COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL February 4, 2015
9A
Shakespeare with a touch of Salsa
Cottage Theatre sets
'12th Night' in 1950s
Cuba
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
uba instead of Illyria; rum and
salsa instead of wine and gal-
liards — these are but a few of the
modifi cations that the Cottage Theatre
made to adapt the 17th-century Shake-
spearean comedy "12th Night" for a
1950s Havana night club.
“It’s common practice to stage
Shakespeare in a different time and
place because it has a universal qual-
ity,” said Executive Director Susan
Goes. “But we decided on Cuba years
ago. So, while we are very fortunate
that Cuba has been in the news, it was
merely a coincidence.”
The Cottage Theatre hit the current-
events jackpot when President Barack
Obama announced signifi cantly relaxed
restrictions on travel by Americans to
Cuba just weeks before the opening of
"12th Night."
However, even if the news has teed
up a successful run for the Cottage
Theatre, director Tony Rust said that he
and his team felt no added pressure to
hit it out of the park.
“Ultimately, we’re just silly — re-
gardless of what’s going on,” he said.
And they are silly indeed. The cast,
which also includes Rust in the role
of Feste, leads the audience through a
farce of mistaken identities and cultural
faux pas,’ and ultimately to a resolution
that leaves all but a few characters hap-
pily paired up.
Rust — who has staged "12th Night"
in a variety of different settings dur-
ing his career — said there was higher
degree of diffi culty in developing the
range of accents than bringing the
unique setting to life.
“We started with just the Cuban ac-
cent and the Don’s, but soon realized
that we needed Viola and Sebastian to
be from somewhere else because there
weren’t enough outsiders,” he said.
In this production, Tracy Nygard and
Randall Brous play Viola and Sebas-
tian — two shipwrecked and separated
siblings from Charleston. Nygard and
Brous demonstrate expert fl uencies in
Southern Shakespeare — a feat that
betrays the already-challenging task of
articulating Elizabethan English.
“With or without an accent, enuncia-
tion and volume are very important,”
Rust said. “On the other hand though,
the language fl ows really nicely with
an accent — better than it would with
an American non-accent.”
While it can be diffi cult for
an audience to follow the lines
of Shakespeare, the cast tran-
scends the language with pin-
point infl ection and expressive
body language. Dale Flynn
and Mark Anderson, in their
respective roles of Uncle Toby
and Andrew, certainly let the
audience know when an innu-
endo or double entendre is in
play.
“We work really hard to
make what we’re thinking
clear,” Rust said.
Another unique twist on this
play is the live band of Jim
Reinking on drums and Chris
King on piano. And while a
nightclub vibe may not be syn-
courtesy photo
onymous with Shakespeare, Tracy Nygard and Randall Brous — as Viola and Sebastian, respectively
Rust believes that music is an — laed an ensamble cast in Cottage Theatre's production of '12th Night.'
essential element.
“Most of his comedies are
acters to come from their hearts and
almost proto-musicals. The plot of this the disorder among the characters.
In addition to acting and directing, their ideas,” he said.
play — not necessarily of mistaken
"12th Night" continues for two more
identity but as a romantic comedy — is Rust also designed the set. He has at
times
worn
multiple
hats
during
a
weeks.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
the kind that we end up with in musi-
cal comedies. So, having good music is production, but while Rust said that shows begin at 8 p.m.; Sunday mati-
it limited his opportunities to observe nees start at 2:30 p.m. The Thursday
something that we started with.”
The band impresses with three origi- through the director’s lens, it had no evening performances are new for the
2015 season.
nal songs, and the salsa-style music impact on his style.
“I make my actors be independent,
drives the transition between scenes,
creating a breathless pace that refl ects so that didn’t change. I want the char-
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In his remarks, Head Football
Coach Gary Roberts wished that
a drug-testing policy was en-
forced on his high-school teams.
Not only would they have been
more successful, but also he is
convinced that his teammates
— several who now deal with
drug addiction — would have
gone on to be successful, con-
tributing members of society.
At the conclusion of public
comment, the school board ex-
tended its appreciation for the
commentary and acknowledged
that it has been a challenging is-
sue. However, the board opted
to stick to its original plan to
revisit the policy after one year
rather than adopt the opt-out
clause after just six months.
