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'Ghostlands' By Susan DeRosia Revels Editor There are many ways of telling a story. You can tell it by building a cast of characters or you can try to say what you want to say by using yourself and your own life. Authors who use other characters, for example, Charles Dickens, can design a rich and full story without ever putting themselves on the line. Writers who put themselves at the center of the story, though, like Marcel Proust, can find themselves in a much trickier situation. The success or failure of their storytelling rides on whether or not they can keep the audience interested in them for the duration of the trip - whether it's a novel, a song or theatre. Robert Greygrass Owens has chosen the latter path. Owens' current one-man show "Ghostlands of an urban NDN" (as in Indian) is now in the middle of its month-long run at the Green Room, running at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays for the remainder of May. "Ghostlands" tells a compelling life-story written and performed by Owens. It's both tragic and funny - a one man performance piece that examines personal history, American history and Native American history and how they all collide in today's culture. The piece travels down the dark hallways of alcoholism, broken treaties, and broken families. Owens laughs hard at himself as he travels these paths. Ghostlands draws the audience into the despair and comedy of a man who claims both his native side and his white side and the reverse: he's been on the outside of each world as well. But he keeps on making his way in the modern world. A perceptive people-watcher, Owens shows us his own character (and character flaws) just as adeptly as he brings to life other characters in his life: including an Irish priest, a 15 year-old Puerto Rican girl, a German phychoanalyst. Here he shows that he is a talented actor as well as a great stand-up comic with an incisive and witty perception into human nature. No wonder then, the house was full the night I saw the show. The audience was howling, as well as visably moved. It was clear that everybody could relate to his very personal journey. "Ghostlands" continues at 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, May 23, 24, 30, 31 and with a Sunday matinee on May 25 at the Green Room, 280 E. Hersey Street in Ashland. For ticket information, call 890-3326. LINKS: REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. DAILY TIDINGS: Main | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -