trauma and nostalgia at the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

When my sister told me that she had three free tickets for the SecondStory Repertory's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, (through April 30th; see it!) I was cautiously pessimistic. I was a little worried that the trauma of past failures would keep me from fully enjoying the show's irreverent sendup of the nerdiest of nerd pastimes.

When she said that she wanted to volunteer me to take part in the Bee, though, my whole attitude changed. All of a sudden it became yet another nerdy adventure--I've recently had a few--and a chance to re-experience the trauma firsthand.

So of course I said yes.

Upon signing up to be one of four non-actor contestants, I was given three simple instructions:

1. Always ask for a definition.
2. Always ask for the word to be used in a sentence.
3. Don't act.

The first two were essential to set up jokes. The third instruction was to ensure the right contrast between the actors and the amateurs. If I had attempted to ham it up--and believe me, the temptation was real--I might've spoiled the show. So I didn't act.

I just spelled.

The first word was easy: "xanadu." My only concern was that I'd make a silly mistake and screw up--my pulse raced, my voice broke a little at the end, but I nailed it. I didn't expect real nerves for a fake bee, but there they were.

The second was easier: "putsch." Also easy. I had encountered it in a real bee back in the late 80s, and I believe I misspelled it then. No way I would fail this time.

I forget the third word, which I spelled right, either because it wasn't a real word, or I was darned lucky. (It was an Irish something, starts with a K, and I can't find it in my unabridged Webster's.)

I figured it was my time to exit the show when I was called up immediately afterward. Lo and behold, I went out on "pheochromocytoma," which I heard wrong, starting with a T, so they sounded the fateful bell, leading to the hug and serenade and juice box from Mitch.

At least I was the last non-actor standing. Ignominious defeat never felt so good.

Everyman at Saint Martin's, or A Morbid Campus Tour

Everyman is about to die, and Death wants a reckoning. Not wanting to go it alone, Everyman asks friends, relations, and others to assist in accounting for his life as he takes an allegorical journey to the grave. Who'll come along?

You should.

Saint Martin's University is currently showing a unique version of the classic medieval morality play, making the campus the stage, incorporating walkways, buildings, roads, and more. Everyman starts in a courtyard near the O'Grady Library, and ends, fittingly, in the cemetery at sunset.

The acting is solid, with the title character (played by sophomore Olivia Baumgartner), Death (Zoe Ford), Good Deeds (senior Ninalynn Benitez), and God (Olympia veteran Josh Anderson, no relation) standing out. The marching band accompanying the trek does fine work, adding levity and solemnity and irony to the proceedings. The finale is poignant and unnerving, as Everyman departs with Death amid very real graves.

It runs April 20-23 and April 27-30, it's only $5, and you need to brush up on your 15th-century theater. Go see it.

It'll be the strangest, most morbid campus tour you'll ever take.


Added: Christian Carvajal of The Weekly Volcano also gives the play a thumbs-up.

Harlequin's Macbeth: the rundown

We went to see Harlequin's production of Macbeth last night, thanks to friends who happen to be season sponsors. Overall we were quite pleased with the performance, which captures the power and terror of The Scottish Play. A brief rundown:

Pluses

• Andrew Heffernan is flawless in the role of the title character. He portrays Macbeth's moral instability and transformation from sympathetic hero to desperate evildoer with nuance and charisma that never borders on camp.
• A simple stage, effective use of underlighting, a pulsing score, and gritty costumes set a dark and dismal mood. The appearance of Banquo's ghost is particularly noteworthy.
• Strong supporting characters, including several capable amateurs, back up Heffernan's tour de force. The Porter steals several scenes, Macbeth's wife goes convincingly mad, and the Weird Sisters are as creepy as they ought to be.
• By Harlequin's and Shakespeare's standards, this one's brief, clocking in at nearly three hours.

