September 20, 2000
(Tty e ÿ o rtla n h (ßbseruer
É Metro / The Focus
The
Native
American
Film
Festival
Classic Greek Theatre Presents:
Oedipus at Colonus
W hilem any
S hakespeare festivals thrive
throughout the country,
Portland, O regon will be the
site o f the first annual festival
ot ancient G reek dram a in the
U nited States. Throughout
S eptem ber until O ctober 1,
C lassic G reek Theatre will
be presenting Oedipus at
C olonus at Reed C ollege
located at SE. W oodstock.
O edipus a t C olonus will be
given ten fully professional
p erform ances in the 600 seat
ou td o o r C e rf am phitheatre on
Reed C ollege cam pus. The
style approxim ates the
original as closely as
feasible, em ploying a C horus,
m asks, and costum e design
based on the early vase
paintings.
M ysterious and
beautiful, O edipus at
C olonus show s the last hours
o f O edipus, the m an whom
“the gods raised highest and
brought low est.” A fter tearing
out his eyes in response to the
discovery that he had
unknow ingly com m itted the
crim es o f incest and
patricide, O edipus w andered
in exile for m any years as a
beggar, accom panied only by
his daughter Antigone.
R eaching the sanctuary o f
C olonus, he realizes he has
com e to the place where,
according to prophecy, he is
to end his days. The sam e
prophecy declared that a war
w ould take place for his
hom e city o f Thebes and that
w hoever tended his grave
w ould prevail. The w ar for
the throne o f Thebes is about
to begin betw een O edipus’
The
The 12'h A venue
Project consists o f 52 signs
along the left hand side o f SE
12 that develop a w ritten
narrative about a young girl
on a journey, m uch like the
view er’s ow n experience.
The story relates to the
surrounding community,
subtly affecting the m otorist
and pedestrian. It references
topography, landm arks and
landscape as well as
historical facts that have
influenced and created the
tw o sons, Eteoeles and
Polyneices. Each attem pts to
persuade their father to join
his side. O edipus refuses both
and curses them to die in the
he never m eant to com m it.
Sophocles lived to be
92 and is said to have w ritten
120 plays, o f w hich only 7
survived. O edipus at
play in Athens, the Spartans
w ere cam ped only a few
m iles aw ay, gathering
strength for the attack that
w ould bring to an end the h a lf
G reek dram a annually. This
year, they are spreading their
wings. To celebrate their fi tteenth
year o f operation. Classic Greek
Theatre will become an annual
On and o ff the Res with
Charlie Hill, a compelling
new documentary by Sandra
Osawa, will kick-off a 5-
week Native American Film
Festival on September 26 at
the historic Kiggins Theater in
downtown Vancouver. This
exciting series if FREE and
will be held on Tuesday
evenings from September 26
to O c t 24 at 7:30 - 9 p.m.
and include the screening o f
the film and post-film
discussion with the producers
or commentators. Dr.
Candice Goucher,
Coordinator o f the College o f
Liberal Arts at Washington
StateUniversity Vancouver,
will serve as moderator for
the series.
MMB w n I IM I N «
‘TWO THUMBS UP!’
Theresa Koon as Antigone, Eric Hull (middle) as Oedipus and David Heath as Creon.
sam e instant, each killed by
the other. A sudden strange
thunderstorm occurs, the sign
that it is tim e for O edipus to
leave this earth. Sightless, he
leads T heseus to a secret
place, w here he is taken from
m ortal life to live am ong the
gods, exonerated from crim es
Colonus, arguably his
greatest m asterpiece, was
his last play, first produced
two years after his death.
The death o f Sophocles
coincedes with the end o f the
Periclean age and the political
supremacy o f Athens. While
Sophocles was writing this
century o f enl ightened
dem ocracy and freedom o f
thought that gave the west so
m any o f the standards -
aesthetic and political - w e
live by today.
Since 1996, C lassic
G reek T heatre has provided
Portland audiences w ith one
Avenue P ro je c t
local neighborhoods. This
project uses speed to explore
scalar relationships between
automobiles and pedestnans and
the resultant perception o f
community, neighborfKxxi,
distance and time. There are two
sizes o f text on each sign, one for
motorists and one for
pedestrians, thathighlightthe
difference o f perception in
relation to speed. The story may
go so far as to invite motorists to
park their cars and w alk in
order to ‘get the full sto ry ’.
A rtists Nan B. C urtis
and Martin Houston have
created The 12th Avenue Project,
a temporary site-specific street
sign project that will run along
SE 12th Avenue between
Division and Sandy Boulevard,
about 1.3 miles. The project will
be installed from Septem ber
18 - D ecem ber 18 and is part
o f in situ PO R TLA N D , a
program o f the Regional Arts
& C ulture C ouncil (RA C C),
in collaboration with the
Portland Institute for
Contemporary Art (PIC A).
The purpose o f in situ
PORTLAND is to bring
chai lenging temporary artworks
into the public realm to serve as <
catalyst for dialogue about art
and/or com m unity issues.
festival o f Greek drama,
supplementingtheclassical-style
performances with film
programs, symposia workshops,
guest artists and speakers and
other satellite events.
For m ore inform ation
regarding Festival 2000, call
503/258-9313.
I
225-5555+4606
REGAL CINEMAS
360-397-5555+4631
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