion of how far can/should directors go in using a play for their own purposes.

If nothing else, Theatre Rhino gets applause for its play selection.

Fortunately, their pop-up production is excellently done. Truly.

First, the space they are using is a corner of the Sparks Art Gallery. The back exhibition room has 34 folding chairs set up to face the other wall. The stage is the floor from the far wall 20 feet toward the center of the room. This is a perfect set for Waiting for Godot where the only scenery is a rock and a scrawny tree. It works completely.

Director Alan Quismorio assembled a cast that ranges from very credible to absolutely wonderful. Four actors were standouts.

Andrew Calabrese (Kevin/Lucky) earned show-stopping applause for Kevin’s unexpected detailed oration that started with the exploration of the homoerotic nature Waiting for Godot. The lines are brilliant and an homage to a similar unexpected outburst by Lucky in Beckett’s work. Calabreses nailed the speech and his character.

Francisco Rodriguez (Tim/Vladamir) and Jordan Ong (Mark/Estragon) switch back and forth between their roles as actors and the characters in Beckett’s play with easy clarity. Director Quismorio has them swish and sashay as their characters in Waiting for Godot, and then be grumpier and butcher as gay actors. I loved that decision and the way the actors pulled it off. These men carry the play and they don’t falter.

The representative of the Becket estate is not consistent in her actions. Sometimes she bends and sometimes she is unyielding, and there doesn’t seem to be a coherent motivation for either behavior. Yet, Elizabeth Finkler (Tara) is so big and certain in her portrayal of the representative that while the play was going on I didn’t question any of her rulings. Later, talking about the play with friends, I thought, “Wait! Why was x okay but y would be a showstopper? It should have been explained.”

Of course, to honor Beckett, nothing should be explained. And, Finkler’s Tara let us keep our questions unthought of past the wildly enthusiastic curtain call.

In a performance where everything works, it’s got to be the director’s fault. So, special applause to Quismorio who made a theater pop up in a small art gallery’s back room. He used, not just put up with, the location and give us an intimate performance of a tight play. The characters worked together and the action felt consistent and logical.

The Underpants Godot pop-up production is a terrifically enjoyable surprise. Theatre Rhino gives the audience a very witty and wise play delivered with style and spot-on acting. See it if you can!

The Underpants Godot has two more performances, Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23. Online tickets are sold out but a limited number of tickets are sold at the door for $10-30. Contact [email protected] for more information about attending.

By Galen|2019-03-21T08:08:28-07:00March 19, 2019|plays, Theatre Rhino|0 Comments

“Manahatta” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Ashland, Oregon
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Manahatta

by Mary Kathryn Nagle
directed by Laurie Woolery

Steven Flores, Rainbow Dickerson, Sheila Tousey, Tanis Parenteau. Photo by Jenny Graham.

Steven Flores, Rainbow Dickerson, Sheila Tousey, Tanis Parenteau. ,br />Photo by Jenny Graham.

This world-premiere production tells the story of the poor treatment of Native American people by Imperialistic white “settlers”, brillianty weaves together narratives four centuries apart, and gives us a satisfying understanding of how the actions taken in 1626 reverberate in today’s America. Manahatta deals with themes similar to the also-world-premiere The Way the Mountain Moved , but Manahatta did it right, engaging the audience instead of giving a sermon to it.

Manahatta is about people who, of course, are informed by the world events they’re experiencing. The actors play two roles, one from the 17th Century and in from the 21st Century. The roles are somewhat reflective each other: Jeffrey King’s powerful white guy (Peter Minuit) from 1626 is contrasted to his powerfalling white guy (Dick Fuld) in 2008 while Tanis Parenteau’s Native American maid (Le-le-wa’-you) is paired with the 2008 savvy Jane Snake. And, other cast members have similar double roles.

The play exploits the different types of interaction between the sets of characters. The more innocent and mostly more moral American folk both keep/rediscover their traditions and also partly incorporate the European aggressive immorality into their souls.

Or, something like that. Trying to describe why Manahatta works so well kills the reason it’s special.

Manahatta delivers stories through people. The stories mesh, play off each other, and let the audience go “Aha!” They illustrate sides of our country which are not so wonderful, but which are integral to who/what we are.

You’re drawn into thinking about the nation’s history because of the interesting characters you’re following on stage instead of being beaten over the head by pointed convoluted plotlines or didactic dialogue (a la The Way the Mountain Moved).

Jeff King plays two historical characters. Peter Minuit is a businessman/colonial governor who buys Manhattan from the indigenous people for trinkets. King’s second role is Dick Fauld, the Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers when it went bankrupt in 2008. He interacts with Parenteua’s characters in both centuries. In the 1600’s he is the conquering/demanding White Man dominating Le-le-wa’-you and Native Americans. In 2008, King’s character’s downfall and exit is assisted by his savvy Native American protege, Jane Snake.

There’s no “Got you, you son of a bitch” feel to the switch in fortunes. Rather, there is a feeling of maturity and coming to rightful power in Snake’s actions. The relationship between the pairs of characters matures and evens, but the raw nastiness of the initial imbalance lingers in your mind.

