Document text
Poignant 'Annapurna' is a gem Peter Alzado and Jessica Sage in Oregon Stage Works' production of "Annapurna." Photo courtesy Art of Tiffany Saturday Oct 29, 2016 at 3:19 PM Oct 29, 2016 at 3:19 PM Angela Decker for the Mail Tribune It’s hard to imagine what is worse, not remembering a tragically defining moment of your life or living with that memory every day of your life. Playwright Sharr White’s two-person “Annapurna” beautifully explores this idea, as well as enduring love, marriage, regret and the calm that comes with impending death. Set in a dilapidated and grungy trailer home in the Colorado Foothills, "Annapurna" is an often-humorous, well written character drama with strong actors and a compelling story. Scenic designer Doug Ham evokes squalor and claustrophobia without going overboard. The play opens with Ulysses (Peter Alzado), former professor and cowboy poet, frying sausage wearing nothing but an apron and portable oxygen tank. He is stunned when his former wife Emma (Jessica Sage), whom he hasn’t seen or spoken to since she took their 5-year-old son and left in the middle of the night 20 years ago, shows up in his kitchen. The two immediately begin to verbally spar. Director Liisa Ivary moves the story smoothly, in cinematic scenes, from comical to deeply poignant. Alzado is terrific as the grizzled, dying Ulysses, who is beyond caring what he or his home look like. He’s a broken man but still retains his intellect and a hint of cowboy swagger. Sage’s Emma is a fine balance to Alzado’s character. She shows up full of determination and efficiency as she sets down a lot of luggage and starts cleaning up the trailer. When Sage is cleaning, she is really cleaning, not just looking busy. When speaking to Ulysses, her Emma is thoughtful, direct and quick. Sage successfully walks the tightrope of a character suddenly unmoored by events she can’t control, by turns closed-off and exposed. The play, co-produced by artistic directors Alzado and Sage, marks the reboot of Oregon Stage Works, an Ashland community theater that has been on hiatus since 2010. Sage and Alzado have the easy on-stage chemistry of actors who know each other well, helping them resume the interrupted rhythm of characters whose bond was never completely severed. “Annapurna,” takes its name from a mountain massif in northern Nepal that is home to about 20 different peaks, and the name of the epic poem that Ulysses has worked on since Emma left all those years ago. It is also a metaphor for the beauty and tragedy in the couple’s marriage. When Ulysses tells the story of Maurice Herzog's climb of the 26,000-foot Annapurna in 1950, it is a sort of key to the play's mystery. Like Ulysses, Herzog makes a tragic mistake that has consequences that reverberate over the years. The play, packed with smartly written banter and heart-wrenching moments, is an 80-minute gem that convincingly explores the aftermath of an event that forever mars everyone involved. Its questions are answered gradually as the two characters draw closer together by coming to terms with what drove them apart. "Annapurna" will run at 3 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, and at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Nov. 4-5, at Temple Emek Shalom, 1800 E. Main St., Ashland. Tickets are $20, $18 for students and seniors. Tickets and information are available online at oregonstageworks.com, Paddington Station and Music Coop in Ashland. Call 541-205-9190 for information. — Angela Decker is a freelance writer in Ashland and can be reached at [email protected]