The
Taming of the
Shrew
Tygres Heart Shakespeare Company at the Winningstad Theater,
Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway,
228-8400.
7 pm Wednesdays-Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays.
Closes Nov. 7.
Xingu
Cygnet Productions at the Russell Street Theater, 116 NE Russell
St., 295-3555.
8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 5 pm Sundays. Closes Oct. 23.
Benefit performances Oct. 15-16.
$12, $25 for benefits.
This section often employs the words "professional" and "amateur"
in its efforts at description, and some reasonable readers
have demanded explication of these terms. One argument against
the use of "amateur" is that many of Portland's theaters so
accused have paid staffs that work in state-of-the-art surroundings,
so how can they be considered other than "professional"? But
the word has other connotations. Webster's second definition
is "conforming to the technical standards of a profession."
It's this meaning that the Stage listings cleave to, for it's
the very lack of technical proficiency that invalidates many
companies' claims to professional status.
When a dancer or a musician is called professional, one
assumes that the artist in question has mastered the fundamental
techniques of his or her craft. Not so with theater. One
is constantly amazed by the lack of proper voice training,
the graceless, unmotivated movement, and the inadequate
memorization of lines among Portland's actors. Such slovenliness
is the antithesis of professionalism, and for any theater
where such abuses abound to call itself professional is
wanton and hubristic. Such theaters are amateur, which is
to say they are halls where adults play, rather than where
artists create.
The city's greatest playpen has long been the Tygres Heart
Shakespeare Company, a tumultuous troupe that is bereft
of discipline, vision and principle. Other than a brief
flirtation with professional aspirations, the company has
been sunk in amateurism. The latest example of this sorry
state can be found in guest artists Gretchen Corbett and
Tania Myren's version of The Taming of the Shrew,
which can only be described as exuberantly bad. Their relentless
infantilization of the piece is startling, as is the poverty
of Corbett and Myren's ideas. With a deft command of banalities,
Myren has fashioned a new play within the play, which Corbett
has tinseled with the cheapest of business. In fact, Corbett
wades into the shallows to pan for more idiocies than even
the company's giftless founder could have dredged. The play
within the play serves little purpose, never offering commentary
of any worth or wit on Shrew. Corbett's "thoughts"
on the subject are as incoherent as her direction. Her program
notes state that the play is about "that eternally mysterious
man/woman thing." Certainly, I'm mystified. What "thing"
is that?
The actors are at their dismal worst: Speech is sloppy
and movement haphazard. The usually excellent Jami Chatalas
and Tony St. Clair are begging for a life of typecasting,
while the usually professional Bruce Burkhartsmeier sputters
out his lines like a dying lawn sprinkler. But this is Corbett's
show, as shown from the top of the play. Tellingly, the
actors playing actors are minutes from curtain, yet they
spend the last moments quarreling, practicing tips from
Loving Touch Massage, or dipping their mitts in Chinese
take-away. No vocal warm-ups or stolen seconds of contemplation
intrude. Play is the thing, not the play. Could amateurism
be better defined?
For those who can still read and revel in the power of
language, salvation is at hand in the resurrection of Portland's
literary cabaret, Cygnet. The company's first work is Edith
Wharton's brilliant and droll short story, Xingu.
Director Louanne Moldovan has gathered a marvelous cast
to people Wharton's ladies' literary luncheon, including
excellent work from Nancy Benner as meek Mrs. Leveret, Sharon
Knorr as the prim Miss Van Vluyck and Wendy Westerwelle's
monumental Mrs. Plinth. As the celebrated authoress Osric
Dane, Brian Haliski creates a memorable piece of camp. Though
Claire de la Mer tends toward monotone, the rest of the
cast, Gregg Bielemeyer and Patty Flynn, have good moments.
It must also be said that Vana O'Brien is excellent as the
hostess. This is a perfect vehicle for O'Brien, as it demands
subtlety, the very thing she often avoids. Though O'Brien
does not have the comic genius of Westerwelle, she does
have perfect timing and a gift for deadpanning. Xingu
is everything that Tygres Heart is not: witty, intelligent
and word-perfect.
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Willamette Week | originally
published October 13,
1999
|
