Perils of Caffeine in the Evening

More Angst about my Dramatic IQ

One of the things that keeps perplexing me when attending plays is when it’s appropriate to stand when applauding a performance.  After so many years of attending, it seems I could discern the truly fine performances.  Still, since I feel that I’m not qualified to judge, I remain seated even when I feel like leaping from my seat as the sole standee.

The audiences here at Ashland are predominantly sort of older middle class, middle brow folks, and I notice that they react a lot more viscerally to the comedies than the histories or tragedies.  I’ve wondered, and still wonder, if the actors in the Ashland company don’t respond in kind with their performances, and sort of feed this cycle.  Wish I knew enough to say for sure.

More Angst about my Dramatic IQ

One of the things that keeps perplexing me when attending plays is when it’s appropriate to stand when applauding a performance.  After so many years of attending, it seems I could discern the truly fine performances.  Still, since I feel that I’m not qualified to judge, I remain seated even when I feel like leaping from my seat as the sole standee.

The audiences here at Ashland are predominantly sort of older middle class, middle brow folks, and I notice that they react a lot more viscerally to the comedies than the histories or tragedies.  I’ve wondered, and still wonder, if the actors in the Ashland company don’t respond in kind with their performances, and sort of feed this cycle.  Wish I knew enough to say for sure.

Stageset for Romeo & Juliet

Stageset for Romeo & Juliet

In Fair Verona…

As I related below, we’ve been coming to Ashland for plays for 12 years or so, but I’m not sure I’ve approached the plays I’ve seen on dramatic terms.  I’ve never acted, nor been around the production of a play, and I tend to deal with plays in terms of literature.  I always try to read the Shakespeare plays that we’re going to see, just to relieve me of concentrating on dialogue, releasing me to appreciate nuances in the performance. 

This approach is probably about 70% effective, since a good play must have character, plot and language.  The parts I miss out on through ignorance are the stage design, costumes, “dramaturgy” (as I understand it, the conversion of the written script to vocal delivery and, in the case of “legacy” plays like Shakespeare, what to cut, and whether to modernize any language).  I’m thinking I might benefit from some sort of drama classes in order to advance to a new level of understanding.  It may be a good idea to consult Christopher (!) Key for further guidance.

We saw a production of Romeo & Juliet the other night.  Heretofore, the best productions I’ve seen have been the Zefferelli and Luhrmann films.  While the Zefferelli was probably more classically complete, the Luhrmann was the first instance where I felt the participants were really teenagers, awash in testerone and bad judgement, and not 35-ish actors trying to play teenagers.

The production this year borrowed some aspects from the Luhrmann film: big silver pistols, a black Mercutio break-dancing, a hispanic Tybalt - and the actors were unrelentingly young.  All these had a positive effect, and I was happy to have seen it.  I still think, however, that Paul Sorvino deserved a Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Juliet’s father in the Luhrmann film.

In Fair Verona…

As I related below, we’ve been coming to Ashland for plays for 12 years or so, but I’m not sure I’ve approached the plays I’ve seen on dramatic terms.  I’ve never acted, nor been around the production of a play, and I tend to deal with plays in terms of literature.  I always try to read the Shakespeare plays that we’re going to see, just to relieve me of concentrating on dialogue, releasing me to appreciate nuances in the performance. 

This approach is probably about 70% effective, since a good play must have character, plot and language.  The parts I miss out on through ignorance are the stage design, costumes, “dramaturgy” (as I understand it, the conversion of the written script to vocal delivery and, in the case of “legacy” plays like Shakespeare, what to cut, and whether to modernize any language).  I’m thinking I might benefit from some sort of drama classes in order to advance to a new level of understanding.  It may be a good idea to consult Christopher (!) Key for further guidance.

We saw a production of Romeo & Juliet the other night.  Heretofore, the best productions I’ve seen have been the Zefferelli and Luhrmann films.  While the Zefferelli was probably more classically complete, the Luhrmann was the first instance where I felt the participants were really teenagers, awash in testerone and bad judgement, and not 35-ish actors trying to play teenagers.

