Under the Big Top in Ashland

“Break a leg!” That’s what actors traditionally wish each other as a contrarian mantra against stage fright.

But when the main roof beam of Ashland’s 700-seat Bowmer Theater cracked a couple of weeks ago, the fracture frighted not just the individual actors onstage but the whole Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) and surrounding communities here in Jefferson State.

Mercifully, no one was hurt. The break occurred during an understudy rehearsal and the theater was promptly evacuated. But the timing couldn’t have been worse: it was just as the OSF was ramping up to the peak of its 2011 season.

The Bowmer, flagship of the festival’s three performance venues and linchpin of its intricate backstage costume and scenery logistics, had to close for a 4-6 week repair. Bowmer performances were hastily shifted, first to the Ashland town armory and then to a 600-seat temporary tent theater in a park adjacent to the festival campus.

With its 12-play yearly roster and its 400,000+ ticket sales, the OSF is by far the leading theater company on the West Coast – indeed, the top repertory troupe nationwide – with an estimated economic contribution to the region last year of nearly $180 million.

So it should come as a relief to all of us hereabouts that, in true “show-must-go-on” spirit, the OSF has forged ahead with its season. To do so has entailed a lot of heroic ingenuity and flexibility, fully deserving the loyal support of all Jeffersonians.

Which is hardly a painful duty for us. After all, we can drive there in a matter of hours (versus the multi-day journeys incurred by the downstate Californians and upstate Oregonians who make up most of the festival’s audience). And Ashland town is full of incidental delights – other stuff to eat or see or do, apart from the OSF.

But, most of all, the repertory productions themselves seem to have survived the Bowmer’s trauma remarkably unscathed, at least judging from the two shows I took in on a recent visit. Both were personally directed by the festival’s artistic helmsman, Bill Rauch. And one of them was a maiden performance at the ad hoc tent theater. A couple of mini-reviews:

Sex, Lies and Zero-Sum Justice

Although it does offer up an occasional laugh line, Measure for Measure counts as a comedy mainly on the technical definition: a play that ends in marriages. Lots of marriages – four at a stroke, all more or less under duress. The play is a regular perp walk of sexual hypocrisy and coercion by religious and political “leaders” – sound familiar?

CLARINS Colour Definition A/W Collection » . A T E L I E R x ...

To test the crease-free claim, I deliberately skipped primer and wore this look from 10AM. The pigments -notably the periwinkle shade- lasted pretty well through the evening, while still looking fresh. The shades applied more sheer-ish than they look in the pan;  the periwinkle and pewter shades have a satin finish, the iridescent pearl-white takes quite an effort to swatch properly. The indigo blue comes off as slightly gritty that is better used wet for its intensity to shine.

The grammar of English grammars, with an introduction historical and critical, the whole methodically arranged and amply illustrated; with ... a key to the oral exercises: to which are added four appendixes, pertaining separately to the four parts of grammar

Spatial form in narrative

English novel explication, Supplement

English novel explication : supplement I

Completely Smitten, Completely Smitten\Hers for the Weekend