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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1962)
MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON MONDAY. JULY 23. 1962 'Comedy of Errors' Brings Laughter, Applause at Ashland The plot of "Comedy of Err on," one of William Shakespeare's first comedies, really Isn't much; you know what the outcome will be af ter the first soliloquies of So- Unus, Duke of Ephesus, and Aegeon, a mercnant of Syra cuse. But it's not the plot that's important anyway; it's the means to the end. And after a somewhat slow start (mon ologues have always had a tendency to be somewhat slow), the tempo of the play picks up, comical confusion commences, and it doesn't straighten itself out until the end. Briefly the plot is this: Ae geon, searching for his wife and twin sons, finds himself in Ephesus where death will come to htm at sunset unless he raises the necessary money so he can leave. Identical Twins His twin sons, Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse, are in Ephesus, dressed alike. But their paths never cross until the end. Their attendants, whose nam es are Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse, also are identical twins. But the paths of the Dromios cross many limes during the play. When the first Antipholus and Dromio appear on stage the confusion starts, and the audience at times is con fused by the confusion crea ted in the predicaments in vented by Shakespeare. But it is an enjoyable play - downright funny much of the time; entertaining in its eolorful costumes accentua ted by the use of lights; in the . amies of the characters, es pecially the Dromios; and in the facial and physical ex pressions of the Antipholuses. Brings Applause Rod Alexander directed the "Comedy" which brought outbursts of laughter from the audience and spontaneous applause periodi lly when scenes of either of the Anti pholuses and Dromios were particularly welt-presented. Peter D. MacLean and Stacy Keach, playing the parts of the two Antipholus es, and Rlc Murphy and Kirk Mee, playing the parts of the two Dromios, appear to be well-cast, and do a most con vincing confusing job. With a little make-up, the same kind of costumes on each, the two pair are virtu ally indistinguish ble on stage, with the exception (la ter in the play) ' when Anti pholus of Syracuse is pre sented a gold chain he wears - a chain made and believed given to Antipholus of Ephe sus.' Add to Comedy Susan Brewer plays the part of Adriaha, wife to An tipholus of Ephesus, and Sal ly Pagliuca plays the part of her sister, Luciana, who An tipholus of Syracuse has come to like. Both actresses do justice to' the parts, adding their own bits of comical an tics during the production Other characters in the play have relatively minor roles, but without them, and without their "punch lines," the play would not be as en joyable as it is. William Royston plays Sol- inus, Duke of Ephesus; Aeg eon is played by Eugene Dy narski; Richr-" !". Ramos is Balthazar, merchant; Michael Fuchs is Angelo, a goldsmith: Jon Cranncy is a merchant friend of Antipholus of Syra. cuse; and Charles G. Taylor is a second merchant to whom Angelo is a debtor. Play With Excellence Charles Miller, well-known in this area for his comical characterizations in other Shakespeare plays as well as in the Vining Repertory in the fall, plays Doctor Pinch, a conjurer, and plays It with excellence, Donna Setrakian plays Ae- milia, wife to Aegon and an Abbess at Ephesus; Elizabeth M. Huddle plays Luce, a serv ant to Adriana who has an af fection for Dromio of Syra cuse; and the rest of the cast includes Marian Hailey, a courtesan; Les Carlson, Joe Whlpp, and Adolph Caesar, officers; Patricia Crawley, Julie Townley, two nuns; Christopher Cabot and Terry Campbell, two attendants on Solinus; Robert Bridges, mes senger; J. Gerald Rodgers, and Diane de Laubenfels, street peddlers; and Jon Cranney, headsman. Some Festival company membe-J are new to Ashland, others are veterans, but they all combine to present an en tertaining pro luction of Comery of Errors. 1 And by eliminating a few muffled lines in some parts of the play, it. should prove to be one of the Festival's better attendance-getters during the season. E.H.A The Family Council Editor's note: The Family Council onilftf of a ludre. phychlatrlst, thrct elersymsn. three editors and m women's editor. Each article Is a summary of a family disagreement presented to the Council. The Council deals with problems, major and minor, encountered by ruldance counselors and social workers. Edited by J "" Aims uennj. nopyrigni oy .uenerat Features corp. Mary U.-He moved me far from my relatives and I'm lonely. Chris. U.