10/06/05 Letters to the Editor
'Proof' impresses
To the editor — My wife, Michele Besso, and I had the chance to see the Warehouse Theater's production of David Auburn's "Proof" this past weekend and were very impressed. Rachel Kunze's portrayal of lead character Katharyn was exceptional. The three other actors did a great job as well. The play explores sibling rivalry, trust, loyalty, the meaning of sanity, love and gender equality in academic circles. Congratulations to Leah Hieber on her directoral debut and bravo to all involved.
We encourage all theater lovers and anyone interested in a rich story to buy their tickets now for the remaining two weekends' performances.
MATT FAIRBANK
Yakima
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Letters to the Editor
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
I keep trying to catch up
I keep trying to take things one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked me at once...
I was so excited coming into this weekend about resting, finally. But it wasn't to be. Sunday I ran around half the day -- and watched about 20 friends episodes, one of Lost, and Hitchhiker's Guide. Monday I worked morning on my sleep in day because a girl no-showed again. Then Jeff came into town for a suprise -- yay -- and I spent the rest of the day with Wycliffe people until 10. Then tuesday was two jobs day, Symphony Chorus, and Kareoke. Some friends of mine have been bugging me to go for months. It..wasn't...that...bad. I had fun. But stayed a lot later than I meant to. Which brings us to today, another two job day with horrid little second graders. They are out of control most of the time. Then a line through at Starbucks. I had to eat crow and talk it out with a cast member who thought I hate him. I don't. But we got off to a bad start and never recovered. Then running lines and gabbing with Claire. And finally the new Lost episode. I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow is my 7:30-5:30 day followed by a show. Arrgh. If I can only make it to Saturday!
Monday, October 03, 2005
Review of Proof
Here is what the Herald is saying:
Human conflict propels drama past cold academics
By DEWEY MEE For the Yakima Herald-Republic
I always bristle when I have to see a play that's been heralded as a modern masterpiece. David Auburn's "Proof" has received the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award, but this only made me skeptical as to whether the play was worthy of the awards and acclaim.
In my mind, "Proof" is a thin, rather self-important play with grand ideas. By sheer coincidence, the Warehouse Theatre Company's production opens just as the film version goes into wide release.
It helps, though, that director Leah Hieber has a good fix on the play. She writes, "It is particularly interesting that Auburn's play combines two extremes of where we build our belief systems; mathematics and family."
Thankfully, the play is more about family dynamics than dry, academic mathematics. Subtract all the dialog about mathematical and scientific theories - and there's plenty of that - and you still have a play about family; specifically parents and children, and good and bad traits that may or may not be inherited.
Rachel Kunze gives an outstanding performance as Catherine, who has sacrificed much of her young life to care for her father. As the play flashes between the present and the past, we see Terry Langley as her father, Robert, a brilliant man who, ironically, after writing complicated mathematical theories and theories on rational behavior, has gone insane.
Langley is especially good at communicating Robert's futile attempts to grab a semblance of order and reason as both slip away from him. In addition to his death and the legacy he leaves behind, Catherine must contend with big sister, Claire, (Aimee Hostetler) who arrives for the funeral and seems intent on taking Catherine back to New York City with her.
There's also Hal Dobbs (Kristofer Sundquist), a persistent but worshipful grad student of Robert's. Hal insists on looking through all 103 notebooks that Robert let behind in the hope of finding proof that, even as late as four years ago in his last lucid period, Robert was brilliant, not bonkers.
Catherine insists that all the notebooks are full of disconnected ramblings - all except one. In that notebook, Hal discovers the gem he has searched for; a groundbreaking, 40-page mathematical proof that will confirm Robert's genius for all time.
When Catherine says it was she, not Robert, who wrote this proof, Claire and Hal react with complete disbelief. At the moment she reaches out for some desperately needed support and validation, she is literally and metaphorically slapped down by the last two people she thought she could trust. Hal, in fact, says Catherine could not have written the proof because it is "too advanced."
