If you want the primal emotions you have to go back to the Greeks. ODonnaugh’s carnage is leavened with humor. Tennessee William’s brutality is hysteric. And Shakespeare is just way too intelligent. We’re all Post-Modern now. We’re all too self-aware – or think that we are – to be caught off-guard like the Greeks. There’s too much Hamlet in our bones. Greek theater is the best way nowadays (outside perusing the Tabloids) to see what lurks in the deepest recesses of our emotional DNA. Alas! Most of the real Greeks nowadays are locked up in sexual rehabilitation centers and/or prisons and receiving counselling. But there are some very good simalcrums having a very good time on stage at the Trinity Church on First Hill in a production of Jason and Medea …a Love Story by Theatre 9/12. A funny thought occurred to me half-way through the play that it would be interesting to plop a psychotherapist down in the midst of it all. The modern call-in-show, talk therapy and self-help books – even Dr. Phil – would seem pretty weak medicine indeed for what is troubling these souls. A lot of thorazine might make a start… Anyway…
Barbara Lindsay Wrote the Adaption
I attended this past Saturday evening with my wife Lynn and several theater friends and found a full house and comfortable chairs. The play was from a very successful adaption by Barbara Lindsay (start our series of interviews with her, here: https://schn00dles.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/what-celebrities-get-tired-of-hearing/ ) commissioned by Theatre 9/12. Performing on a spare stage with just the few symbolic props left the actors license to perform feats which sketched the action in our heads. An audience favorite was their re-creation of a fire breathing dragon. Some of the most magical transformations for me involved the simplest of means, for example: two girls speaking in unison – pretending to be boys, or a group of women rowing as Jason stood looking forward to his destiny. All of the actors did good work. Therese Diekhans, as the Narrator, seemed especially well cast and moving. All that long black curling hair on Medea summoned the spirit of the Greek Medussa, and Lisa Carswell, Medea, looked like she’d applied some of that liquid tanning to her skin. This affected me, as it recalled those shamins and sorcerers who spread colored muds and such across themselves – I would guess – to get in the ‘mood’. Anyway, to more important matters for those of us obsessed with celebrity, Chris – our Fashion editor – pointed out to me later that the actor, Simon Hamlin, who plays Pelias (among many personas) in this production (who appears also in The Divine Marigolds – see our piece on this in the Seattle Celebrity News! backissues) also is currently seen in the movie, The Fighter, staring Mark Walberg and Christian Bale. (This is a fine movie, by the way.) Like all the events I’ve seen produced by Theatre 9/12 this one was well done and well attended.
And for those of you interested in eccentric dining experiences, you might visit a small crepierie, just a block and a half north of the Trinity Church after the performance. It’s open till 11pm. And it may take you that long to get your order. The service is surreal. The menu is a long line of pages taped to the counter breathe barrier. And it doesn’t matter whether you order just a glass of orange juice or a crepe wilh all sorts of amendments, you get a spot in line and that’s that. So you might as well order large. Because the food is great when it gets there. The cafe is quiet. Chris, Dan, Scot, Freddie, Lyn, Jorj, Lynn and I all had a great time discussing the play afterwards. And the restauranteur actually looked a lot like the Medea of the play. What does it all mean?
Editor’s Note: Jorj is back on the beat with these two selections you might enjoy:
Jorj Has Two Great Ideas for You
“Rik Deskin’s Eclectic Theater Company is currently presenting Moliere’s THE MISANTHROPE Friday thru Sunday at The Odd Duck. A talented cast of youngish actors are busting their chops for director Kate Huisentruit. We have been hearing their rehearsal shouts and screams at our Tuesday WARP meetings at the Duck. The space now has two rehearsal rooms in addition to the theater. The show has pace and energy. Bryan Bender is morose in the lead and Adria Morticella is a knockout as Philinte and two other roles. She reacts, mugs, plays men’s parts, has her mustach fall off and reminds me of a young Carol Burnette. The message that it is better to be truthful in polite society is perhaps timeless. It gets you nowwhere. They need audience and deserve support. The play runs Friday Thru Sunday through February 12th. www.eclectictheatercompany.org ” – Jorj
“John Kazanjian has staged a little known David Mamet farce titled NOVEMBER at the new New City Theater (The Shoebox Theater) at 1404 18th Ave. (near Union). The show runs weekends through February 12th. Where else but Seattle can you see this play and CYMBELINE an equally obscure Shakepeare play. What a city. The plot of NOVEMBER has to do with the President of the United States pardoing two turkeys at Thanksgaiving and authorizing a lesbian marriage. There is a Native American thrown into the mix.” – Jorj
Once the word about the Elvis Invitationals, January 8th, hit the streets, it’s as if the souls of the thousand neck-tied office workers rose up as the ONE – and throughout the greater business district began channelling Elvis. Indeed, once Elvis Fever hit, it seems no one could keep His larger than life persona out of their head. The following are just a few of the ‘possessions’ we were able to capture on tape:
John Bigelow: District Manager
Donnell Steele: Works in Supplies
Richard A Martin: Technician
(This last recording is particularly interesting, as you can actually hear the possession taking place within the first few moments of the interview.)
And WE were there! Chris Mathews will be covering the Fashion end of the event. And Yours Truly will be offering up taped interviews with Elvis Impersonators (done in character). You can vote for your favorite! Right here. Vote as many times as you like. (Just fill out the comment box.) – AND, in order to establish a baseline, we will be posting other Elvis interviews – done with your average man in the street . So, you can gauge how good these pretenders to the throne actually are. Are they a cut above your street level Joe? Find out! Listen to them all in the upcoming posts. Watch for them!
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