The production this year borrowed some aspects from the Luhrmann film: big silver pistols, a black Mercutio break-dancing, a hispanic Tybalt - and the actors were unrelentingly young.  All these had a positive effect, and I was happy to have seen it.  I still think, however, that Paul Sorvino deserved a Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Juliet’s father in the Luhrmann film.

Mayday!

So, I’m on the road, in Ashland, trying to make do with the downright medieval strictures of dialup internet access, when my laptop freezes.  I try various remedies, and eventually just power it down.  When I power up again, I get a message saying a file named SYSTEM is missing or corrupt, and that I need to insert my Windows 2000 cd and try to repair.  I carry all kinds of unnecessary stuff on the road - little speakers, a corkscrew, shorts in the winter and mittens in the summer, but do I carry my Windows 2000 cd? NO-O-O-O-O!

A normal person, someone in control of his life, would be able to go on a vacation and not be tethered to the internet, but I never seem to have all my work done by the time I leave for a vacation trip, and I am consequently relying on a fast, reliable internet connection at my destination and the continued flawless performance of my laptop.

I used the phone book (another medieval device - I always use Yahoo! to search for phone numbers or business addresses) to find a computer store.  Looks like most computer folks work out of their houses here, if they work at all, but I managed to find a store squirreled away in a strip mall.  I called and confirmed that they had a Windows 2000 Pro cd, and drove over.  The cd turned out to be a burned bootleg copy, but I felt ok because I actually do own my software.  Turns out I couldn’t “repair” my existing Windows installation without my Rescue disk.  You know, those rescue diskettes we always make when Windows prompts us during installation?  Or would make, if we had 4 blank diskettes and weren’t already burned out by the 45-minute installation process?

Even if I were sitting in my office, and had actually made a Rescue disk, there would be no way I could find it in the stacks and drawers of soon-to-be-extinct floppy disks.  Fingers trembling, I finally gave in and selected the choice to reinstall Windows from scratch.  I had a wild hope that somehow all my installed programs would magically appear when the installation was complete.  I waited anxiously as the series of progress bars inched excruciatingly to the 100% mark.  (why does it always take just as long to go from 99% to 100% as it does to go from 1% to 99%?)

The system rebooted, Windows came up, but the only installed program was Internet Explorer.  Moreover, it hadn’t found my screen drivers, so I was working in a postcard-sized display.

It’s taken me, in dribs & drabs, about a day to get my dialup internet connection back, Userland reinstalled and my screen back to normal.  I have no MS Office programs installed, can’t use Outlook to get my mail, so hundreds of Yahoo group messages are piling up in my mailbox.  But, hey, I’ve got the time.  I’m on VACATION!!!!

Mayday!

So, I’m on the road, in Ashland, trying to make do with the downright medieval strictures of dialup internet access, when my laptop freezes.  I try various remedies, and eventually just power it down.  When I power up again, I get a message saying a file named SYSTEM is missing or corrupt, and that I need to insert my Windows 2000 cd and try to repair.  I carry all kinds of unnecessary stuff on the road - little speakers, a corkscrew, shorts in the winter and mittens in the summer, but do I carry my Windows 2000 cd? NO-O-O-O-O!

A normal person, someone in control of his life, would be able to go on a vacation and not be tethered to the internet, but I never seem to have all my work done by the time I leave for a vacation trip, and I am consequently relying on a fast, reliable internet connection at my destination and the continued flawless performance of my laptop.

I used the phone book (another medieval device - I always use Yahoo! to search for phone numbers or business addresses) to find a computer store.  Looks like most computer folks work out of their houses here, if they work at all, but I managed to find a store squirreled away in a strip mall.  I called and confirmed that they had a Windows 2000 Pro cd, and drove over.  The cd turned out to be a burned bootleg copy, but I felt ok because I actually do own my software.  Turns out I couldn’t “repair” my existing Windows installation without my Rescue disk.  You know, those rescue diskettes we always make when Windows prompts us during installation?  Or would make, if we had 4 blank diskettes and weren’t already burned out by the 45-minute installation process?