"Proof" is best when the characters are in conflict, either with each other or themselves. Kunze and Hostetler are especially strong in their many confrontational scenes.
But when the play tries for hope, a tidy ending, and its own theories as to Catherine's fate, it is terribly contrived. The suggestion of a romance between Catherine and Hal is worse than contrived - it's cheap, since it appears that Hal feigns romantic interest for completely self-serving ends.
Nobody is completely what he or she appears to be. For instance, Claire is not the cold, self-involved sister, and Hal comes off as less than sincere and genuine.
The only thing that "Proof" absolutely proves is that life offers proof of absolutely nothing.
But, as a theater critic I can tell you that Kunze's extraordinary performance (which earned a "Bravo!" from me at curtain call - and I never shout "Bravo!" unless it is richly deserved) elevates "Proof" to the level of greatness to which it aspires.
The Warehouse Theatre Company presents "Proof" at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and Oct. 13-15 at the Warehouse Theatre in the Allied ArtsCenter, 5000 W. Lincoln Ave. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors, and are available through the Warehouse Theatre box office. Call 966-0951.
* Dewey Mee has been involved in theater for more than 30 years. The veteran free-lance arts critic is based in Ellensburg.
I suppose you can't get much better than that. He was also quite impressed with Aimee, who plays my sister. And rightfully so - she's a great actress that has gotten overlooked by the Warehouse in the past. And he's right. Aimee and my scenes together are the best in the show -- thanks to a four hour shouting marathon at Starbucks one night.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Basic Exhaustion plus Euphoria
Exhaustion + Euphoria
Last night was opening night. It went very well with great feedback at the post-opening night reception. Then the whole cast went out to Gasperetti's for drinks. Not me. I mean, I went, but I had mine virgin. Anyway. Lovely flowers from Grandma and Ken and my parents. The florist was working overtime. The same shop had orders for me and for the director.
Today I was supposed to work to make up for missing Thursday. I made up 4 of the 7 hours and called it good. I'm so tired it's not funny, but I'll have a few minutes to rest before I have to be at the theater. My favorite part of the show? Sitting on stage as the audience comes in napping and reading magazines. Lovely bit of downtime.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
We made it through
We made it through...
Dress rehearsal was tonight, with the entire Wycliffe team in attendence plus everyone's highschool students. Terry got stuck in a line loop in the opening scene, and of course those of us that never have line trouble got stuck in places. That's the nature of having an audience for the first time. You end up in an adrenalyn cycle. We skipped half a page in one scene, and I muffed some lines at the end, but the good part is we recovered and went on without an obvious hitch to the audience. So it was good. And the team member who came strictly to watch me mack on a guy walked out satisfied, so there.
Tomorrow is the Wycliffe show, and then opening night!
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Testing Lipstick
Last night I discovered an immediate need for kiss-proof lipstick. I bought one variety and tested it last evening. Works like a charm and no smearing. Thank goodness, because otherwise I get tickled at the mess and can't make it through the scene.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Dress Rehearsal
Not so slowly anymore...
Going crazy that is.
Yesterday was our first tech rehearsal. It went well. A little slow, like usual, and it seems like we spend a lot of time doing scenes at night, but our soundtrack/transition music is awesome. One song by Coldplay. Very nice. I had another costume vetoed, but the pink flowered shirt that I thought was too inimitably girly for Catherine was suggested. So there we go. And they nixed the skirt that was taking me forever to get into. Thank goodness.
Today I'm at work all day to make up hours from the half day I took last week. I had big plans for getting things priced and put out around here, but as usual around here, an employee isn't coming in because she has to pick up her boyfriend in the tri-cities. So much for the big plans. We can't get anything done. I'm going to work Saturday instead of Thursday this week in the hopes that while mari runs the place I can organize the linen room, sort merchandise, and further divide ornaments by color in the Christmas basement. We have boxes stacked all the way up the ramp and spilling over. Because the spilloever blocked the door to the linen room we've just been throwing bags of things through the doorway. Now that room is a disaster, and we haven't priced the bargain room half of our last three deliveries, so we have boxes stacked waist high on one side of the sort room. Then the arehouse sent us another 40 boxes of goods on Friday. We are swamped. And our volunteers are all at the fair. Rargh.
