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Performance
Mommy Dearest:
Decay and dysfunction in traditional ties.
Books
Love Feast: Baxter delves into family intimacy,
gained and lost. PLUS: Booknotes.
Gardens
Summer Scents:
Add fragrance to a mixed container.
Morsels
Eugene Beans:
Mini-reviews of area dining spots.
Mommy
Dearest
Decay and dysfunction
in traditional ties.
By Aria
Seligmann
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Maureen (Marla Norton)
berates Mag (Margot Trieger).
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What holds a family together, in the best of circumstances,
is love. At worst, it's entrapment -- the inability to break beyond circumstances,
which results in feelings of resentment that can lead to high levels of dysfunction.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane, now playing at ACE Annex, reminds me of a kitchen
sign I've seen: "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
In this case, Momma is Mag (Margot Trieger) and has made sure that
her daughter, Maureen (Marla Norton) has sacrificed her own happiness to cater to
hers. How long that's been going on -- for 20 years, or since childhood -- is subtext
to this dark-as-ink gothic tale. Control and power issues are compounded by insanity
and senility.
Perhaps Mag would rather have one of Maureen's sisters taking care
of her instead of Maureen, but they are probably saner and have wed and fled. Maureen,
delusional and unbalanced, may be the perfect patsy for her mother's scheming; even
with Maureen's faults, Mag considers her a better caretaking option than going into
a home. Maureen, a 40-year-old spinster, is beaten down, dragged out from her low-wage
position and her enslavement to her mother's care.
The action takes place in their small, rural house. A fully equipped
kitchen, with furniture designed with expertise by John Elliott and appropriate props
create a scene that realistically sets the story back a few decades in Connemara
County, Galway, when a dreary economic clime sent those living in rural western Ireland
to England or to the promise of sunny Boston, America, for work.
Maureen had worked in England 20 or so years earlier as a cleaning
lady, but she suffered a breakdown when her employers made fun of her nationality
and thus returned home. Pato (Mark Wm. Garner), a friend from Maureen's small village,
works in England still. He returns from England for a visit, and ostensibly, to wive
it in Leenane and bring a slice of home back with him. Maureen represents his Ireland,
no longer young and fresh, instead withered, worn and lost. But to Pato, she's still
beautiful, and he affectionately calls her his "Beauty Queen of Leenane."
The Irish-English conflict is set up at the beginning, when Maureen
and Mag argue over whether or not songs played on the radio should be in English
or Gaelic. Thus their arguing begins, only to crescendo. Maureen vilifies her mother
with such invectives as "you old bitch" -- epithets so harsh they become
comic. The mother takes the verbal abuse, only to fight back in her own manipulative
ways. But verbal abuse left unchecked will only escalate, and the arsenal of weapons
the two have at their disposal -- cold porridge, lumpy buillion, the withholding
of tea; or interference and disgusting habits -- also become more profound as the
action continues.
Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, only 27 when he penned Leenane,
uses obvious dramatic devices. There is "the letter" which contains information
that will change everyone's life, and the building of tension, interrupted only by
the uncertainty of who's telling the truth, that leads to the denouement.
Humorous moments make this intense play bearable; the level of
performance makes it a must-see. Joe Zingo's direction is very polished and tight
and the acting is exemplary. This is great theater. Marla Norton doesn't overplay
it; she lets the melodrama of the script speak for itself. Her performance is studied,
measured, controlled and absolutely believable. If Eugene were to give a Best Actress
award, Norton would win it hands down for this performance of a deeply troubled woman's
descent. Margot Trieger would be nominated as well -- she is simply wonderful as
Mag, the manipulative mother who empties her chamber pot in the kitchen sink and
blames the stench on stray cats that sneak into the house.
Mark Wm. Garner is sympathetic as lonely, hardworking Pato, who
sincerely cares about Maureen. And Michael Walker is a delight as buffoonish Ray,
who provides the comic relief and the pivotal action that leads to the turn of events.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
through May 25 at ACE Annex, 39 West 10th. There are no Sunday matinees.
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Love
Feast
Baxter delves
into family intimacy, gained and lost.
By Lois
Wadsworth
THE FEAST OF LOVE by Charles Baxter.