The cast is perfect. King and Parenteua set the standard for clear, natural time shifting. With the leads — and all of the players — you quickly realize which time period the character is in, and how their lines blend/contrast/complement the words last spoken by their doppleganger. While there are significant costume differences between the periods, I don’t remember looking at them as clues for which role the actor was in. I always knew which person I was seeing on stage.

Steven Flores, Tanis Parenteau.
Photo by Jenny Graham.

Another factor that makes the play so powerful is that the actors know that their roles are connected in some way, but they are different people. It’s not just the 400 years between the parts. Each character had a different background, different culture to react to, different motivation. They don’t think or act alike. But, still, you’re seeing a dominant European man deal with a younger Native American woman in moments separated by 400 years.

The set by scenic designer Mariana Sanchez completes the magic to let the play work. Relative sparse stage, background images that can change, and absurdly subtle props (like a single potted tulip) lets the time slip back and forth without stumbling over heavy scene changes or delays. Her work is a great fit.

Ultimately what makes the dual-role acting so strong, makes time travel both understandable and correct, and makes the little things like the potted tulips possible is the script by Mary Kathryn Nagle and the direction by Laurie Woolery.

Manahatta tells the stories of 400 years of interactions between peoples of different powers and cultures. The play doesn’t blink, but it also doesn’t preach. Instead, through storytelling Manahatta helps you see the America and part of its history differently. You leave talking about the perspectives to your seatmates, people at the bar, and to your friends at the B&B next morning.

The writer and director deserve their own standing ovation.

Play rating:

By Galen|2018-09-29T16:49:34-07:00September 29, 2018|osf, plays|2 Comments

Henry V

Ashland, Oregon
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Henry V

Ensemble as Chorus. Photo by Jenny Graham.

by William Shakespeare
directed by Rosa Joshi

Daniel José Molina (Henry V) and other cast members deliver many truly spectacular moments — especially in Act II — which make this Henry a must see. Unfortunately, Director Rosa Joshi’s choices diminish the impact of the play itself and leaves the audience to appreciate master-class acting set in a confusion of activity.

I think the audience is supposed to [endlessly] appreciate the turmoil and indiscriminate horrors of the machine of war. Toward that end, actors push stacks of boxes across the stage mimicking siege engines or walls or something. In fact, the before play opens members of the cast are twisting a changing pile of boxes around and around upstage. I’m sure it’s meaningful. But, the only thought these leaden-looking props give me is that the director has seen too many Transformer movies.

To add to the disorder, the actors play multiple roles, sometimes up to 6 or 7, if you count “Chorus” and “Ensemble” separately. The differences among the actors’ personas seems deliberately vague as if to remind us how similar to each other all sides in a conflict are. The problem, of course, is that Shakespeare had a plot going, and it was hard for me at times to tell who/which person or which side was doing was doing what. If the actor had a hat on he was an English low-life, without it he might be a French noble. Grrr!

Chaos on Stage: Jessica Ko, Kimberly Scott, Robert Vincent Frank, Shaun Taylor-Corbett. Photo by Jenny Graham.

The effect of the chaos is distraction, not drama. I was horrified to hear the rousing, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” go by like a throw-away line, losing the competition for attention to some random movement, yelling, or flash bang device going off.

Act I starts off well with an interesting delivery of Chorus’ “O for a Muse of fire…” I also appreciated the early court scene where Henry tries to ensure the righteousness of his going to war. Very nice, deliberate acting. But, then the plot becomes secondary to the motion on stage for the remainder of the act, save for one show-stopping moment.

G Valmont Thomas

The actors and audience take a collective breath when Pistol (Kimberly Scott) announces, “Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead.”

Last year’s Falstaff, well known and well liked actor, G. Valmont Thomas, died last December. This Festival season is dedicated to his memory, and many of the Henry V cast worked with him as Falstaff in Henry IV parts 1 and 2. Pistol’s line stopped hearts throughout the theater for it was too true.

Act II cruised along uneventfully until Molina started interacting with individual characters. My daydreaming was first interrupted when Henry confronts his old friend Bardolph, played by Robert Vincent Frank. Bardolph has been caught misbehaving and was brought to his buddy Hal for adjudication. The lines stopped and the two men looked into each other’s eyes, the damning transaction completed wordlessly. Henry follows through with Shakespeare’s narration, but the sentence, appeal, and rejection were all done by the eyes. Both men communicated completely without a sound.

From that scene on, we are treated to excellent vignettes, usually involving Molina. Henry’s wandering in disguise among his troops, picking up their mood, works well. The battle scenes blur but Henry’s humanity away from the overwrought staging is mesmerizing. Even the courtship scene with the French princess (Jessica Ko) gives a tenderness that avoids any disempowering smirk of politics.

As littered with scene gems as Act II is, the power of Shakespeare never reigns. There is always too much activity and too much “who is that again?”

This Henry V showcases Daniel José Molina. His acting has improved from flawed in his first OSF seasons to artistry in this starring role. It’s very worth seeing.

Daniel José Molina as Henry V. OSF photo.

I am glad the director allowed Molina and the other actors time and space to deliver their performances. I just wish she had given Shakespeare and his story the same courtesy.

Play rating:

By Galen|2018-03-05T20:02:55-08:00March 5, 2018|osf, plays|1 Comment