The drug testing policy (also
known as JFCIA-AR), which
was adopted this past August,
says that each student wishing
to participate in athletics and/or
extracurricular activities and the
student’s parents shall consent
in writing to drug testing; par-
ticipation is not allowed without
this consent.
All participants may be tested
at the beginning of an athletic or
extracurricular season. In addi-
tion, the superintendent will ad-
minister random testing.
Samples are to be collected
at a mutually convenient time
on the same day the student is
selected for testing. Students
who refuse to provide a sample
will be considered to have test-
ed positive and are subject. The
chosen laboratory will test for
one or more illegal or perfor-
mance-enhancing drugs — cho-
sen by the superintendent
In the event of a positive
test, the student or parent may
request within 48 hours that a
second specimen be tested. If
this second sample turns out
negative, no further action will
be taken.
If the second sample is also
positive, the student and parents
are notifi ed; the district’s des-
ignee schedules a meeting; and
all parties must agree to volun-
tary participation and successful
completion of a drug assistance
program with submission to fol-
low-up drug tests; and suspen-
sion from participation for the
equivalent of 25 percent of the
athletic competition and/or ex-
tracurricular activities for the
season.
targeting either the May or No-
vember 2016 election in which
to put the issue before voters.
The bond advisory committee
is expected to give a recom-
mendation on a possible bond
to the School Board at its May
4 meeting; the committee will
tour Harrison Elementary with
the School Board on March 16.
Much discussion has already
involved (and will likely contin-
ue to involve) the possibility of
broadening the goals of a bond
from replacing Harrison School
to making other upgrades in
the District. Parent stated that
the security systems at many
schools are lacking.
“I think we really have to con-
sider it as part of the bond,” she
said. In addition, it is believed
by many that improvements
such as the replacement of the
Warren H. Daugherty Aquatic
Center (with a price tag of about
$7 million) could not be ac-
complished without a bond; in
fact, one School Board member
has indicated that a bond that
doesn’t include funding for a
new pool would not meet his
approval.
Parent stated that the District
could raise about $23 million
with a bond that would not in-
crease tax rates, adding that
she believes a new Harrison El-
ementary could easily be built
for that amount.
Ottoman said. “Obviously, we
don’t plan on taking this sitting
down. Not that we’re afraid of
sitting down...”
Even the automobile industry,
anticipating a dramatic drop in
luxury car sales, has begun rede-
signing its vehicles to allow oc-
cupants to stand rather than sit.
The fi rst of these new vehicles,
the Ford Chariot, is expected to
roll into dealerships this spring.
“Whether buyers prefer some-
thing sporty or a family vehicle
with room for as many as 11
standing passengers, our new
Chariot is the healthy choice,”
said a Ford executive, who then
plugged the company’s new slo-
gan: “Your Chariot awaits.”
Though Surgeon General Vi-
vek Murthy has yet to weigh in
on the report’s fi ndings, rumors
of a mandatory warning label
informing consumers of the
health risk associated with sit-
ting have already begun to cir-
culate. Being referred to as the
“Let’s Not Stand for Sitting”
labeling initiative, insiders say
the warning would be required
on anything that promotes the
unhealthy habit of sitting.
While no offi cial statement
has been released by the Sur-
geon General, he did open a
recent press conference by say-
ing, “Thanks for coming, ev-
eryone. Please have a seat. NO!
WAIT!”
What kind of repercussions
the report could have on the fu-
ture remains unclear as lawmak-
ers, health offi cials and human
rights groups wrestle over the
implications of a standing-only
society.
In a recent poll, most people
would prefer to just sit this one
out.
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the rate on that bond will drop
signifi cantly in 2017, and Par-
ent explained that, if passed, a
bond to replace Harrison could
take effect in conjunction with
that rate drop, meaning that lo-
cal taxpayers wouldn’t see a re-
sultant increase in their property
taxes.
Parent said that a strong econ-
omy and the rate decrease on the
current bond have the District
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what could be your last meal.”
Though the study was unable
to determine exactly how much
a person’s life span is shortened
by sitting, statistics suggest the
earlier in our lives that we begin
sitting, the quicker our demise.
As one researcher put it,
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in a high chair or let someone
pull you around in a wagon as
a child, you’re lucky to still be
alive.”
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