! 5.
2 g SUNDAY. JULY 21. 1963 MEDFOBD MAIL TBlBrjNK, MLDFORD. OREGON
Finishing Touches Being Put on Shakespearean Festival Plays
Br GEORGE H. BELL
Mail Tribuna Staff Wril.r
At 8:40 o'clock last Friday
night, the lights In the Ash.
i land Shakespearian theater
dimmed down, there was
'. blare of recorded trumpets,
and some 30 to 40 people,
' gathered watch the techni-
i cal rehearsal of "Merry
i Wives of Windsor," abruptly
stopped talking and settled
back in their seals.
Director Ed Brubaker,
i with a girl sitting near him
ready to record his notes as
the play progressed, ta
tioned himself on the aisle
near the center of the
theater.
Next to him, wearing an
earphone headset so he could
talk with the lighting techni
' cians in the blockhouse at
the rear of the theater, was
Richard Hay, the festival's
veteran technical designer
director.
Producing Director Angus
- L. Bowmer, founder of the
festival, sat alone a few rows
away.
For Special Purpoia
It was dusk and the air
was still warm. The small
group of spectators, all In the
theater for a specific purpose,
' since visitors are banned
i during tech run-throughs.
wore light clothing but most
of them had heavy wraps
i with them.
! At 8:45 o'clock, the stage
: was suddenly bathed in light
i as Justice Shallow. Sir Hugn
Evans and Slender, uncos-
turned, came on to begin the
performance of the familiar
j comedy.
("Sir Hugh, persuade me
not; I will make a Star-cham-j
ber matter of it; if he were
j twenty Sir John Falstaffs he
shall not abuse Robert Shal-
i low. esquire. )
i For the next three hours
until 11:84 o'clock the play,
for the most part, went very
moothly, testimony that
everyone connected with It
had worked hard and had de
veloped well.
Interrupts Flow
Not, actually, until the
final scenes did Director
Brubaker begin to Interrupt
the flow of the action to
work out minor problems,
changing the blocking a bit
here, delaying an entrance
there, and making adjust
ments in the stage lighting,
i A few minutes after the
play began, Brubaker sud-
s denly threw his head back
i and laughed out loud at some
t line that had lust been de
livered on the stage. The bulk
of the audience, apparently
still struggling to grasp tho
situation, dldn t Join hlin. A
director's eyes and cars, vast
ly more familiar with th
XT " I'ltfrr, z
MAKING UP Actor Robert Benson is which will open the Shakespearean Festival
shown here making up for his role as Fal- season Wednesday night at Ashland's Eliza
staff In "The Merry Wives of Windsor" bcthan theater. (Classic Photo)
as Falstaff, warming his feel
in a bucket and cursing his
luck at having been thrown
in a ditch after his first
rendezvous with Mrs. Ford
ended badly.
It was a marvelous sight,
and again Brubaker roared
with laughter. Benson, for
merly with the Actors Work-
ff if
PET TALK
Sy M. I. L
A NEED FOR MERCY
"The only thing necessary
for the triumph of evil is that
good men do nothing." Ed
mund Burke.
play than any one else, al-, l)c (l(0 Jnvolvlng 0y
others miss
REHEARSING Director Rod Alexander, led, with Stanley
Elberson, center, as the King of Navarre, and James Smith
as Longavllle, rehearse a brief scene from the Festival's
"Love's Lnbour's Lost." (Classic Pholo)
At 0:10 o'clock, a comic bit . nlglh air, chilled by nearby
At 8:54 o'clock, the first
actor stumbled on his line,
nd the promptress, sitting
directly in front of center
Itage In the front row, called
out the line in a clear voice.
Whispered Conference
Hugh Evans, who, natural
ly, plays Sir Hugh Evans In
the play, camj off the stage
about 9 o'clock carrying his
sword. He sat down next to
Hay and Brubaker, and the
three held a whispered con
ference. Throughout the
night, Evans, as lighting de
signer for the festival, hustled
out to help every time he was
not In a scene.
In a closet tickled the audi
ence and the first general
laugh was heard. There had
been funny lines and actions
earlier, but It had taken them
a while to warm up.
A few minutes later, a
young actor tripped on his
sword and nearly fell as he
exited. Brubaker was
audible.
(Falstaff: "No quips now,
Pistol. Indeed I am In the
waist two yards about: but 1
am not about no waste; I am
about thrift. Briefly, I do
mean to make love to Ford's
wife . . .")
No more than three scenes
had been enacted befor the
shop in San Francisco,
huge man, and his Falstaff
promises, a couple weeks be
fore opening night, to be one
of the finest ever seen on the
Ashland stage.
