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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2003)
floram hof S ?(V).1 » 35 THEATER ............. ▼.............. Making the invisible visible Holiday Garland Toad City Productions takes on Rumi Christmas at triangle is all Judy, Judy, Judy* R B art C hurch by umi is hot, and his poetry is being brought to life through Dec. 20 by Toad City Productions. Rumi was a 1 3th century poet who was married, had children and led a large religious schixil— and he loved three men so much that he wrote almost every one of his 12,000 passionate poems to or about them. Rumi was a Suti— a follower of a special form of Islamic mysticism— and his work is experiencing an unprecedented renaissance. He has been the best-selling poet in the Unit ed States for several vears. In large portions of the Middle East, more people can recite Rumi’s poetry than the Koran. Nearly 750 years after his death, he remains one of the world’s most influential spiritual leaders. The current popularity, though, doesn’t make bringing his work to the stage easy. Coleman Barks, a poetry professor and modem Sufi, freed Rumi’s poetry from the arcane translations that made the work inaccessible to John McCarthy interprets Rumi through English readers until this decade. Dec. 2 0 at Backdoor Theater The poems are full of metaphor; in order to embody them as performance, actors have to Then sometimes the show works beautifully, deeply understand the many levels of meaning. as in a piece called “The Mouse and the Frog,” This is a tall order for community theater, where the adorable Matthew Combs plays a where rehearsal time is limited and actors tend needy mouse in love with a freedom-loving to be less experienced. frog, played by Jeff ITeGreef. The actors portray In the Middle East, people spend their the sweet tenderness and aching loyalty of two whole lives memorizing and reciting Rumi’s male friends/lovers whose desire to he close poetry by heart. In the United States, his writ leads them to dire consequences— which ing has a dedicated following of millions. So neither regrets. This is the most homo of all people who love Rumi come to this production | the pieces and one of the sweetest. with high expectations— as do those hxiking Most of the stories in the show portray het for interesting fringe theater. erosexual situations and traditional gender “Like a lot of people, I have a hard time roles— it was 1 3th century Islam, after all— reading poetry," says gay actor John McCarthy, but director Lorraine Bahr does mix things up “hut 1 can really relate to it when it is acted a bit with a woman playing Moses and anoth out, when it is brought to life. This show er woman (Adrienne Flagg) play an elderly makes powerful poetry accessible." sheik (Sufi teacher). Flagg produces the show Sometimes this show delivers on this and is one of its strongest actors. Michael promise. Sometimes it doesn’t. Brickler, who also is a seasoned member of Toad City, is strong as (another) Moses and as he eight actors in Rumi use an experimental a rambunctious camel. theater technique called Spolin Improvisa All of the cast members play many different tion, which relies on the use of almost no roles, and they change characters in the blink props and a mime-like pnxzess of working with of an eye— quite extraordinary in a tiny theater invisible objects to make them visible to the audi space with almost no props. One amazing ence. While the cast is quite accomplished at this transformation is when DeGreet becomes a technique, and it is useful and fun for interpreting psychic cix:k (rixister) and Combs a dog. Their a highly metaphorical work, sometimes the actors characterizations are lively and poignant. don’t seem to understand the deeper meaning of If you’re Lx iking for a deeply moving rendi- the words and actions they’re portraying. T cWe&ksides jtov i& b O ur professionals EVERY BOOK OF GAY EROTICA A L W A Y S «! STOCK! o T im o t h y K r a u s e can just picture the incarna tion o(Ju d y ’s Scary Little Christmas: Imagine the holi days at a Tinseltown Darcellc’s where the nog eggs on every drag queen’s favorite celluloid charade. S x in some ruhy-shoed Dorothy and stagedcxir Mickey scream, “Let’s put on a show!" And off they go, digging through cos tumes and bickering over billing while resurrecting a plot that’s not even six feet deep. OK, not that plot, hut an equally vapid vehicle to show case everyone’s well-worn, one- note parodies. Onstage at triangle produc tions! through Dec. 21 Ju dy's imagines a career comeback by the esteemed Judy Garland as host of one of those ubiquitous holiday specials from television’s golden age. We’re the studio audience for a broadcast brim ming with standard trimmings from musical numbers, celebrity guests and off-camera banter. But when a “mysterious’’ backstage spook is revealed to be Death itself, a tedious Twilight Zone twist recounts each star’s demise before sending them all packing— save Judy, who first must leam a lesson about the value of her life. Dram my Award winner Tony James carries the titular role with unguarded presence an<^ throaty verve. His comic timing is lithe, anchoring fellow cast members without hold ing them back. He fondly pokes fun, nudging us old-schoolers to think maybe now, looking back, Judy might enjoy laughing at herself, too. Ensemble members— often gender cross-cast— dutifully create amusing albeit waifish satires of glitteringly fey Liberace, brass- and-boobs Ethel Merman, talk-taxing Richard I NUÖM !<W by Nixon, melodramatic Joan Crawford and rough-and-tumble Lillian Heilman. But what were televised holiday specials without a puppet, a serviceman and goofy chorus numbers? Better probably, as would’ve been Judy’s Grim Reaper had he been fit with a character other than standard-issue cloak and scythe (though he on your toes for his clever feat). A Christmas Carol this is not, but to some that’s a gift in itself. JH continues through Dec. 21 at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 S . E . Belmont St. Tickets are $ 1 7 4 2 3 from 5 0 3 -2 3 9 -5 9 1 9 . J u d y ’ s S c a r y L i t t l e C h r i s t m a s 1 R u m i plays 8 p.m . Friday and Saturday through tion of the essence of Rumi’s jxK'try, you may D ec. 20 at Backdoor Theater, 4321 S.E. not find it here; still, Rumi is very creative, Hawthorne Bled. Tickets are $10 from bawdy theater with a spiritual aura. (And tor 503-736-/027, $12 at the door. $10, this is a hell of a lot better than must movies playing right now.) B a r t C h u r c h is a Portland free-lance writer, Portland community theater is alive and yoga teacher and HIV frreventum organizer. well because audiences and actors are willing to Contact him at hart@stonewallschixtl.org. take chances on work like this. jn St. Stephens Episcopa 1 G ay & L e sb ia n C o u p le s W elcom e T ill': DOWNTOWN 1 PARISH>¡ Sunday Services • 7:45 and 10:00 am Sunday School A Childcare at 10:00 am I m f Rev. Lawrence Falkowski, Ph.D. rector 1432 SW 13th Avenue • Portland. Oregon 97201 (503) 223-6424 unit arrange your delivery <@> The Brotherhood Vol.2. Rugged G.I.s and innocent lads—it’s the new Julius art book! $27. ( new ) De-circumcision. How to change your kosher pickle into a hooded mouse. $16.95. <j*yr)Ed Cervone. Torrid erotic art. Reg. $80. Sale $30! Other erotic art books on sale for $12! 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