Minuses

• The graphic, Hollywoodesque murder of Banquo is more than a little overripe: lying lifeless on the ground, he springs back up to fight again before finally getting waxed.
• MacDuff's son's part gets split with a daughter. Sure, it's defensible, but come on. Let the little "egg" have his scene.
• Can no one affect a decent Scottish brogue?
• The porter's rant, calling out lawyers, parking attendants, and urologists while shining a flashlight on the audience, is a major rupture in verisimilitude. This may be a matter of taste, but I found it distracting.

When you add it up, you'll see that the minuses are mostly quibbles. Shakespeare's most human villain deserves the powerful treatment Harlequin provides. Macbeth plays through the 27th, and is well worth watching.

Capital High School presents The Rimers of Eldritch

My wife and I watched last night's show, an ambitious staging of Lanford Wilson's depressing, stark murder mystery / morality play. Kudos to the cast and crew for an exceedingly well-acted and technically brilliant production. Positioned on a wooden set that simulates front porches, living rooms, a restaurant, a church, and a courtroom, among other places, the actors remain onstage all through each of two acts. Scene changes are accomplished by clever use of lighting and movement.

I won't summarize the plot other than to note that it unfolds in a nonlinear fashion, disparate fragments sewn together in the final scenes. Though engaging, the play suffers from two faults that leave the viewer ultimately unsatisfied. First, its parody of a close-knit Bible Belt community is a bit overdrawn and lacks nuance. Second, the tension that has built throughout the first three quarters of the play is partly wasted in an anticlimactic denouement.

Despite these problems, it's still worth seeing for its outstanding and experienced cast, which translates Wilson's dark vision of hypocrisy with chilling effectiveness. Derik Nelson (as Robert Conklin), Esa Hakkarainen (as Skelly Mannor), Gavin Reub (as Walter) and Sydney Whitten (as Cora Groves) put in particularly affecting performances.

Rimers continues its run February 4th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. All shows are at 7:30 p.m. $8 adults, $6 students and senior citizens.

tears, I say

Mark Olson knows how to make an English teacher happy: by using Shakespeare as an educational form of discipline. Bravo, Mark.

A few additional pointers:

• If your child fears ghosts, show her Hamlet. Teach her to talk to ghosts, to ask them what sort of revengeful plots they have in mind.
• Romeo and Juliet has been known to turn adolescents off dating (and, to a lesser degree, Shakespeare).
• Reciting stretches of Shakespeare's more obscure work immensely impresses employers. When competition for a McDonalds slot is fierce, your teen will need the extra "edge."
• Children as young as two can recognize the moral failings of Lady Macbeth.
• Warn wayward tykes that, unless they behave, they'll be turned into donkeys, or worse: made to fall in love with them.

long live Arthur Miller

Now that everyone who's anyone has written a eulogy for Mr. Arthur Miller, least among Marilyn Monroe's husbands, let me say:



I escaped high school without having read The Crucible.


Thank you.

"when the players are all dead, there need none to be blamed"

Last night I dragged the wife to Olympia High School's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. As high school theater goes, it was pretty darn good--fabulous sets and costumes, mostly decent line readings, and a show-stealing performance by Patrick Rayment as Nick Bottom.

Tonight, though, the wife is watching Michael Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream, perhaps to get back at me for making her suffer through amateur hour. Sadly, it's a tedious, despicable, melodramatic, soporific hack job that includes:

1. "Italian" characters speaking English (in either American or bad British accents), along with Italians speaking, of all things, Italian
2. Bicycles in starring roles (at least they don't act badly)
3. Rapid-fire, overly rhythmic line readings
4. Mud wrestling
5. A horrible mix of moods--comedy that isn't funny juxtaposed with romance that isn't romantic, followed by laughable tragedy and pedestrian magic.
6. A classic score, the only redeeming feature
7. Bare bottoms (and, worse, a bare Bottom)

Put in perspective, Oly's version is a triumph of adolescent genius.