Speaking of the fair, half of my classes won't be here this week because 1st, 2nd, and 4th graders are going to the fair. So I'll have large gaps in the my schedule. I haven't looked to see where the gaps are, but I'm hoping it will leave me time to come late and leave early, not sit around for an hour between two other classes.
I can't wait for payday. And I need to put gas in my car.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Bisy. Bak son.
Um.
I have time to eat or sleep, but not both in the same day. I lost a pound and a half last week. Busyness is the best diet ever, not that I even remotely need it.
Teaching is going very well. I'm getting better at the teaching part, and slightly better at the discipline. I need some new songs for next week because I'm starting to get bored. At this point all of my classes are singing variations on the same songs. Fun for them at recess, a little monotonous for me. But my fourth graders combined forces yesterday on the way back from a field trip and "One bottle of pop"ped all the way home. That made me very happy. And my third grader today, when I taught them a new song, said that thei older sibling has been driving them CRAZY walking around the house singing it. Ha. Their parents must hate me.
The lighthouse is frustrating. Not the job itself, but the variables week to week. We never know which employee is going to call in sick, or have a doctors appointment, or a sick kid, or an interview, or decide they need to hand out resumees that day (most of our employees come from a program to faze people off welfare), or whatever. You can't count on anything. And this week our stable volunteer base is either volunteering at the fair, or out with a sick relative. They started fixing our roof this week without warning, and waking up every morning at the crack of dawn with the sound of people walking over our heads is exhausting. Especially when you don't have to get up for several hours but can't help it.
Rehearsals are going well. We have most of a show now, and adding an audience should take care of the last of it. We're just doing a line-through tonight. (IE: run lines as quickly as you can, no blocking or costumes) We have no set construction tomorrow, yay, because I'm going to the fair and the sunfair parade. And sunday we have a full dress rehearsal, with makeup I'm assuming because we're having our pictures taken again. Final Dress is next Wednesday. The show opens a week from today. I'm getting ill thinking about it. In the meantime...
...Wycliffe Dinner Theater will be in town Wednesday through Friday. Their show is on our dead night, and a few of my friends will be coming to the dress rehearsal. Coordinating that right now has made for more insane busy-ness, but we've pretty much taken care of everything, and now all we have to do is wait for them to come.
And I'm going to go do something now. We are so backed up around here that if Nancy and I each cloned ourselves three ways, we'd still have plenty more to do then hands to do it.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Tara Maclay 45% amorality, 36% passion, 81% spirituality, 81% selflessness |
What a woman! (Or man, as it may be...) Tara is a moral, centered, spiritual and selfless person... rather, I suspect, like you. People like this make those around them love them. Congratulations! (and stay away from windows, just in case) Thanks Again! -- THE 4-VARIABLE BUFFY PERSONALITY TEST |
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I had no idea
I had no idea I was that girlie
Turning on the lights in the kids room this morning, I almost stepped on a dead rat. Not a mouse. Not a big mouse. A rat. The exterminators don't believe me. "We don't have rats in Washington." I've never seen a mouse longer than my hand. Anyway, I let out a bloodcurdling shriek and went tearing up to Nancy's apartment. She told me to get one of the guys fixing the roof to get rid of it for me. I was halfway to the roof before I realized, this is stupid. I've disposed of carcases of voles, mice, lizards, insects, and goodness knows what else living with Cai in California. I can handle a dead rat. In theory. It took several minutes of what can only be described as "girlie noises" and cringing to maneuver the darn rat into a newspaper into a bucket. I would have thought that after the vole that attached itself to my finger, I would be immune to this.
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