Jim Panttaja

We have seen several of August Wilson’s cycle of ten plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Gem of the Ocean is chronologically the first - set it 1904. The first that we saw in Ashland was Joe Turner’s Come and Gone in 1993. These have always been strong productions, and last night’s stood out among those productions.

At the curtain, two of the actors were especially affected by their own performance. Shona Tucker (Black Mary), who had just made the transition that set her on the path to carry the legacy of spiritual advisor, disowns her brother. You could see the emotion on her face, and on her body as she took her bow.

Kevin Kenerly (Citizen Barlow) has also just taken on a legacy. He has picked up the coat, hat and stick of Solly Two Kings who has just been killed. During the play, Kennerly was stooped by his internal pain. After the play you could see that he was stooped with emotion.

These two actors - along with the rest of the company - pulled me in to this time and this world. They helped me know and feel the pain of this heritage, and this era.

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Thai Pepper continues to be my favorite restaurant in Ashland (though the week is young - who knows what we might find). Few restaurant’s in Ashland can handle a party of 17 smoothly. Of course we helped - Mary placed our order when we made the reservation (It is tricky accommodating a variety of diet restrictions) - and we made the reservation for 5:30 - getting us easily to the Green Show at 7:15. We also save time at dinner because there are options for around town while we walk back to the theatre.