Vintage, 2000. Paperback, $13.
Charles Baxter has been one of my favorite writers since I discovered
his novel, First Light, in 1987. This story about adult siblings living in
the Midwest moves backward through their lives to reveal experiences kept secret
as well as those shared. Baxter creates a picture of the complicated emotional relationship
between brother and sister the way a geologist reveals various strata or a sculptor
builds forms by taking material away. The feelings at work in the sibling's current
detachment are clarified (later) through the light of childhood's emotional intimacy.
Baxter's most recent novel, The Feast of Love (2000), explores
a number of love relationships loosely bound together. One sleepless night, insomniac
Charlie Baxter runs into Bradley Smith, a former neighbor he's nearly forgotten.
Bradley persuades Charlie to meet his ex-wife, Kathryn. That leads Charlie, a philosophy
teacher at the university and a writer, to meet with people Bradley or Kathryn send
his way, people struggling with heartbreak and love who tell him stories in their
own voices. A National Book Award finalist for 2000, The Feast of Love is
a generous meditation on love.
Baxter reads at 8 pm on May 9 in the EMU Ballroom on the UO campus.
His work has been critically acclaimed, widely anthologized and rewarded by Guggenheims,
the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund grants.
In 1997, he received a literature award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Baxter's short stories include Believers (1997), A Relative
Stranger (1990), Through the Safety Net (1985) and Harmony of the World
(1984). Burning Down the House (1997) is a collection of essays on fiction.
Imaginary Paintings (1989) is a collection of poems, and Shadow Play
(1993) is another novel.
Booknotes
Congratulations to 2001 Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients
Cecilia Hagen, Hanna J. Wilson and Silverfish Review Press of
Eugene. ...Book doctor, editor and writer Jessica Morrell speaks on "Savoring
the Experience" at 7 pm on May 2 at the Amazon Community Center. Members Mid-Valley
Willamette Writers free; $5 donation others. ...Salem author Patricia Hutchings
(Managing Workplace Chaos) reads at 3 pm on May 3 at Tsunami Books. ...Former
Eugenean Jim Brown (24/7) reads at 1 pm on May 4 at Tsunami Books.
...A reception and signing for Sylvia Hart Wright's new book, When Spirits
Come Calling at 3 pm on May 4 in Tsunami Books. ...Journalist Liza Featherstone
(Students Against Sweatshops) and Agatha Schmaedick, a consultant for
Indonesia to the Worker Rights consortium (WRC), will discuss anti-sweatshop activism
at 7 pm on May 5 at Mother Kali's Books. ...Novelist, poet and essayist Charles
Baxter reads at 8 pm on May 9 in EMU Ballroom, UO campus. ... Poet Clem Starck
reads from his new collection, China Basin, at noon on May 9 in Memorial Union
Lounge, OSU campus. OPB's "Oregon Art Beat" features Starck at 8 pm, May
2 and at 6 pm, May 5. ...UO Professor Anita Weiss (Walls Within Walls)
will do a presentation on "Life for Afghani and Pakistani Women Since the Fall
of the Taliban Government" at 7 pm on May 10 at Mother Kali's Books. ...Kelly
Link (Stranger Things Happen) and Shelley Jackson (The Melancholy
of Anatomy) will read and sign books at 1 pm on May 18 at Tsunami Books on their
12-city book tour of independent bookstores. ...Colleen Sell, editor of A
Cup of Comfort for Friends, and story contributor Lauren Kessler will
talk about women's friendships and sign books at Barnes and Noble at 2 pm on May
18. ...Writer Charles Johnson reads at 8 pm on March 23 in the Knight Library
Browsing Room. ...Laverne Gagehabib and Barbara Summerhawk read from
Circles of Power on May 24 at Mother Kali's. Call for time. ...Marcus Stevens
(The Curve of the World) reads at 7 pm on May 29 in UO Bookstore. ...Writer
and photojournalist Eric Hansen will speak on "Orchid Fever" at
8 pm on May 30 in Gerlinger Lounge, UO campus.
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Summer
Scents
Add fragrance
to a mixed container.
