 |
  |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
Books: Morsels:
Playing
Politics
UO Philosophy Professor and playwright Cheyney Ryan calls his newest play, Shock and Awe, "a sophisticated political satire that will drive George Bush into retirement." Confidence is good. The play's action occurs on the eve of the American invasion of Iraq. A group of friends, all former radicals who went to Yale in 1968, have reunited. "It turns out to be kind of a mystery — you find out quickly there's a reason they're all there," says Ryan. "It's a Big Chill sort of thing." But many in the group have left behind their activist past and are now either going along with or are actually part of the Bush administration. The play raises moral issues about how people change their political whims, for expediency or for their jobs. "How do we feel about those people who've changed horses in midstream? This play presents the audience with the opportunity to think about those issues," says Hans Christofferson, who directs the public reading of Shock and Awe at 8 pm May 30 and 31 at Tsunami Books. Christofferson has directed both readings and performances of four of Ryan's other plays, which have all been produced out of town. Ryan has already made arrangements to have Shock and Awe produced in New York, but is doing the reading here as a workshop that will give him a chance to hear the dialogue and get feedback from the audience. "While the play tends to be cerebral at times," says Christofferson, "it has comedy." For Ryan, a former comedy writer, the balance is "finding the right amount of humor," he says. "You can ruin things by making them too funny. You can ruin your point." Although the play is a satire, Ryan says the themes regard "very serious issues about what the hell is going on in the country and what we need to do about it." He believes doing this reading is a step toward getting performers more motivated. "We're trying to encourage people to do more political theater and other types of performing arts as well. Some of us are now starting to talk about how to make this happen," he says, adding, "We need to get more of a cultural response to what's going on."
Meanwhile, Lord Leebrick Theatre Company, which co-sponsors the Shock and Awe reading, continues to offer socially and politically relevant theater. Like Ryan, LLTC Managing Artistic Director Corey Pearlstein says "I am attracted to voices that use comedy as a weapon to effect social consciousness." Pearlstein directs the upcoming production of How I Learned to Drive, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Paula Vogel that deals with the issue of sexual abuse. A young woman is abused by her uncle but must find a way to continue a relationship with him. Instead of falling into the victim/perpetrator dichotomy, Vogel says she set out to explore "how we can receive great love from the people who harm us." Just as Shock and Awe is constructed to revisit 1960s idealism, Vogel also sets Drive in the '60s, when the sexual revolution was just beginning. The audience is taken on a journey of how Li'l Bit, the young woman, finds her path of peace during a series of driving lessons. How I Learned to Drive opens June 4 at Lord Leebrick.
Vogel's Drive will be the last show for Pearlstein, who will make his Eugene exit in late July, almost three years to the day after he made his entrance. Pearlstein's replacement, Craig Willis, takes on his new MAD role in early July.
Willis has just wrapped up his PhD in theater from the UO and also earned his MFA there. Although he was a student here, he was pretty busy earning those degrees and his life remained in Seattle, where he returned most weekends. Now, he says, he looks forward to "finally living in Eugene." But Willis is no stranger to the Lord Leebrick. He was originally slotted to direct A Winter's Tale for LLTC's second Shakespeare show, but was unable to do it at the last minute. "One of the advantages I have coming in is knowing at least the names of many people, and some I actually know," he says. Willis's background is in directing, teaching and in children's theater. His directing credits for the UO are impressive. In 1994, he directed a well-received production of Moliére's The Learnèd Ladies. He returned as a guest artist to direct Noel Coward's Design for Living in 1997. And, more recently, he directed Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In addition, he's worked for Seattle Children's Theatre, California Theatre Center, Sunnyvale Summer Repertory, and as tour manager for the Dayton Ballet. He has also directed for fringe theater companies and community theaters in Washington, California, and Ohio. His production of Terrence McNally's Noon was honored as a "hot ticket" feature, garnering an encore in the Best Of the Seattle Fringe Festival in 1995. Willis's vision is to continue the course Pearlstein has charted, offering consistent, high-quality productions. Willis says he's excited about next year's season and looks forward to discussing the shows with Pearlstein when he arrives in July. A significant change in LLTC's vision is Willis's interest in children's theater. He says he hopes to develop some strong kids' programming that "doesn't pander" that could be presented during weekend matinees. He is also interested in going back to Lord Leebrick's roots: offering late-night shows that give local playwrights, directors and actors a chance to gain experience. In years past, that opportunity was realized through such events as the Northwest Playrights' Series and 99 Minutes of Midnight Madness. Although some of the skits that emerged in those not-ready-for-prime-time shows were less than good, the opportunity was appreciated by the local theatrical community. "It's important to have programs that give something back to
directors, actors and designers, too," says Willis. "It's important
to nurture the artistic community." |
||||||||||
 |
WATCHING SEX: How Men Really Respond to Pornography by David Loftus. Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002. Paperback, $17.95.
