The Journal of the San Juan Islands | SanJuanJournal.com
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 — 13
The Journal
island scene
What’s Happening! Wednesday, March 20 Trails Committee 7th Annual Spring Potluck, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Grange Hall, 152 First St. Info, 370-5104, www.sanjuanislandtrails.org.
Thursday, March 21 After School Arts: Painted Pot Wind Chimes, 3:15-4:15 p.m., library, free. Learn how to turn small terracotta flower pots into decorated wind chimes; ages K-6. Light refreshments courtesy of Friends of the Library. Info, 3782798, www.sjlib.org. Opening Night: ‘A Number’, 7:30 p.m., Fairgrounds, free admission, donations encouraged. Island Stage Left’s production of Caryl Churchill’s psychological thriller...”What makes you unique?”. Info; 378 5649, www. islandstageleft.org. (Performances ThursSaturday, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, 4 p.m.) Adult Dodgeball , 8-10 p.m., Turnbull Gym. Ages 16 and up; $2 drop-in fee. Info, 378-4953, www. islandrec.org.
Friday, March 22 Musical Storytime for Kids, 10:30 a.m., library, free. Local singer, musician Maggie Gallivan teaches, leads a musical morning designed for children. Info, 378-2798, www.sjlib.org. Opening Night: ‘Escape from Nemotex’, 7:30 p.m., SJ Community Theatre. FHMS players present sci-fi fantasy, features inventive plot, environmental message delivered humorously. Tickets: $11. Info, 3783210, www.sjctheatre. org. (Performance Saturday, 7:30 p.m., See Calendar, Page 14
By Scott Rasmussen
Calendar
Music of the Renaissance reborn at Salish Sea Early Music Festival page 14
from Nemotex
Journal editor
I
n playwright Paul Lavrakas’ post-apocalyptic sci-fi fantasy, the Earth is a scorched, desolate and forbidding wasteland, and its inhabitants all live underground. Pretty much all everyone does anymore is watch old television reruns and shop at the mall, the “Great Mall of Nemotex”, as it’s known. Sound depressing? Well, it's meant to, but that’s just the setup. And it’s the setting not only for an adventure, but for an environmental message wrapped up in a wildly inventive plot, delivered with a heavy dose of humor, and performed in all its wacky glory and colorful costumes by the Friday Harbor Middle School Players, in three back-to-back-to-back performances beginning Friday. Directed by Jane Maxwell Campbell, Escape from Nemotex features a cast of 27 kids and the music of Jimi Hendrix, songs from his groundbreaking album, “Axis Bold as Love”, for its soundtrack, and a mesmerizing assortment of colorful costumes too mind-boggling to accurately describe. “It really is quite delightful,” said Campbell, who recently directed “Working”, Studs Terkel’s acclaimed first-person stories about people and the work they do, performed by the high school drama class. “There’s flamingos and trench coats and part-bird people. The costumes are wonderful.” While many of the underground inhabitants are content with reruns and shopping, it’s a band of “rebels” that stirs unrest among the ranks and the plot of the play as well, and leads to an adventure in the world above. See you there. The SJCT box office is open Tuesdays-Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more info, 378-3210, or www. sjctheatre.org.
At a glance What: Escape from Nemotex n When: Friday, Saturday, Sunday n
Where: San Juan Community Theatre n Admission: All seats, $11 n
Communication, alienation on stage
I
sland Stage Left’s 2013 season debuts March 21 with “A Number” by British playwright Caryl Churchill. A Number, written in 2002, uses human cloning as a device to examine a parent’s communication with and alienation from his children. It has been called a psychological thriller, but is more akin to a science fiction tragedy - something that an avant garde playwright like Samuel Beckett might pen for Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. The “hero” has had a son cloned - apparently more than once - after his wife committed suicide. Much of the play involves the interaction of the father with, and deaths of, the original son and the first clone. All these characters are apparently deeply unhappy, unable to deal with themselves or with each other, inexorably moving toward unhappy ends. As the first three play out their unhappy parts, counterpoint is provided by a third cloned son who is living an apparently happy, fulfilled life as a parent of three children. Churchill is a prolific English playwright, with almost sixty plays and radio dramas to her name. Her wide variety of plays and her use of language has made her a prominent part of modern English theater. One critic summed up her career: “With each play, she discovers new genres
and forms. She then discards them and moves on, opening up possibilities for other playwrights to explore. I think many people writing today don’t even realize they’ve been influenced by her. She’s changed the language of theatre. And very few playwrights do that.” A Number will be presented free (donations accepted) by Island Stage Left at the San Juan County Fairground from March 21 to April 21. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 4 p.m. — Steve Wehrly Contributed art