By Rachel
Foster
Sometimes its too chilly for us to notice, but gardens are giddy
with perfume all through the long Oregon spring, from the witch hazels and daphnes
of late winter to lilac, native azaleas and old roses. When pollinating insects are
scarce, It seems, plants must work harder to attract them. The Fragrant Year by
Helen Van Pelt Wilson and Leonie Bell (my only comprehensive book on garden fragrance)
devotes seven or eight chapters to the first six months of the year. Then there are
just two chapters on summer fragrance before the book takes refuge in "Herbal
Scents" and "The Pleasures of Pot Pourri."
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Pots of fragrant flowers
brighten any deck.
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Cool-weather bedding plants may be few in number but they score high
on perfume (think pansies, wallflowers and stock) while the heat tolerant annuals
of summer are not so well endowed. But most of us appreciate the scent of flowers
in summer, especially in places where we linger. How should we plant a pot for a
sheltered corner of the deck or patio, where perfume is captive and we really have
a chance to enjoy it? It takes only one or two plants to add fragrance to a mixed
container. Alyssum is great if you like its intense sweetness. Anne Lovejoy says
white alyssum is more fragrant than the colored kinds, but I haven't been paying
attention.
Sadly, one of the very best plants for spiking containers with
perfume has been almost forgotten. The Random House Book of Scented Plants,
one of the newer books on the subject, does not even mention mignonette, and when
a local garden center offered it a couple of years ago it languished. Scent is mignonette's
only claim to fame, and no one recognized the skinny plant with tiny green flowers..
(Those in the know can easily grow it from seed.)
If you depend, as I do, on the standard repertoire of plants available
at garden centers you should pay attention to petunias. I have consistently found
certain purple petunias to be powerfully fragrant, and more so in the evening. Deep
blue-purple 'Midnight Madness' and light purple, dark-veined 'Sugar Daddy' are two
of the best, but varieties in similar colors are almost as good. Heliotrope (Heliotropum
arborescens) is another stand-by. Some say the light-colored forms are more fragrant
but this hasn't held true for me and I usually go for the purple. As always, if its
perfume I am after, I try to buy plants already in bloom and sniff for myself. Heliotrope,
by the way, is always recommended for full sun, but when it is growing in a pot it
seems much happier with some shade.
Container plants don't have to be annual, of course. Roses are
great, and I would love to hear from any reader who has found real fragrance in a
rose suitable for a pot. True lilies love to grow in containers and they are often
available in full growth for spring planting. For scent, try Lilium regale
and Oriental lilies such as 'Casa Blanca.' Acidanthera (Gladiolus callianthus)
has an elegant spike of pale, maroon-blotched fragrant blooms that appear in late
summer. Enjoy the sword-like leaves while you are waiting.
Sweetness isn't everything, and I didn't mean to be dismissive
of herbal scents. I love the smell of lavender, lemon verbena and various kinds of
sage. Aromatic foliage is enjoyable either alone or adding complexity to the sweet
smell of flowers. The scent of leaves is only released when foliage is disturbed,
but plants close to hand on a deck or patio are more likely to be bruised by accident
and more easily ruffled by design. For a really large container you might try pineapple
sage, which has a delicious, fruity fragrance. More pungent scents like marigold
(a mild version can be found in the finely cut leaves of the variety 'Lemon Gem')
are a matter of taste.
Scented geraniums are back in vogue and there are many to choose
from, named for the flower, mint, apple and even chocolate they are supposed to resemble.
Crush and sniff in the nursery to tell which ones you like.
The human response to scents is as variable as fragrance is complicated.
I recently read that over 80 compounds have so far been associated with scent of
roses. And organic gardeners won't be surprised by this report in Avant Gardener
(June 2001). "Good culture is important to full expression of flower and foliage
fragrance: a nutrient-rich, biologically active soil is necessary for plants to produce
all their fragrance chemicals."
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Eugene
Beans
Mini-reviews of
area dining spots.
Los Jarritos
Restaurant
764 Blair Blvd. 344-0650.
11 am-9 pm M-SA, 4-9 SU. $-$$.
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Los Jarritos.
