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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2007)
BY SHARLEEN NELSON Old Kipps/The Actor (Davis N. Smith) and Young Kipps (Bryan Scott) 720 Garfield 2315 9th St NW I-5 exit 233 726 John Long Rd Eugene 541-688-5411 Eugene 541-345-2873 Corvallis 541-754-7039 Albany 541-812-2522 Rice Hill exit 148 541-849-3344 HOWARD HUMMEL 290 River Rd T a s ty T h ai Ki t ch en The Haunting NOW SERVING! THAI SLUSHIES A tale of the past returns at Cottage Theatre with tropical fruit T NOW DELIVERING LUNCH SPECIAL! Famous Original Thai Wrap starting at $3.50 WEEKEND SPECIAL! Honey Roasted Duck Fruit Smoothies Vegetarian & Vegan Options Beer on Tap & Wine Available Bubble Tea 11AM-9:30PM DAILY 80 E. 29th & Willamette 302-6444 TONI PIMBLE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EUGENE BALLET COMPANY with Pulcinella FEBRUARY 24–25 at the HULT CENTER A magical experience for the entire family! Quirky, humorous and beautiful—lions, bugs, snails, ants, frogs, monkeys, swans, and dinosaurs, too—creatures of all shapes and sizes romp and dance on stage to Toni Pimble’s original work set to Saint-Saëns score. Plus Stravinsky’s comedy Pulcinella, the delightful ballet about the quest for the perfect bride. TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW! Eugene’s World Class Dance Company Season Sponsor The Haugland Foundation Performance Sponsor The Register-Guard Media Sponsors KVAL MAGIC 94.5 Imagine Graphics CALL 682.5000 or order ONLINE hultcenter.org 28 FEBRUARY 1, 2007 he stuff we conjure up in our own imaginations can often be far scarier than the images we see onscreen. With only two actors onstage and using mini- mal props, Cottage Theatre’s production of Steve Malatratt’s The Woman in Black asks a lot of its audience. It invites and encourages us to pretend and sets out to prove that it’s not so much what you see, but what you feel. Arthur Kipps (Davis Smith) is an old man haunted by a story from his past. The narra- tive is so horrible he has been unable to tell anyone, but he has written it all down in a protracted manuscript. The play opens on an empty theater where Kipps has come to enlist the aid of a young actor (Bryan Scott) to help him recount his tale. Convincing Kipps that the best way to tell the story is to show rather than to tell, the actor refashions it as a per- formance piece with himself assuming the role of Kipps while Kipps takes on the inci- dental characters in the story. With the two using the minimal props on hand, the layers of suspense and tension build slowly as the story unfolds. Kipps, a young London lawyer, is sum- moned to Crythin Gifford, a remote fishing village on the eastern coast of England, to at- tend the funeral and settle the estate of a re- cently deceased elderly widow, Mrs. Drablow. Kipps finds that the locals are un- easy about taking him out to Mrs. Drablow’s house. Situated on Nine Lives Causeway, Eel Marsh House is surrounded entirely by marshes. It’s completely cut off from the mainland, so people can only get to and from the remote property during high tide. Kipps is undaunted by rumors of a mysterious woman in black, a malevolent ghost whose vengeful powers have transcended death and wrought fear and tragedy upon the small town, and a reluctant driver agrees to take him out to the property. Over the course of several days, while sorting through Mrs. Drablow’s papers, Kipps endures a terrifying experience of in- explicable noises and chilling events. Although the foreshadowing in the story itself renders it slightly predictable, the abili- ties of the two actors are superb. Davis Smith persuasively conveys the affectations of the elderly Kipps, painstakingly shuffling across the stage and speaking in a cracking, feeble voice. Equally impressive is his aptitude for assuming multiple roles. With a simple change of hat or coat, Smith’s transformative demeanor and intonation aptly reflect his changing personas — from waiter to nervous agent to world-weary trap driver. Likewise, Bryan Scott is outstanding as the exuberant young actor, first boldly unafraid of ghosts but later terrified by an unseen and malevo- lent force. In addition to their fine performances, the actors’ interaction with props brings the story to life. An old chest as the centerpiece serves as both a writing desk and a bed; with two chairs facing it, it becomes a seating compart- ment on a train, and alone it’s a pony and trap. Eerie lights and recorded sounds also build tension, and the timing of the sound effects juxtaposed with the action on stage blends seamlessly. A black screen, which divides the stage to create a semi-transparent dreamlike atmosphere, and a fog machine also serve to further enhance the spookiness factor. Considering the nervous laughter when the fog rolled in over the marsh and things went bump in the night, I’d say that the play successfully taps into the audience’s collec- tive imagination. The Woman in Black runs Feb. 2-4 and Feb. 9 and 10. Tickets may be purchased from the Web site at http://www.cottagethe- atre.org/tickets/ or by calling the box office at 942-9195. ew OTHELLO Opens Friday, Feb. 2 at LCC’s Blue Door Theater. You know the plot. You know the whole jealousy thing. You know the ol’ trick of handkerchief secreted by evil villain in the perfect place to make hero into tragic figure of murderous rage. Now see how LCC’s student-run production takes the classic and deals with the Bard’s bad lovers. Show dates are Feb. 2-4, 8-11, & 15-17. Call 463-5202 for tix. THE BIG KNIFE Opens Wednesday, Feb. 7 at the UO’s Arena Theatre. Clifford Odets, famed for the rousing Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing!, takes the intricacies and betrayal of Hollywood to task in 1949’s The Big Knife. Does absolute (star) power corrupt? Absolutely, Odets and the UO show us, just in time for that fakest of star parades, the Oscars. Show dates are Feb. 7-10 and 15-17. Call 346-4363 for tix.
