“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” is an original play by Bert V. Royal that follows the lives of the characters from the famous comic strip, Peanuts. Kids grow up, as they do, and the beloved characters in this unauthorized parody, are no exception to the rule. If the expectation is that of […]
Cascades Theatrical Company
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Never Too Much Of A Good Thing
Three siblings and a prophet
Bendites are getting the chance to see some world-class plays performed locally this year. Tis the season for award-winning productions in Central Oregon. Cascade Theatrical Company is presenting the Tony Award-winning play, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” this month, and the play runs through March 26. Central Oregon has excellent theatrical choices all […]
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Espionage and Pratfalls
Not the average comedic spy-thriller
“The 39 Steps” is an interesting beast because it subverts expectations at every corner. Even those who have seen the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock or read the 1915 book by John Buchan will enjoy it quite a bit, but the stage adaptation also keeps its tongue planted firmly in cheek for the entire running […]
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A Boy and His Dog
CTC brings Charlie Brown to life
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown exists for one simple reason. While there are musicals with catchier songs or flashier numbers, Charlie Brown exists to make you feel happy, through the struggles of one little everyman. Obviously, the musical is based on Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip, Peanuts, which ran new strips weekly for fifty […]
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Slings & (Bloody) Arrows
William Shakespeare: Zombie killer
I’m sure if Shakespeare lived in modern times, he would have fully embraced the zombie genre with both doublet-ensconced arms. Imagine the drama that would have erupted in A Midsummer Night’s Dream if Bottom and Puck had to team up to take out some undead a-holes, or if Macbeth had to worry about zombies AND […]
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Peek into the Future
Cascades Theatrical Company unveils its packed 37th season
When Cascades Theatrical Company launched its first season, Jimmy Carter was still in office. Now, on the brink of its 37th season, CTC recently hosted its 12th Annual Sneak Peek Gala, presenting scenes from each of the theater’s upcoming productions. And, full disclosure: I acted in one of the scenes and directed another, so it […]
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Rome in Two Hours
A funny thing is happening at CTC
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is packed with jokes. From each character name to every motivation, Forum‘s script and music is designed specifically as a joke delivery system. There is even one hiding in its title: Back in the day, vaudeville comedians would often begin a joke or a story […]
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The Grand Seduction
Venus in Fur heats up CTC’s Black Box
The Roman goddess Venus mostly focused on love, beauty, and sex, depending on how various artists employed her. For Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who wrote Venus in Fur in 1870, she spawned generations of S&M, from his novel about obsession and mockery, all the way through 50 Shades of Gray. Somewhere in-between is Venus in Fur—an […]
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Speak to Me
The Language Archive catalogues love languages
Julia Cho’s The Language Archive is a play of ideas. While the characters are all well drawn, it is the ideas and themes that Cho really seems interested in exploring and, throughout the play, the audience is led between them gracefully. George (Stuart Hicks) is an academic who works for an archive dedicated to the […]
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In This Week’s Issue: Shaking Up the Status Quo
It is so easy to romanticize that winters were piled higher with snow when I was a kid, and that winter then was more, well, winter. Sadly, though, the data does back up these perceptions. The world is getting warmer—and, one of my favorite winter activities, skiing, seems to be becoming an endangered activity. For […]