Pornography has moved so quickly from magazines hidden in sock drawers to graphic e-mail and web sites even your children can easily access that it's timely for Northwest author David Loftus to explore the motivation and response that men have for the genre.
In Watching Sex, Loftus lets 150 men say what they think about pornography, a perspective that hasn't been explored much, given the reams of anti-pornography study that's been done. Loftus points out that much feminist writing against porn unfairly judges the male perspective and experience without finding out what that perspective and experience actually are.
Loftus tells us right up front: "This is not a scientific survey. It will not introduce you to 'the average American male' or tell you what he thinks and does. The men in this book chose in advance to participate in the project — they 'self-selected' as the social scientists put it — so they do not constitute a random sample."
So, you can't really look to this as a definitive study on men and pornography. But you can see it as a resource that explores what men think about pornography and how the material makes them feel. The book's greatest strength lies in giving voice to the one perspective we haven't heard.
However, when Loftus and the interviewees try to connect anecdotal, emotional responses to a larger sociological landscape, the book loses its steam. A chapter on sex and violence feels hesitant. The violence is abstracted and isn't dealt with head-on. Interviewees express sentiments from, "No, there really isn't violence in porn" to "Violence doesn't really turn me on," and yet some anecdotes support the opposite position.
This chapter makes it clear that this is not a fair cross-section of men who use porn, a wrinkle that farther reveals itself in an interesting chapter titled, "The Public Debate: What Did Everyone Get Wrong About Men Who Use Pornography?" Again, it's difficult to determine what the public is getting wrong based on information from a self-selected group of interviewees.
In spite of the study's loose structure in places, the book as whole is compelling. It opens up the discussion to include an important and previously unheard group of voices.
Interestingly, Loftus has had trouble getting his own voice heard to promote Watching Sex. There was controversy as to whether a bookstore in Eugene — Loftus was born here — would allow him to do a reading. In an April 10 news installment on his website (www.david-loftus.com), he writes that he finally landed a Eugene appearance: "It's been a puzzling and frustrating process trying to find someone who would host me, because Eugene has such a reputation as a liberal, even radical, college town … . A string of bookstores turned me down because they were afraid of offending their clients, whether mainstream or orthodox feminist, while one bookstore's events coordinator said the book was 'not controversial enough — you'd just be preaching to the choir here.' That one certainly left me nonplused."
In any case, you will be able to hear Loftus read and speak at 7 pm June 19 at Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
Book Notes (May 29 - June 26) Congratulations to the Eugene recipients of 2003 Oregon Literary Fellowships: Michael McGriff and Myrna Pena-Reyes for poetry; Bobbie Willis for literary nonfiction; and publishers, Canary River Press. …Retired UO physicist Amit Goswami reads at 7 pm May 29 in UO Bookstore from his latest book, Physics of the Soul: The Quantum book of Living, Dying, Reincarnation and Immortality. … Jeanne Manning, author of A Time To Speak, personal testimonies from veterans and civilians of WWII, reads at 7 pm May 29 in Barnes and Noble. …Traveling poets Derrick Brown and Joel Chmara perform at 8 pm May 29 at Foolscap Books; donation $2-$4.. …David Robinson launches his new book, The Spiritual Emerson: Essential Writings (Beacon Press) at 7 pm May 29 in Borders' Corvallis store and at 7 pm May 30 in the rotunda, OSU Valley Library. … San Francisco spoken word artist Polly Moller reads at 8 pm May 31 in Foolscap Books, $3-$10 sliding scale. …Tom Franklin (Poachers) will read from his new book, Hell at the Breech (William Morrow/Harper Collins) at 7:30 pm June 2 at Powell's Bookstore, Portland. ...Susi Klare, Bonnie Dodge and Kristina Johnson, winners of Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest, read at 7:30 pm June 5 in Gerlinger Hall Alumni Lounge. …Ornithologists and editors David Marshall, Matthew Hunter and Alan Contreras will sign copies of the 768-page Birds of Oregon: A General Reference at 7 pm June 6 in the Museum of Natural History. … Road's End, a new play by local playwright Gregory Foote, will have a free public reading at 8 pm June 10 at Lord Leebrick Theatre. …Nikki de Carteret will speak and sign her new book, Soul Power, at 5:30 June 9 at Tsunami Books. …Melissa Hart (Long Way Home) will read from her memoir at 7 pm June 12 at Barnes and Noble. …David Loftus, author of Watching Sex, will read at 7 pm June 19 at Barnes and Noble. … Karen X. Tulchinsky will read and sign from her second novel about the Rabinovitch family, Love and Other Ruins (Raincoast Books), at 7 pm June 23 in Mother Kali's. Books.
