Portland observer., September 12, 2018, Page Page 16, Image 16

Page 16
September 12, 2018
photo by J enny g rahaM , o regon s hakespeare f estival .
Mother Cai (Natsuko Ohama, left) and Tianyun (Amy Kim Waschke) share some harsh truths about their pasts in the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival’s current production of ‘Snow in Midsummer,” a classic Chinese drama about a young woman who is
wrongly executed for a crime she didn’t commit.
Absorbed
by the
Experience
c ontinued froM p age 8
more of a rumination on the mystery and
power of theater—its fleeting particulari-
ty, its beauty as a container for collabora-
tion and deep friendship, and the healing
power of the embodied spoken word. This
production benefits from brilliant direction
by Christopher Liam Moore, an evocative
set designed by Christopher Acebo, and the
opportunity to see some of OSF’s most tal-
ented veterans savoring the opportunity to
collaborate in portraying a group of theater
veterans collaborating. And the moving fi-
nale is worth the price of admission. Runs
until Oct. 13]
Both of the late-opening indoor produc-
tions of newer work resonate with the en-
vironmental and political turmoil outside.
“Snow in Midsummer” unpacks a classi-
cal Chinese drama about a young woman,
Dou Yi, who is wrongly executed for a
crime she didn’t commit. As the play un-
folds, this formerly gentle and warm young
woman becomes an avenging spirit, wreak-
photo by J enny g rahaM , o regon s hakespeare f estival .
Martha (Christiana Clark) and Orson (Rodney Gardiner), a formerly enslaved couple,
face perils of natural and human origin in ‘The Way the Mountain Moved,” one
of the featured attractions at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Now
playing through Oct. 27.
ing havoc on humans as she seeks justice
for the many wrongs that have robbed her
of life and agency. The story unfolds the
mystery of how bad human choices con-
tributed to Dou Yi’s fate--members of a
privileged family who have pillaged the
community to purchase their own com-
forts, a business woman who has fought
past her own tragedy to achieve success but
whose young daughter channels Dou Yi’s
rage, and community members whose fate
is affected by the bad choices of those with
more agency. This ancient story reveals
the connections that bind each character’s
fate to that of every other character, and
demonstrates how humans hurt themselves
by hurting others. The play is packed with
strong performances, most notably by the
amazing Jessica Ko, who embodies Dou Yi
with complexity, sorrow, vulnerability and
power. [Runs until Oct. 28]
“The Way the Mountain Moved”
awakens curiosity about stories we never
thought to ponder, and exposes the dearth
of factual support for the typical American
Western. Idris Goodwin’s play is set in the
1850s as a survey expedition sets out to
chart a path for the transcontinental rail-
road. The expedition is conceived as a mil-
itary operation, and the white colonizers
navigate the hostile mountain terrain with
help from a Native guide who leaves the
expedition as he senses what it will mean; a
besieged Mexican sharpshooter who finds
himself an alien in his own territory; and a
silent Asian illustrator who documents the
journey in pictures. Traversing the same
terrain are Martha and Orson, a formerly
enslaved African American couple (played
with particular brilliance by Rodney Gar-
diner and Christiana Clark), who have em-
braced the Mormon faith and whose lives
have required faith of a different kind; a
resolute white woman (Sara Bruner, very
fine) and her teenage daughter, who strive
for survival after their family is decimated
by tragedy; and two Paiute women staying
out of sight of the colonizers. As the paths
of these travelers interlock over the moun-
tains, they all feel the mountain move and
groan as if to rebel against what is coming,
and we sense the danger of what lies ahead
for both land and humans. This world pre-
miere production (commissioned as part of
OSF’s American History Cycle) feels a bit
confining in the Thomas Theater, OSF’s
smallest venue -- and indeed, Goodwin’s
play itself feels a bit confined; it can only
touch the edges of so many stories. Yet the
play helps us struggle with our lack of cu-
riosity over the last 150 years about all of
those who truly “built” the American West:
How did African American and Asian peo-
ple come to be in the frontier, and how did
they experience the challenges and dangers
they met there? What hope did any woman
have without a man’s protection, and what
hope did she have with that protection?
How did Mexicans experience occupation
of their territory by the U.S.? What did it
feel like to American Indians to be both
relied upon and denigrated in harsh land
on which they had survived for centuries?
This play leaves us to begin to struggle
with these questions and to long for further
stories. [Runs until Oct. 27]
Darleen Ortega is a judge on the Ore-
gon Court of Appeals and the first woman
of color to serve in that capacity. Her mov-
ie review column Opinionated Judge ap-
pears regularly in The Portland Observer.
Find her movie blog at opinionatedjudge.
blogspot.com.