-A wife is sup posed to be content to go with her husband. Mary U.-I was born in Spain and was brought to America as a baby by my par ents who settled in Texas. That's where we became United States citizens and where my folks still live. And that's where I met Chris whom I married three years ago. 'He promptly moved me to Minnesota where he teaches languages in a suburban high school., Now we have a year old daughter and she's all I've got to ease my loneliness. My husband gives me no companionship at all. He gets home in a bad humor and re treats to his study as fast as possible with examination pa pers to correct or a new text book to write. When I raise a fuss, he'll take the baby and me for a Sunday drive. But he never makes plans for a real outing. The neighbors are all very 'cliquey, with no special in terest in a new arrival like me. I'm pining to see my family. But Chris won't let me invite them, nor will he help me plan a visit south. Chris UWhen people get married, they're supposed to be prepared to move away from their parents. Mary's parents left Spain behind and I expect Mary to leave Texas behind. My family is in New York and I haven t seen them since my wedding. Now that we have the baby, I expect that any relatives who can get up this way during their vacations will stop in. That's all right with me, as long as it's just a stopover. But what Mary wants is for her folks to settle down with us to keep her company. That's for a heloless little girl, not a grown married woman. I want to see Mary snap out of her dependency and rt interested in books and hob- hies. She can't depend upon me as her sole companion. My ink ia exacting and exhaust ing. I require much solitude for lesson-planning. As for the neighbors, she's been sweep ing haughtily past them. Once she realizes she must depend upon their friendship and can't run back to Texas, she ll find them to be nice people indeed. The Council: There's one important point Chris Is miss ing and that's the full mean ing, not just the legal one, of the word "married. When Mary married him she was joining her life with his, she thought. Now she finds that she. was merely being severed from old ties with no new. warm, fulfilling ones to take their place. Yes. Chris, when Walking Through Glass Doors Declared Cause Of Serious Accidents Chicago- (UPt -The old joke i about "running into a door isn't funny anymore. As many as 40,000 Ameri cans may. be injured that way each year, according to Na tional Safety Council. The problem of people of all ages walking through glass doors they thought were open has become so common that the Architectural Aluminum Manufacturers A s s o ciation asked the safety council to find a solution. The safety council enlisted the U.S. Public Health Serv ice, the Florida Health De partment and the Dade Coun ty Health Department for a survey of glass door accidents in the Miami area. Phil Dykstra, manager of home safety for the council, said the survey showed that in a one-year period Dade county had 130 such acci dents. Twenty-one persons were injured, ranging from scratches to deep cuts. A previous survey by the Seattle (Wash.) Times showed IS such injuries In that area, one of them fatal. i The safety council said one projection of the figures indi-i cated that nationally the an-1 nual injury toll from glass door accidents may be 40,000. j Mora Data Needed However, Dykstra said he ' feels more data is needed to obtain a true national esti mate. As a result, the safety coun cil has decided to extend its survey to other areas of the nation. From the results of the sur veys, the safety council hopes to draft a model building code so that communities may avoid the hazard. "Preliminary findings indi cate that some form of safety glazing appears to be the an swer," Dykstra said. It might involve use of tem pered glass, laminated glass or plastic panels in place of the plate glass now used, he said. Long'Henry IV Play Is Done Well With Seriousness,Comedy people marry, and then work at it, their emotional needs can be pretty well filled by the new love and the new rewards which substitute for the old attachments neces sarily left behind. You haven't worked to replace for Mary what you asked her to relinquish. But she, on the other hand, has merely sulked away three precious years. . So injured does she feel at being up rooted and carried to foreign soil, that she keeps pouting to remind Chris of the great injustice he visited on her, and she moves nary a little finger to "make the best of it." No wonder Chris makes a frantic beeline to his clois ter on any pretext - study, homework, headache, "the cranks." He just wants to duck the long face, the tears, the self-pity and recrimina tions. - We'll wager that the