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[an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) Musicians on stage: Love and Music in `Force of Nature' By Chris Ammon Special to the Tidings Oregon Shakespeare Festival musicians Daniel Flick and Jennifer Perry are quick to draw a distinction between playing on stage and playing under the stage. "Pit orchestra is more like working in a factory," Flick explains, "someone else is telling you what to play." Flick says that being able to see the production is preferable because he "can take cues from the actors." Perry agrees that being in sight of the stage is best. She feels that it facilitates more of a dialogue between the actors and the musicians. This is also true of her relation with her fellow musicians. "We kind of have a telepathy when we are listening to each other," she explains. But these aren't the only reasons why the duo are featured in front of OSF's production of Steven Dietz's "Force of Nature." It is an artistic choice on director James Edmondson's part; having Flick and Perry in plain view adds emphasis to the play's theme and symmetrical structure. "Force of Nature"- which is based on Goethe's novella "Elective Affinities" - examines the dynamics of love through the amorous and, at times, disastrous interplay of its four main characters. "The director liked the duality of male and female [musicians] balanced with the plot," Perry says in regards to the director's decision to place the musicians in front. With the play's focus being love and relationships, it seems fitting that Flick and Perry are a couple. Both came to Ashland from Colorado in 1999. In this production, Perry plays piano and Flick is featured on the violin and viola. The two play the music of Schubert throughout the production. Schubert's music occupied a large space in the romantic era of classical music. Resident Composer and Music Director Todd Barton finds the music to be appropriate given that Schubert and Goethe knew each other and occasionally combined their music and poetry. Barton also says that the music "nails the time period...the angst, yearning and longing." At one point in the production, Barton overlaps Flick's and Perry's playing with a modern hip-hop piece of French origin. This juxtaposition of a trendy modern piece and timeless classical music gestures toward the modern day and seems to underline the perennial nature of some of the play's central questions: Is love transient? What, if anything, endures? "To find a hip-hop piece that actually goes with Schubert [was] quite a challenge," Barton says. When Barton's stepson first introduced him to the French tune, he thought "French hip-hop ... that has to be romantic." Fortunately, it turned out to be in a relative key and rhythm to the Schubert piece. By assuming different forms through both hip-hop and classical music and through the flux of human relationships, love is a shape-shifter in this production. But - by being ever-present - love is, in a sense, the constant. Speaking about love and music, Flick comments that "music is a labor of love." Adding to this, Perry states, "If your intention isn't love in your music you can tell. If it's not there, you are not going to hear it." ...And that counts in front of the stage or under it. [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2000 Lee Northwest Publishing