notes from the publisher/founder
PAMELA HULSE ANDREWS

Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day, but they’re unable to do it themselves. — Brendan Francis Behan

Giving a Gift to an Audience

I am struck recently about the abundance of fine theatrical performers who grace the Central Oregon community, offering their audiences a taste of the fanatical, the drama, the humor and the talent that is so superbly delivered. Actress Alice Saltzman, said: What works for acting works for life.

To act brilliantly, to live fully, requires nothing less than the complete investment of your entire soul! What we do is holy! In watching performers honing their craft it is obvious they are giving us a gift of their talents. Their performance is not about themselves, but about the character and how the audience perceives the interpretation. It would be easy to coast through a routine instead of reaching out and taking the risk to extend their boundaries.

Playing someone else must encompass numerous challenges and opportunities from the wardrobe, the makeup, the dialect, the interpretation of the script and creating the character’s personality. All of this said, one wonders why the theatre is an endangered medium. With high-definition television, the internet and spectacular movie screenings, many people will choose to avoid live theatre, not knowing what they’ll get, and choose the mainstream entertainment.

Those who choose that route just don’t know what they are missing. Real people, playing fictitious characters, right in front of you complete with lines missed or perfectly captured, characters flawed or expertly refined all experienced with others. Some loving it, some critical. But a true experience in the real world of theatre. What is great about the recent emergence of theatre groups is that so many actors, directors and techies are proving that the high desert is an experimental stomping ground for theatre.

New York Actor John Guare says: The theatre. This endangered medium. A precious craft like lace weaving. Essential to our souls like drinking water. Long time Cascades Theatrical Company, founded in 1978, continues to bring live theatre to the community and is a treasured part of the artistic community. Maralyn Thoma Dougherty raised the bar and expanded the genre when she opened 2nd Street Theater eight years ago.

Other local theatre groups provide a range of opportunities for everyone to hone their theatrical skills from children to seniors: Bend Theater for Young People, Buckboard Productions, Children & Teen Music Theatre Groups, Pathian Theatre and Heritage Theatre Company. More recently, Executive Artistic Director Brad Hills and Producing Artistic Director Chris Rennolds launched Innovation Theatre Works, a professional theatre company committed to bringing professional actors to the region.

Their mantra: to produce excellent theatre that tells the intriguing, exhilarating, frustrating, funny, joyful, sad, challenging and thought provoking stories of our lives. Need we say more? Partake of the theatre: read our new theatre pundit’s reviews (Ariel Wesler on page 10) and know that theatre is alive and well in Central Oregon.

See the play as it is done. Watch the curtain drop, slowly to the audience’s demise. The actors remove their masks and wait their fate and look for a fond or not so well farewell. Remember this practical piece of advice: Never come into the theatre with mud on your feet. Leave your dust and dirt outside. Check your little worries, squabbles, petty difficulties with your outside clothing -- all the things that ruin your life and draw your attention away from your art -- at the door. -- Constantine Stanislavski

Publication
Information

Pamela Hulse Andrews
Publisher/Founder

Valerie Clark
Art Director

Linda Galloway
Production Director

Sondra Holtzman
A&E Editor, Queen of Arts

Tom Hamilton
Senior Editor

Jeff Martin
VP of Sales & Business Development

Kari Pinkerton
Advertising Executive

Justin Williams
Advertising Executive

Sarah Lawrence
Feature Writer

Kelli Fronabarger
Office Manager

Editorial Advisory Board

Jim Crowell Central Electric Cooperative

Myrna Dow High Desert Gallery

Dora Goudy The Museum at Warm Springs

Theresa Hill Theresa’s Fine Framing

Carol Johnson-Bryant Cascades Theatrical Co.

Sandi Landolt Art on the Go

Sandra Mayernik The Barclay Gallery

Lloyd McMullen Artist/Artists Local 101

Sandra Miller Frame Design & Sunbird Gallery

Pam Beezley Sunriver Music Festival

Cate O’Hagan Arts Central

Deanna Paik Deschutes Gallery

Julia Rickards Clearwater Gallery

Sally Russenberger Cascade Festival of Music

Maralyn Thoma Dougherty 2nd Street Theater