pall in this home will lift once the corners of Mary's mouth begin to lift in a good-sport cheery greeting to Chris each evening. There s much left wanting in Chris's behavior as a husband and father, but it's Mary who can set the wheel of progress spinning. First, she can make a sincere effort to be a relaxed, natural neighbor. All it takes is a few pleasant Good Mornings and an occasional, kindly May-I-help-you? Then, she can dig up a few quiet interests of her own (sewing? gardening? Renais sance Art?) to grip her while Chris is Intellectually en grossed. It's not fair to dump the whole problem of her de pression in his lap. He has a few problems he'd like to dump in hers, no doubt. As for Chris, he must re spond to Mary's new efforts by joining her in plans for a once-a-weck (at least) treat among other adults, and by firming up plans for a re union with her loved ones. Marriage doesn't mean the re nunciation he describes. William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II" includes everything from the serious responsibilities of Prince Hal succeeding his father as king to the bawdy comedy of Sir John Falstaff and his rogue's gallery. The second Oregon Shake spearean Festival production, which premiered last night, is a three-hour production di rected by Edward Brubaker. It has a long list of characters, as many of Shakespeare's his tory plays have. With the exception of a few soft-voiced actors whose lines failed to carry far, the play was well-done as all the pro ductions at Ashland are. It is a long play, and there are long speeches by many of the prin cipals. Had the principal char acters not been cast as well as they are, the play would not have been as entertaining. Voice Carries Better Michael Perclval played the part of Prince Henry, who at the end of the play becomes King Henry V. Toward the end of production his voice carried better than at first, when some of his lines failed to carry into the audience. Percival, however, did good job as Prince Hal. He looked like a prince, Innocent and clean shaven, yet serious with the knowledge of the re sponsibilities he knew he would assume. Peter D. MacLean carried the part of King Henry IV very well. His stature is straight, he holds his head high, and is sure of his wisdom and words. More Lighter Moments Diverting from the more serious moments of the play are the many Falstaff scenes, which in some cases ended just short of a riot. Falstaff is played by Eugene Dynarski, whose frame and voice seem to fit the part naturally. Falstaff s group of friends and supporters is indeed a rogue's gallery, a sharp con trast to the dignified serious ness of royalty and its prob lems of national concern. Falstaff's associates include Bardolph (played by J. Ger ald Rodgers), Pistol (William Royston), Ned Poins (Robert Bridges), Mistress Quickly hostess of a tavern in East cheap (Elizabeth M. Huddle), Doll Tearsheet (Shirley Pat ton), and many others. Do Good Job Some of them are small parts, some are major, but they all do a pood job of pur traying the characters in which they are cast. This is especially true of Mistress Quickly and Doll Tearsheet. Another relatively small part which is well done is Justice Silence, played by Angus L. Bowmer, whose ability for such parts is versatile. Actors cast in the parts of the royal family present their characters well; some of them are weak, others are strong. depending on what type of character Shakespeare wanted Of note among the parts is that of Richard S. Ramos, who plays the part of Lord Chief Justice of the King's bench. He is wise and loyal to the government of King Henry IV, a loyalty which prevails when Prince Hal becomes king. Some Actors Double It is virtually impossible to recognize each individual character, for there are many. In fact, so many, that some of the actors double up on por traying characters. History plays have never been as popular with Festival audiences as Shakespeare's comedies or tragedies, but "Henry IV, Part II" could be among the more popular his- tory plays. It is not violent, as many of the history plays are, and there is a sufficient amount of comedy to break the dramatic moments of royal seriousness. The play is well directed, well acted and presented, and is enjoyable, but it is long.-E.H.A. the cool way mmmmmsmmmmm i POCKET MONET. cn mkt for a trunkful of flood timei this wmmir. Whrvir your vicjtion tiktt you, takt ough money. Ontviit trvic. IOCAL IOAN 53$ I. JACIS0N UVB. tslsfd Ssetslsi Ceatsr fim: 773-7451 lick ftkk. Nr. Osis Fcld.y (isalais 'Til berries y fQQ fresh bsSIJ n fruit I TO MAKE Her is th familiar package of M.C.P. Jam and Jelly Pectin to look for at your market. 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