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The first time we ate at Jarritos, a harried waiter at Taco Loco sent
us. It was a busy Friday night, and Los Jarritos often catches the overflow from
its ever-popular neighbor (and big brother) around the corner. Young daughters of
the owners run around the restaurant serving water and menus, and the place feels
comfortable and homey. The space is a little less intimate and interesting than Taco
Loco, but it's full of pepper lights, piñatas, margarita culture. The food
is great, lots of it, fresh and spicy. The cheese can be a little thick and gooey
in some things, like the Chili Relleno or Enchiladas Poblanas, but the burritos are
still some of the best deals in town, and you can get them with a boggling array
of fillings: chicken, steak, bacon, chorizo, tempeh, tofu, or vegetarian. -- MT
Santa Fé
Burrito Company
2621 Willamette. 465-1113.
11 am-10 pm M-SU. $.
Another great eat on Willamette Street. Santa Fé is popular with the lunch
crowd, offering mountains of cheap and tasty food with reasonable freshness and creativity.
It's actually owned by Nacho's, that Mexican standard on west 11th.
Inside and out, it looks like it was designed as a fast food chain,
but it's missing that fresh-scrubbed corporate schmooze look. The food isn't corporate
at all. It's dark, earthy red-toned and rich, beans and rice made without lard, lettuce
and guacamole the proper, natural shade of green. Cheap as dirt, you'll notice if
you happen to be shopping for potting soil across Willamette street at Down To Earth,
but far, far tastier. -- MT
Casablanca
Middle Eastern Restaurant
Fifth Street Market, downstairs. 342-3885
10 am-6 pm daily. $.
Before there was the award-winning and glamorous Café Soriah, Ib Hamid ruled
the roost in this little corner of the Fifth Street Public Market. You can still
sense his hand in its offerings.
The café sits opposite Metropol Bakery and Café Yumm
downstairs, in a dark corner of the otherwise bright market. Try Casablanca's "hommos,"
and the place visibly brightens. Garbanzo art. The falafel, with its fresh creamy
tahini sauce, is also notable. You can get two salads or dips along with an entrée
if you choose a combination plate, $6.50 for lamb, chicken or vegetable based choices.
Add a rose-flavored Mediterranean drink or a Turkish coffee (exotic hints of cardamom),
pull up a stool and dig in. -- MT
Nice Rice,
Rosie's Roll-Ups & Root Beer, Family Homesteader
Saturday Market, 8th & Oak. 686-9348.
10 am-5 pm SA. $.
Some of the best, cheapest, freshest food in town is only available
on Saturdays. That, and you have to fight massive sweaty crowds and sit on the ground
to eat it. But being as it's Eugene's Saturday market, this is what makes it all
so good.
Starting off your shopping at Family Homesteader is always a good
idea. It has a great system worked out, a slop of sweet fresh juice and ice into
your cup, you hand over the cash and take your own change from a dish in front. The
line is rarely long, and now you'll have refreshment while you stand in line for
the rest of your lunch.
Nice Rice offers a very inexpensive meal, a half-serving of rice
and veggies is only two dollars, and it's healthy and filling. The mild peanut sauce
and spicier red sauce are fabulous. Now, since we can't live on health food alone,
you might pick up some root beer and fries from Rosie's. People actually cut the
potatoes and fry them up for you as you watch here, making for some of the best spuds
around. At two fifty, they're a nice deal too.
Music, people watching -- test the air and you can feel summer
coming. -- MT
From the
Doggy Bag:
The owners of Ring of Fire have confirmed that they
will be opening a new café, Café Lucky Noodle, in the newly
snazzy green and black Fifth & Pearl Building. Look for it to open its doors
late this summer. The empty storefront across 13th from Sacred Heart, next to Napoli's,
promises the opening of another new taqueria soon. And Oveissi & Co. owners
are dabbling in the art of feeding others too -- a new coffee and wine bar called
Perugino should be opening this month in the Smeede Hotel building on Willamette.
Morsels is a revolving feature that tries to capture the atmosphere
as well as the cuisine of some of our favorite places to eat in and around Eugene
& Corvallis, along with food news. Suggestions? Call Ben or Marina at 484-0519
or e-mail cal@eugeneweekly.com
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