Eugene weekly., September 13, 2007, Page 14, Image 14

In alphabetical order,
then, here are our reviews:
OMG:
OSF!
As You Like It
(Angus Bowmer Theatre, through Oct. 28)
A miscast Rosalind and clunky set design
mar an otherwise delightful excursion into the
twisted, pastoral romp of Shakespeare’s
romantic comedy, As You Like It. The story, if
you can follow its twists and turns, goes
something like this: Oliver (Jeff Cummings)
wants his brother, Orlando (Danforth
Comins), dead. So he tells Charles the
wrestler to break Orlando’s bones in a match.
Distracted
(New Theatre, through Oct. 28)
Distracted is a play about searching for the
end-all cure for societal ills and always com-
ing up short. Whom do we seek for answers?
Our partner after the football game but before
the weekly sex act? The friends we meet on
the street? Therapists who can’t even keep
their own lives together? Teachers who mis-
take tenure for wisdom? In faith? In drugs?
Mama (as played to distressed semi-per-
fection by Robynn Rodriguez) is the kind of
soccer mom who has way too much time on
her hands. Living in a suburban Target-fur-
nished house, Mama wants peace and quiet,
Though David Kelly
nails the role of
Touchstone, the set —
complete with motor-
ized plaster-cast green-
ery — looks as if it
were designed and
implemented at a high
school production
Rosalind (Miriam Laube) attends the fight,
and she soon falls for the victorious Orlando.
Rosalind’s uncle banishes her, sending her
and Roz’s cousin Celia (Julie Oda) into the
Forest of Arden, where Rosalind’s father
dwells. They take along Touchstone (David
Kelly, in a role he slam dunks), the court
clown, for protection and amusement.
For more protection, Roz slips into the
male guise and calls herself Ganymede. She
twists Orlando, who has entered the Forest of
Arden seeking her, into knots when she, as
Ganymede, plays the part of herself — for
Orlando’s benefit. Maybe Laube was suffer-
ing allergies during this production, but she
gave the impression that she was always cry-
ing. Are they tears of joy? I couldn’t tell; I was
too distracted by Laube’s always-squinted
eyes and hoarse voice.
Director J.R. Sullivan’s attempt to set AYLI
in the Great Depression era partly misfires.
His description of the era, that “there was no
such thing … as security,” could well suit any
era. But the big problem with this time period
is the set, which starts off on a good foot in Act
I’s bootlegging warehouse. When the action
moves to the Forest of Arden, the set looks as
if it were designed and implemented at a high
school production of AYLI, complete with
motorized plaster-cast greenery. Progressive
audience members won’t swallow the ending
too easily. When Phebe steadfastly refuses to
wed Rosalind (a woman, imagine!) and
chooses Silvius because he offers “a good
man’s love,” the collective eyes will roll.
— CA
JENNY GRAHAM
Christopher (Tasso Feldman) and
Weinberl (Rex Young) take it all in
Catch some shows for a spectacular
end to the summer C A
S S
BY
HUCK
DAMS AND
UZI
TEFFEN
A
14 SEPTEMBER 13, 2007
but she also wants to be the best person she
can be. Unsurprisingly, these two ideals clash,
constantly, in a world where staying on task
won’t cut it anymore and one must multitask
to survive. As Mama struggles to rear her mis-
behaving son, Jesse (James Edson, heard in
voiceover throughout the play until finally
coming onstage at the end), and resists the
urge to dope him up on Ritalin, her marriage
to Dad (U. Jonathan Toppo, in a slightly TV
commercial version of a “Dad”) is stressed to
the breaking point.
The key word here, and overall theme, is
stress. Large flat-screen monitors project
images of chaos or calm (a faucet pouring hot
water in a sink or Monet’s Water Lilies),
depending on Mama’s state of being. Using
the theater-in-the-round staging allows for
quick on/off appearances of characters
through four entrances, creating a flurry of
movement that never totally ceases, not even
when Mama meditates. The intimacy of the
New Theatre also complements the Brechtian
style employed by playwright Lisa Loomer.
As just about every character tells the audi-
ence what they really think, the artificial
nature of their every action is revealed.
Special kudos go to Kjerstine Anderson,
playing the wrist-cutting, neglected teen
Natalie with spot-on mannerisms and agoniz-
ing frailty, and Thom Rivera, playing three
wildly different “health care professionals”
and even an actor on Ritalin playing a doctor.
With its small cast, intimate setting, contem-
porary themes and interactive set design,
Distracted is unlike any other play in produc-
Mama (Robynn Rodriguez), Dad (U. Jonathan Toppo)
and Natalie (Kjerstine Anderson)
JENNY GRAHAM
shland’s starting to cool off. The Californians are leav-
ing, going back to school and work. And oh yeah, the
season’s about to get a little bit cheaper, too.
What does that mean, Eugene? It means: Get thee to Ashland
for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival! The two of us went to
eight plays in four days (plus a backstage tour — which we
recommend highly), and one of us made another trip down for
the ninth play — so we have all kinds of info for you. If you
can buy only one ticket, make it Gem of the Ocean or Tartuffe.
The outdoor theater not to miss is Taming of the Shrew, thanks
to Michael Elich, and of the two contemporary pieces at the
New Theatre, we recommend the rough but interesting Tracy’s
Tiger. Value season begins Oct. 2, but for comfort at the out-
door shows, which close the first weekend in October, we’d
recommend going a bit sooner and saving money for those
full-price tix by staying at the Ashland Hostel, a nice price
($25 or $59 for a private room) and a quick three-block walk
from the theaters.
JENNY GRAHAM
Audrey (Teri Watts) and
Touchstone (David Kelly)
With its small cast,
intimate setting, con-
temporary themes and
interactive set design,
Distracted is unlike
any other play in pro-
duction at OSF this
season