September 13, 2017
Page 15
Awakening a Sense of What You’ve Been Missing
C ontinued From P age 4
poignant and ripe for exploitation in the
way Shakespeare’s plot demands. At other
times, however, the connection to “Mea-
sure for Measure” seems to constrain the
more significant stories that beg to be told;
I wanted to see, for example, more explo-
ration of the Indian schools than this treat-
ment allows.
What this play lacks in clarity of vision
the production makes up for in the beauty
and joy of watching seven Native Amer-
ican actors generously lay their hearts out
on the stage. They occupy several different
intersections that will feel familiar to many
mixed and marginalized people: What does
cultural loyalty require? What are the rea-
sons to compromise? How, if at all, should
one accommodate the culture of white su-
premacy? Which reasons for doing so are
justified? I was moved to watch these Na-
tive actors hold these questions with such
love and grace, particularly in combination
with Momaday’s Irish love and two African
American characters who convey similar
lived wisdom.
One challenge of this production for me
is that it locates virtually all white evil per-
petrated against indigenous peoples in one
character, even inviting the audience to boo
him. OSF audiences are still mostly white,
Photo by J enny g raham , o regon s hakesPeare F estivaL
Placed in an Indian school where his culture is erased, a 19th Century Native Amer-
ican (Shaun Taylor-Corbett) is visited by the spirit of his Native American grand-
father (Brent Florendo) in ‘Off the Rails,’ now playing at the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival in Ashland.
and that device lets them off far too easily,
especially since oppression of indigenous
people is hardly over. Indeed, the problem-
atic choices of two other white characters
are brushed off and even played for humor. I
suspect that too few audience members will
notice how problematic such choices are.
Still, the challenges of absorbing this
production, like the challenges I imagine
may exist for those playing in it, strike me
as resonant with the experiences of indige-
nous and other oppressed peoples. How do
we seize the spaces we can for our truth, and
find our authentic voices, even when all the
spaces we are allowed to enter involve some
degree of accommodating the comfort of
those with more power? The work of strug-
gling with such questions, beautifully em-
bodied here, may well account for the sort
of evolved consciousness one often sees in
indigenous leaders, and in many artists.
Three wonderful outdoor shows beauti-
fully round out the season’s offerings, all
making use of deliciously diverse casts to
enliven old stories. My favorite, “The Mer-
ry Wives of Windsor,” sets Shakespeare’s
rather messy comedy in a fantasy world that
melds Elizabethan and 1980s sensibilities
(complete with hilarious use of ‘80s music,
dance moves, and costume touches), and
the result evokes nonstop delight. I found
it surprisingly moving to watch a produc-
tion of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” in
which the princess and her evolving prince
are played by two brilliant African Ameri-
can actors, assisted by a talented cast of en-
chanted servants. And a gorgeous produc-
tion of “The Odyssey” offers a visual feast
of movement and imagery; watch especially
for what, for me, is now the definitive de-
piction of the sirens.
The outdoor shows play until mid-Oc-
tober, and “UniSon” and “Off the Rails”
play until the season ends the final weekend
of October. The journeys are well worth the
journey to Ashland.
Darleen Ortega, a judge on the Oregon
Court of Appeals and the first woman of
color to serve in that capacity, serves on
the board of the Oregon Shakespeare Festi-
val. Her movie review column Opinionated
Judge appears regularly in The Portland
Observer. Find her movie blog at opinion-
atedjudge.blogspot.com.
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September 2017
C alendar
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
11
Make Your Bed Day
World Trade Cen-
ter attack in 2001
12
National Choco-
late Milk Shake
Day
18
19
The New York
Times was first
published in 1851
International Talk
Like a Pirate Day
Poet John Keats
Wrote ‘To Au-
tumn’ in 1819
25
26
Mary Poppins De-
buted in 1964
Balboa discovered
the Pacific Ocean
in 1513
Johnny Appleseed
born John Chap-
man, in 1774
13
National Peanut
Day
Positive Thinking
Day
20
First Railroad
Station Opened
Magellan started
search for Spice
Islands, 1519
27
Crush A Can Day
First Steam
Locomotive Run
(1825)
14
Francis Scott Key
wrote the ‘Star
Spangled Ban-
ner’, 1814
21
Miniature Golf Day
World Gratitude Day
International
Peace Day
H.G. Wells born, 1866
28
First Airport
Opened (1909)
William the Con-
queror Invaded
England, 1066
R
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
15
16
17
Make A Hat Day
National Hispanic
Heritage Month
Begins Sept. 15,
ends Oct. 15
Collect Rocks Day
Mayflower Day
Mexican Inde-
pendence Day
Stepfamily Day
22
23
24
Nintendo founded
in 1889 - made
playing cards
Good Neighbor Day
National Bluebird of
Happiness Day
Supreme Court
est. in 1789
First Day of
Autumn
California Native
American Day
Dear Diary Day
29
Stanley Berenstain
The U.S. Army
was est. in 1789
30
Alvin Tresselt
born, 1916
Safety Pin Invent-
ed (1849)
Citizenship Day
National Apple
Dumpling Day
Constitution Day