Wanted To Hear Lines
At 10:25 o'clock, Brubaker
jumped and fairly ran to the
rear of the theater, apparent
ly to see if he could hear the
lines of a small boy who was
called upon to conjugate a
Latin verb in a scene on
stage. After the scene was
over, Brubaker returned
smiling to his scat and sat
down next to Hay.
(Ford: "So say I too, sir.
Come hither, Mistress Ford;
Mistress Ford, the honest
woman, the modest wife, the
virtuous creature, that hath
the jealous fool to her hus
band! I suspect without
cause, mistress, do I?")
At 10:35 o'clock, just after
Richard Graham, playing
Ford, had delivered the above
line, Brubaker interrupted
the play for the first time.
"Let's break it just a min
ute," he called to the actors
on stage.
On Stage Too Lata
One of the stage props a
huge wicker basket in which
Falstaff was "hidden" during
an earlier scene- ':ad been
brought on stage too late to
justify Ford's line, "Set down
the basket, villain."
Brubaker asked Graham if
he could "wait just a count"
before making his entrance.
Graham replied that he
could.
"Ready?" Graham called
from the wing.
"Yep," Brubaker replied,
and the action resumed.
A short time later, at 10:44
o'clock, Brubaker stopped
the action again.
"Girls," he called oul,
"let's take that up-the-stairs
business again."
Giving Instruction
He jumped up on stage and
and the actresses talked the
blocking over. They both
nodded at what he said to
them, and a few minutes
later he returned to his seat.
Meantime, Hay was giving
instruction to the technicians
in the blockhouse about re
setting the lights. After a
short wait, the play resumed.
A young man brought two
cups of hot coffee into the
theater and handed them to
Brubaker and Hay.
At 11:01 o'clock, a group
of about 15 actors who will
be disguised as "fairies" in
order to frighten Falstaff in
the play, trooped across the
stage.
Something about it didn't
please Brubaker, and he
called out, "Let's go through
that sequence again."
At 11:15 o'clock, he broke
in once more: "Hold it, we've
got to run through that
again." This lime something
about the lights disturbed
him.
Interrupts Action
During the next 30 or 40
minutes, until the play was
over, the director interrupted
the action several times.
Once or twice the action
progressed only a few lines
between stops, but the actors
retained their humor. There
were no display- of tempera
ment. At 11:52 o'clock, Evans left
his seat with Hay and Bru
baker and vaulted up on
stage to take part in the final
SC((Ford: "If It be so: Sir
John; to Master Brook you
yet shall hold your word; for
he, tonight, shall lie with
Mistress Ford.")
Audience Applauds
With delivery of the final
line at 11:54 o'clock, the play
ended and the audience
broke into applause. The
house lights came up. Bow
mer was grinning as ne
clapped his hands.
The applause continued as
the cast went through the
fast-paced curtain call.
Brubaker called them all
on stage and announced re
hearsal call for the next
morning on a few special
scenes.
It was just short of mid
night when he waived his
hand at them in dismissal
and called, "Goodnight."
SPECIAL
pumas
While
Stock
j Lasts!
US PLYWOOD CRAFTSMAN
PREFINISHED PANELING
TERMS! !i7ifTT)Tmrca
5333
2nds) '4"x4'x8'
Black Walnut
$1199?!,
Natural Birch
$7 Per Panel
Holiday Birch
?799 Per Pane,
Colony Oak
$799
Per Panel
Corner 6th
& Fir Streets
Plenty of Off-Streef Customer Parking
vented-recessed
gas Counterflow
Wall Furnace
nuiijiu iu jiuuiii. nn re
modeling. No expensive duct
work, (its snugly into or
against wall. Saves space.
Powerful blower pulls room
air in at top, delivers heated
air at bottom. Spreads a car
pet of warmth and circulates
comfort from room to room.
Fully automatic with safely
shut-off and safety vent
60,000 and 65,000 BTU in
put Backed by exclusive
$500 Warranty Bond.
NATURAL GAS
EQUIPMENT CO.
Haarinf and
Air Condition!!
Phone 772-2322
111 W. Main, Medford
For
Tank Gas
or
Natural Gas
CALL US
TODAY
for
FREE
ESTIMATES
TERMS
Nothing Down
Up to
36 Months
To Pay
INSTALL
NOW . . .
Pay Later!
DOMESTIC GAS
COMPANY
ferrinf Jacktoti and
JoMphina Countiai
Madtordi Phona 771 5314
190 N. Pacific Hy.
Grama ai: Ph. 474 4603
til Rafut Riar Hwy.
Ashland creek, began to
make Itself felt. People
started to pull on sweaters
and coats.
It was a clear night and
the stars came out early. The
Big Dipper balanced itself
neatly on the flag standard
at the top of the theater.
At 9:43 o clock, Daniel
Hoppc, playing the excitable
Frenchman, Dr. Caius, came
on for a scene, spotted a book
that some actor had inadvert
antly left an one of the stage
benches, and without drop
ping a line, picked up the
book and tossed it off stage.
