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OSF production of `The Magic Fire' debuts in D.C. The complicated cross-country journey of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Magic Fire" to Washington, D.C., went off without a hitch. The play, the first OSF production to be invited to the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, began its preview run Saturday and makes its official debut Thursday night. "We had a really warm reception and we are really pleased," OSF's marketing director Janeen Olsen said. The play, written by Lillian Garrett-Groag and directed by OSF Artistic Director Libby Appel, is described as "bitingly funny." Set in 1950s Argentina, it debuted during the 1997 OSF season. Staging the play in Washington hasn't been a simple matter of packing sets and sending actors east. The play's set was designed for the more open Angus Bowmer Theatre, not a traditional stage like the Kennedy Center's. "We had to completely cut (the set) apart and redesign it to fit the space," Olsen said. "It was an enormous challenge for (set designer) Richard Hay. But it's working." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA