Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 2014)
Page 8 Çortlanô LOberrlirr September 17, 2014 IMIII Misfits and Hidden Gifts ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ invites self-acceptance and discovery O pinionated J udge in .It ix .i 1) \RI 11 \ O k I I (. \ D arleen O rtega I w ent to see the new production o f "A W rinkle In T im e" at the O r egon S hakespeare Festival m ostly because I see all the O S F p ro d u c tions. I vaguely rem em b ered that the book on w hich it is based m eant a lot to m e as a you n g person, but recalled nothing about w hy. A s it turned out, m y m u rk y reco llectio n - - aided by som e sm art choices by director and ad ap to r T racy Y oung, the p roduction's talented d e sig n ers, and a cast w ho clearly loves the source m aterial -- all added up to an unexpectedly p rofound experience form e. T he story, for the uninitiated and the forgetful, involves an aw kw ard by Gerding Theater at the Armory 128 NW Eleventh Avenue 503.445.3700 ad o lescen t girl, M eg M urry, w ho is a social m isfit an d unsuccessful stu dent. H er b elo v ed father, a p h y si cist w ho h ad been em ployed at som e to p -secret g o v ern m en t project, has been m issing fo r m o re than a year. She and h er g enius fiv e-year-old brother, C harles W allace, receiv e a n ig h ttim e visit fro m a m ysterious old w om an, M rs. W hatsit, w ho tells th em and th eir m o th er that there are su c h th in g s as " te s s e ra c ts ," o r w rinkles in tim e and space that o ne can travel through. T he follow ing day the tw o ch ild ren and M eg's s c h o o lm a te , C a lv in , e n d u p "tesserin g "—traveling through such w rinkles - to co m b at an evil B lack T h in g that is th reaten in g the un i verse, and h o ping to find M eg's father. It's a co m p lex story to d ep ict on stage. T he w o rld o f the b o o k c o n tains lots o f fanciful elem ents and tw ists o f the rules o f tim e and space that can be d ifficu lt to d escribe, let alone stage. T hese are not so m uch problem s fo r a book, w hose literary life depends on the im agination o f the reader, but bringing the story to life on stage is full o f potential for pcs.org co m in ess and cam p. B ut this can n ily -designed p ro duction m anages to strike all the rig h t notes. T he b o o k w as w ritten in 1962, and the set design in co rp o rates lots o f signals o f 1960s A m erica, w ith its relative innocence m ixed w ith paranoia. T he design has a sort o f h andm ade feel w hich suits that tim e and also the book's dem and on im agination; it also captures the sense o f a b o o k that w as once b e loved by now o ld er adults w ho are sharing it w ith p resen t-day children and grandchildren. A ll the child characters are play ed (quite effec tively) by adults, but o ne ch ild actor appears often on stage, reading or w orking on h er ow n science ex p eri m ents. H er p resen ce on stage c ap tures a sense o f a m ixture o f g en era tio n s w h o h a v e re sp o n d ed p ro foundly to this m aterial. W hen done w ell, a m inim alist approach to special effects can serve to bring the pro fu n d ities o f a story into bold relief. S om ehow the actors seem m ore vulnerable, aw akening audiences to the p o ignancy o f the story. A nd so it is here; the in n o cen ce o f M eg and C harles W allace and C alvin co n v in ces, underlined by various m em bers o f the cast fre quently reciting lines from the be lo v ed book. T he p roduction m oves b etw een various levels o f realism and stagecraft in a m anner that p a r allels the tim e-travel o f the story, in v itin g th e a u d ie n c e to tra v e l through w orlds o f im agination and m eaning. B est o f all, b ecau se I h ad not recalled m uch beyond that this p a r ticu lar b o o k had m eant m uch to m e as a child, the p roduction set m e on a search fo r w hat had appealed to m e then. T he obvious answ er — and the one reach ed fo r by so m any critics — is that the story m akes a hero o f an aw k w ard adolescent, and sets h er on a voyage o f self-accep tance and discovery o f her hidden gifts. T hat is, o f course, true. I in- continued on page 14 The Portland Observer is a Proud Member of: NK AMIRI M;FER>»T4R5 T im sr asun si prom ue) smMsoa.« Sí M a r y UM PQUA I* • A • N B oyle a t iiir iH u n ii lui THE PAUL G ALLEN TAM II V T o i INDA TOM R ACC -K t u r i m i c ita n ti ▲ ▼▼ SHOW SPONSORS dll © TM« p r o fit « wppoftwd in part by « grant If«xn fh* A iti Commi» » mx > and ih* Mattonai f ndowrn«nt for th* Art*. MW Natural* AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