As 10 o'clock ncared, Hay
twisted around in his sent
and studied the banks of
lights on the huge steel
booms to the right and left
of the stage. He yawned and
put on a pullover sweater.
Brubaker stood up, strug
gled into a black raincoat,
walked a few steps up the
aisle, turned around, wnlked
buck and sat down again.
Some of tho audience, by
now, sat huddled In blankets
they hHd wrapped around
them like shawls.
A scene In the inner below
gave the audience its first
look at two new stage inno
vations this season; a stairwav
from the Inner above down
to the main stage, and a slid-
ing platform In the inner bc
low. Both operated smoothly
I and Brubaker In his blocking
had utilized them In interest
Ing ways.
At 10:20 o'clock, the cur-
! Inins In the inner below part
ed, exposing Robert Benson
j Burglary Reported
At Yreka Creamery
The Jackson county sher
jiff's office was notified Fri
; day of a burglary in Yreka,
I Calif , in which a safe con
tainlng $130 cash and compa
ny checks was hauled awav
i from the Meadowbell cream-
: cry.
The burglary occurred be
j tween 0 p.m. Wednesday and
: 3:20 a.m. Thursday, officers
; were told.
Entrance to the building
was gained by breaking
back window and breaking
the office door. Police stated
that three persons had appar
ently participated in the theft
and that someone ate consid
erable Ice cream while ap
parently waiting for arrival
of the pickup truck, which
was used in taking away the
Newspapers, national mag
azines, T.V. and radio com
mentators, officers of the
General Federation of Wom
en's clubs and hundreds of
humane societies have swung
into support of legislation to
protect laboratory animals.
More congressmen have com
mitted themselves to vote for
any effective bill that may
go to Congress for a vole.
The Humane society of the
U.S. has intensified its work
of telling the American pub
lic why the use of animals
in research experiments
should be limited and con
trolled. Willi six bills pend
ing in Congress and public
hearings on the conditions un
der which animals are being
used in research there is hope
that a bill may be passed this
year.
Hundreds of millions of
animals are experimented up
on each year in the United
States and vast numbers are
subjected to pain and fear
without limit. The suffering
inflicted on the helpless ani
mals is prolonged and in
tense. They are completely
without protection from those
who argue that the end Justi
fies the means, regardless of
the amount of suffering the
means may inflict.
Ihc abuse of animals in i
present-day science is the !
worst, by far, of all the many
cruelties to animals, exceed
ing all others in the intensity
of misery systematically in-
Nicted in staggering numbers
of animal victims.
As a moral issue, this abuse
of animals in research de
mands attention and action.
Research, In Its abuse of ani
mals has sought to place it
self above and beyond the
restraints of the moral law
and has sought a dispensation
from the penal laws of the
land.
A layman may be prosecut
ed for burning a dog. A re
searcher not only is free to
burn an nnmlal with a solder,
ing Iron, boiling water or any
means he may devise; he may
also keep the animal alive for
days or week without any
pain-relieving care. The law
demands punishment of the
layman for his atrocity. The
researcher, however, is likely
to be rewarded with generous
grants of the taxpayer's mon
ey your money to continue
burning animals, as well - as
many other useless atrocities
perpetrated on them.
Please write to our senators
and representatives In Con
gress asking them to support
an effective bill.
to
Healthy
SEPTIC
SHI""!1 AND DRAINS
Ust SEPT0NIC Regularly!
P rani wriira Mai. a .
f'M. fair wit fan. ift. 9 V 49
"h i$t " , 300 al tank.
First Come
First Served
Every Model
On Sale1.
KIT TROJMl
foo, l Bedroom, rron. dining
u .loclrie cu" , .
Sr.. Modern d.cor. Spec-
interior "(!"',Yt7375
I W - ajri
KIT Sierra Home
s5
furnithed w..n .
table, cone. ' 30 ringe,
ia cu. ' ""'
1 hadt '
Was $4895
IMPEMM- '500'
HISTORY
WAKING PRICES ON CERTAIN
ANGELUS
NEW TO'
, WIDES AND EXPANDOS
. t 1 Bedroom. Oregon
50 j So.ci.1 conduction com
mad. Spc '. ' prov ncial
decor
ly furmhd-M'
$9895
IMPERIAL "550"
1963
1 0nly
1 0nly
t. M AtA
1 sshs 'W
ONLY . '4527
SPECIAL BANK TERMS
NO FAIR
OFFER REFUSED
WAlCCiE the W
TI3) A DO 5ia CAB EC
U Ua4UI2alkUt aPLaL 'Til 8 PM
1243 South Riverside "Mobile Horns Headquarters for Southern Oregon"
OPEN
! safe.