C O RNERSTONEG L AS S . C O M
YEAR
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theater
Hope Springs Eternal in LCC’s Twelfth Night
Overly hardened is the world when praise of pleasantness sounds like backhanded tedium. Pleasant, these days, is enough,
and if the Immortal Bard’s frolicsome romance Twelfth Night isn’t pleasant enough, nothing is. Originally staged under the
comelier title What You Will, this breezy comedy of mistaken identity is spring’s hearty harbinger — warm, teasing, naughtily
o’ersprung but supremely good-natured, containing nothing darker in conspiracy than two drunkards ensuring that their
lady’s uptight servant gets righteously punk’d.
Lane Community College’s production of Twelfth Night is every bit the “feast of fun” director Judith Roberts wants it to be.
Like a tragedy spun in reverse, it opens in chaos — a smartly staged shipwreck, all thundercrack and strobe darkness — and
concludes in melodic bonhomie. Everything in-between is riotous jesting, besotted revelry and playful foreplay, as Viola (Sarah
Glidden), washed ashore on Illyria and believing her twin brother Sebastian (Joseph Tanner Paul) to be drowned, disguises herself
as a man in order to help Duke Orsino (Dane Olson) woo the aggrieved Lady Olivia (Talia
Meade) ... meanwhile, the liquored-up sirs Belch (Joe Cronin) and Aguecheek
(Sean Dugan) play an elaborate prank on Malvolio (Clay Johnson), convincing
this stick-up-his-ass steward that his lady, Olivia, loves him dearly.
Roberts and her fi ne cast play it swift and sure, allowing the airy
sophistication of Shakespeare’s wordplay to cast its seductive
spell. A small ensemble adds live music, and the mobile set is
elegantly switcheroo’d between rapidly passing scenes (though
LCC’s productions remain far too brightly lit). As Roberts notes,
this comedy “elevates” the role of the Fool, and she’s found a
most excellent Feste in Jonathan Edwards, a fi rst-year student
of tremendous talent: As Olivia’s court jester, Edwards is by
turns wry and ridiculous, and his conglomerate
skills of musicianship, badinage and physical
comedy drive this crackerjack production.
— Rick Levin
Twelfth Night plays through April 28 at LCC’s Blue
Door Theatre; lanecc.edu/tickets
Sarah Glidden and Dane Olson in Twelfth Night
A STEP
ABOVE
THE REST
4/20
SPECIALS
D O O R P R I Z E S
Everything’s Coming Up Roses
God is a Fish
Keeping in mind the immense amount of time it must take most small theaters
to produce a seamless, well-crafted performance of Arthur Laurents’ 1959 musical,
Gypsy — with its countless costumes, 17 settings, monstrous cast and big-band
charts — Cottage Theatre proves its ability to transcend the efforts of “most” small
theaters by displaying their production with a lack of tack.
Gypsy is the tale of how Gypsy Rose Lee — the Queen of Burlesque — came to be.
The fi rst-act arc follows a slow trajectory, leaving many important plot-points for act
two, though quite a few loose ends never actually get tied up. Quirks aside, though,
the rather dry material is brought to life with a blend of fi re and ice by co-directors
Pamela Lehan-Siegel and Judy Smith and their cast.
Peg Major plays Mama Rose, the insufferable know-it-all mother of Gypsy
Rose Lee, and she beautifully tiptoes the intended knife-edge between villain and
sympathetic hero. By curtain fall you may end up thoroughly disliking the incessant
push-and-shove pressure that Mama Rose places upon her daughters, and this is
further testament to Major’s portrayal of the dynamic main character.
Although this musical has the potential to resemble a racy skin fl ick, Cottage
pulls it off tastefully, though with enough bawdy dialogue and revealing costume
design to keep it believable (and comical: praise goes to Miriam Major for her
portrayal of the riotous Mazeppa). Without the swoon of Jule Styne’s original music
(here directed by David Larsen), the production might lose its edge. Instead, the
sexy, swinging jazz tunes are brought to life with gusto by a live band.
Much of Gypsy’s appeal comes with the slow transition from the charm of family
life to brooding spirals of negative emotion, despite nothing much changing other
than the girls growing up. In many ways it’s a story of letting go, but this production
seizes the opportunity and pulls it off respectably.
Cottage Theatre’s production of Gypsy
runs through May 6; tickets & info at
cottagetheatre.org — Andy Valentine
Lord Leebrick Theatre is
once again encouraging aspiring
writers to get their scribble
on with Northwest Ten, a
festival of 10-minute plays. This
year’s theme, Writing On The
Wall, implies broken rules and
unexpected insights. Among the
truths revealed this time around:
God is a fi sh, frat boys make really
creepy trees and pink glitter
brings out the blood splatters in
a protest sign.
Ari Chadwick-Saund garners
laughs with Picketing for Pros,
where Jorah LaFleur plays an
enthusiastic protester to Darlene
Morton’s serenely religious anti-
abortionist, and enough quirky
twists exist to make light of the
play’s serious setting. Mary Gen
Fjelstad’s Inner Tube examines
the pain and promise of a divine
calling — even if the calling is to be
an inner tube.
The standout play of the
evening is Lunker by Kato Buss.
This modern fi shing-afi cionado
take on the disturbing biblical
story of Abraham and Isaac
features a nice mix of music and
projections, and is solidly played
out by an able cast.
In any festival of 10-minute
plays, there are bound to be
vignettes that fall fl at for one
audience member or another.
There are themes I don’t care for
in some productions, and a touch
of laissez-faire casting in others.
But any play I’m not crazy about
only lasts ten minutes, and it all
leaves audiences with ample
topics to discuss over their post-
show drinks. — Anna Grace
541.844.1585
446 E 13TH AVENUE
EUG ENE, OREGON
Peg Major as Mama Rose in Gypsy
36 APRIL 19, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
Northwest Ten: Writing On The Wall runs at
Lord Leebrick theater through April 22; dates,
times & further info at lordleebrick.com
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