Even if I were sitting in my office, and had actually made a Rescue disk, there would be no way I could find it in the stacks and drawers of soon-to-be-extinct floppy disks.  Fingers trembling, I finally gave in and selected the choice to reinstall Windows from scratch.  I had a wild hope that somehow all my installed programs would magically appear when the installation was complete.  I waited anxiously as the series of progress bars inched excruciatingly to the 100% mark.  (why does it always take just as long to go from 99% to 100% as it does to go from 1% to 99%?)

The system rebooted, Windows came up, but the only installed program was Internet Explorer.  Moreover, it hadn’t found my screen drivers, so I was working in a postcard-sized display.

It’s taken me, in dribs & drabs, about a day to get my dialup internet connection back, Userland reinstalled and my screen back to normal.  I have no MS Office programs installed, can’t use Outlook to get my mail, so hundreds of Yahoo group messages are piling up in my mailbox.  But, hey, I’ve got the time.  I’m on VACATION!!!!

Crater Lake

Gettin’ Cultured

We embarked on our annual trip to Ashland, Oregon to visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival .  The “festival” is actually a drama industry that runs from February to November each year.  It has three theatres: an outdoor Elizabethan, an indoor that seats about 850, and a smaller, more experimental stage.  They produce a lot of plays and playrights other than Shakespeare, so it makes for an interesting week.  We’re seeing:

Hedda Gabbler
Antony & Cleopatra
Romeo & Juliet
Continental Divide (2-play cycle) - Mothers Against and Daughters of the Revolution
Wild Oats
Present Laughter

We started coming here about 12 years ago when our son’s school started taking a gang down.  We tagged along with them for a couple of years, then bought our own membership in the Festival and have come every year since, adding more and more days as we found more things to do in the area.

Ashland is just north of the California border on I-5, and about 10 miles south of Medford.  Its downtown is full of restaurants and boutiquey stores catering to those attending the Festival, but it’s also home to Southern Oregon State University, so there’s an underlayment of counterculture, at least the sort that college kids play at. 

There is some fine hiking and outdoor recreation within 20 minutes’ drive.  In fact, we can walk up a street from our lodging and soon be on a National Forest trail.  While we’re here, we’ll most likely hike a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, take a drive to Crater Lake and do a little rock climb on an old volcanic plug called Pilot Rock.  Mt. Shasta is a distant, but frequent companion on many of our outings.

Crater Lake

Gettin’ Cultured

We embarked on our annual trip to Ashland, Oregon to visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival .  The “festival” is actually a drama industry that runs from February to November each year.  It has three theatres: an outdoor Elizabethan, an indoor that seats about 850, and a smaller, more experimental stage.  They produce a lot of plays and playrights other than Shakespeare, so it makes for an interesting week.  We’re seeing:

Hedda Gabbler
Antony & Cleopatra
Romeo & Juliet
Continental Divide (2-play cycle) - Mothers Against and Daughters of the Revolution
Wild Oats
Present Laughter

We started coming here about 12 years ago when our son’s school started taking a gang down.  We tagged along with them for a couple of years, then bought our own membership in the Festival and have come every year since, adding more and more days as we found more things to do in the area.

Ashland is just north of the California border on I-5, and about 10 miles south of Medford.  Its downtown is full of restaurants and boutiquey stores catering to those attending the Festival, but it’s also home to Southern Oregon State University, so there’s an underlayment of counterculture, at least the sort that college kids play at. 

There is some fine hiking and outdoor recreation within 20 minutes’ drive.  In fact, we can walk up a street from our lodging and soon be on a National Forest trail.  While we’re here, we’ll most likely hike a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, take a drive to Crater Lake and do a little rock climb on an old volcanic plug called Pilot Rock.  Mt. Shasta is a distant, but frequent companion on many of our outings.