Learning
the Lingo
The
good, the bad and the deep fried delights.
Lingo
741
Lincoln St. 338-8244
 |
Stepping into Lingo bookshop and coffeehouse is like stepping into someone's welcoming and well-appointed living room. The warm wood floors and big red-trimmed windows, the happy houseplants and tempting pastry tray from New Day Bakery beckon you into a cozy space. Some of the walls, though not as many as you'd expect for a bookstore, are lined with a careful selection of progressive books. Posters of past and future events deck the walls: belly dancing and spoken word, DJ hip hop events and acoustic folk singers. The seating outside on the front lawn is nice for watching people go by, there's lots of foot and bicycle traffic on that section of Lincoln. The view otherwise is a little bleak: A Chevron gas station across the street and WOW Hall's dusty back parking lot to the side. Bicycles also crowd the space, leaning against trees and hand-railings. Perhaps a real bike rack is in the works.
Lingo serves up organic, shade grown coffees, wickedly good hand-whipped hot chocolate, teas, yerba maté and pastries if you get there early enough.
7:30 am-6 pm M-F, 9 am-6 pm Sa & Su. $. — Marina Taylor
McGrath's
Fish House
1036
Valley River Way, 342-6404
What could have been a winning combination — receiving my federal tax refund on the very day I suffered a major prawn craving — ended up a shrimp shambles. On a Saturday afternoon, I treated myself to lunch out, charting my course toward McGrath's, remembering that it's won the Eugene Weekly Reader's Poll for Best Seafood more than once.
I thought the patio might be open but the manager told me it was closed, "due to the weather." It was warm outside and not raining.
He sat me in the bar section by the window instead.
A very friendly waitperson was on me immediately, pushing drinks. I let her twist my arm and ordered a beer: a 14-ounce Fat Tire for $3.95.
Unfamiliar with the menu, I took my time reading it, withstanding the three interruptions by the excellent service-oriented waitperson: "You ready yet, hon?" No. Just another minute, I promised each time. Then she remembered. "Don't order the special. It's way too heavy on the basil; everyone has sent it back."
Finally, I settled on the Coconut Prawns ($9.99). I substituted one of the sides with a cup of clam chowder for an extra 49 cents, which seemed like a great deal, until I realized why: The cup was a thick paste of potatoes and flour, not a clam in sight, nor flavor to be found.
I moved over to my salad. The "light vinaigrette" was in fact something heavy and dark that saturated the wilted lettuce, apparently designed to hide the brown edges. One-half of a semi-green, semi-coral, cement-like tomato adorned the plate, along with some carrot shavings and two cucumber slices.
The basketful of warm sourdough bread was good.
The prawns in coconut batter arrived. They were large and coconutty but tasteless and the orange-sesame sauce for dipping so sweet the combo would have made a better dessert. The small mound of broccoli and cauliflower was overcooked mush.
"Another beer?" the excellent waitperson was again at me. I nearly blurted out "For $3.95? Are you kidding?" but refrained and mumbled a polite "No, thank you."
I was tempted to tell the server the truth about my food when she asked how everything was — except she never asked.
I paid the check and left.
The Best of Eugene ballot comes out in August. If McGrath's wins Best Seafood again, remember, it's the readers who choose. Please don't blame us.
11 am-10 pm M-Th, 11 am-11 pm F & Sa, 10 am-10 pm Su. $$-$$$. —Aria Seligmann
At
the Market:
Check out the deep fried asparagus at
Canby Asparagus Farm's booth in the downtown Tuesday Farmer's
Market. For $3.75 you get a pile of rich, decadent crispy spears,
which is enough for a filling lunch. The farm stand also offers
tasty fresh asparagus, a whole line of piquant salsas, fresh tortillas,
hand-made chips, and wonderful tamales. The tamales and deep-fried
asparagus are served hot only on Tuesdays. The tamales can be
purchased cold on Saturdays: Take them home and steam them up
for a quick dinner during the week. The meat version runs $4 each,
and the vegetarian asparagus tamales run $3.50 each. —
Marina Taylor
Table of Contents
| News | Views
| Calendar| Film
| Music | Culture
| Classifieds | Personals
|
Contact
| EW Archive