The lily is gone!
Steve Wiecking seems to have been bamboozled by the same hoke and mirrors he takes cautious notice of in his review of Seattle Rep's Midsummer Night's Dream ["What fools. . .," 2/22]. Here's the fatal flaw: There is only one Master craftsman that matters, and his name is Shakespeare. The language is all you need, as Peter Brook proved when he staged Midsummer in a white room with only a trapeze set to accompany the dialogue. The Rep has killed the "verse nonpareil" with the kind of spectacle normally reserved for half-times and Vegas hotels. The director, Sharon Ott, recently staged a wonderful production of As You Like It, but here she seems terrified of the language, spending all her time inventing little bits to keep the audience entertained. Puck and Oberon drinking champagne for no reason! Puck making fire! Flying Oberon! Dancing fairy babes with sexy hairy butts! And of course (hail Mary Zimmerman) defrocking the younger actors so we can look at their bodies!
The only thing lacking was the one and only reason to ever go and watch a play: the energy actors generate when communicating with one another. Did the reviewer happen to notice these people weren't really paying that much attention to one another? Perhaps it has improved since the previews, and they no longer were obviously worrying about being smacked by revolving glass or being trapped in their own taffeta, but I doubt it improved THAT MUCH. Say your lines quick! Here comes a wall of glass! While Mr. Wiecking found the mirrors "inarguably both grand imagination and apt metaphor," I found them (arguably, I guess) undramatic, derivative, and needlessly distracting. Here it is just "mirrors for mirrors' sake."
Now really, Steve Wiecking, come clean: Can you honestly say you didn't find Oberon's rubber Tom of Finland suit the least bit ridiculous? Admit it—and isn't it true the moment you find yourself acknowledging ridiculousness from your theatre seat, the magic is over and the play has lost something it can never recover. Repent sir! The lily is gone! All that remains is gild! Warn your readers before its too late!
GARTH WELLS MCCARDLE
FREMONT
Boring our citizens
I loved your article "Reality bites" [News clips, 2/22]. I made very similar remarks to a friend a month ago when I saw that the incredibly overrated Miss Garofalo would soon be boring our citizens. The thing is, are you actually surprised that she chose such beat-to-death material? To those of us who agree that the extent of Garofalo's "humor" is a bad Seinfeld rip-off and her "acting" is whining about how tall, thin blondes get all the guys for 10 movies in a row, reading your article was d骠 vu all over again.
ERIC DUBY
SEATTLE
A-D-I-O-S
The terrorists from PETA will likely not approve, but there is a method of ridding ourselves of those pesky moles and gophers [News clips, 2/22]. Since the Tofu Fascists say we can't trap 'em, and as the area's parks and occasional backyards are being made ugly by these obnoxious critters, here's what you do. Get a few highway flares, go to the unsightly dirt-pile near you, scrape it away and find the hole, ignite the flare and insert that sucker. Cover and relax.
All those noxious/toxic fumes through the tunnels—can you spell "adios"? But lest you pity the pests, fear not—they're kissing cousins to the rat, bat, and assorted other repugnant creatures.
GEOFF BRANDT
EVERETT
P.S. Having heart palpitations, very concerned with how this might be received by your wondrous Pet Lady, my very favorite feature in your illustrious periodical. Yet, as such species rarely qualify as "pets" per se, perhaps she'll cut me some slack?
Get it together
I was excited to see a new name doing a [restaurant] review this week [Ponti, "In love again," 2/22]. But Roger [Downey] again should consider the audience. We want to know of a restaurant's performance and value at the present time, as we may or may not be going there soon. What we don't need is what happened a while ago during unfortunate timing with your "Lady Friend" (what is up with that anyways, Lady Friend is someone you sleep with but don't want people to know) no matter what your sexual orientation. Thanks for the history, but does it need to take up three-fourths of the review. The "secret stars" in your eyes must have helped the ever-popular newspaper screw-up of leading with a positive headline and rather sour review. Get it together before we only read the Weekly for the super hot classifieds for the 40 and lonely.
PETER MORRISON
VIA E-MAIL
"Wasted," "Hypocrites"
Is there any chance of getting some real journalism going in this region, or is everything just going to be rehashes of Liberal-Demo-cover our butts-press releases? It was disappointing to read Roger Downey's piece on poor Frank Chopp and the frustration his cohorts feel over the attention he is bringing to the Greater Kitsap Peninsula Development and Patronage Project (a.k.a. the second Narrows Bridge)["A bridge too far?" 2/22]. The irony of his "stand" for cheaper interest rates and a state guarantee is probably lost on most of your readers. They are told this is a traffic congestion relief project. Environmentalists tape their mouths shut and hope no one asks about the effects of a flood of new traffic to the Peninsula. Can you say "Wasted"? Can you say "Hypocrites"?
