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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Homeless feeding questioned Disc golf course coming to Cave Junction park Human remains found in burning trailer Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt Cecil, Stricker to face off again in mayor's race Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Fallen White City firefighter to be honored at national service Barn fire may have been human-caused Emergency services Inmates to get mental health, addiction treatment Missing Medford man found safe in Sweet Home Politics and Elections Cecil, Stricker to face off again in mayor's race Commissioner candidates Talbert, Roberts duel for endorsements Falls: Jackson County sheriff's race isn't over Former sheriff calls Winters' retirement decision 'very wise' Will 'GMO effect' shape election? Education EP school district launches new app Striving to make the grade Fresh produce goes home with Jackson Elementary families State mandates eye exams for kids 7 and younger Eagle Point School District goes silent on gun issue Environment Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt Josephine County ballot measure would ban commercial and government pesticide use Low water exposes Emigrant Lake's past Wagner Creek work would restore streambank Deer-killing disease won't taint meat for hunters State news Nation - World Obituaries Calvin Schaefer Norma Mae Prilliman Elizabeth Anne Jones Jesse Jay Gilchrist Lorraine Antcha Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Sports Latest Stories South rebounds with rout of Roseburg Ashland drops MWL boys match to Churchill Hay rallies Pirates past Henley Gadget play gives Grizz win over Comets GP dashes North’s hopes Varsity 541 College Sports Stanford cruises past Washington State High stakes for No. 12 Oregon, No. 18 UCLA Raider men win handily Raiders shut out Eastern Oregon Georgia star Gurley suspended for alleged violation Pro Sports Gordon-led Royals beat Orioles 8-6 in ALCS Donovan hits post in US swan song Birdie binge puts Laird in front at Frys.com Giants-Cards: Here we go again in NLCS Colts hold on for 33-28 win over Texans Community Sports Business Latest Stories Ranchers offer livestock exchange Lithia buys Clovis dealership Blog: When Life Gives You Lemons... Medford airport has busiest September ever County hopes to spur renewable energy Real Estate News Lithia buys Clovis dealership Rental vacancies increase Jackson County real estate sales, prices continue rebound Pallet Wine Co. expands in downtown Medford Medford's Pixel Productions moves to new quarters People In Business Transportation Lithia buys Clovis dealership Agriculture Ranchers offer livestock exchange 1-800-Flowers CEO: Labor shortage an issue for Harry & David Pallet Wine Co. expands in downtown Medford Opinion Latest Election Letters, Oct.11 Another View: Congress must act on firefighting budget Letters to the Editor, Oct. 10 Matthew T. Mangino: Trials, pleas and the burden of proof: A search for justice Our View: Talbert is the right choice for commissioner Editorials Another View: Congress must act on firefighting budget Our View: Talbert is the right choice for commissioner Our View: Cheers and Jeers Our View: Measure 86 would allow a prudent investment Our View: Top-two primary would empower more voters Letters to the Editor Election Letters, Oct.11 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 10 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 9 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 8 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 7 Guest Opinions Mt. Ashland is responding to community concerns Siskiyou Plus Spring Bear Hunt: What lies beneath? Guest Opinion: Who's to blame for 2014 wildfires? Guest Opinion: Measure 91 will snuff out local tax measures Is Ashland taking over Jackson County elections? Lifestyle Latest stories Nibbling away at the Earth Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Name that wolf Community blog: Battered, fried bhaji bring street food to the table Food Community blog: Battered, fried bhaji bring street food to the table Community blog: Kicking it off, a game, a season, or a pint (How about all the above?) Apples and pears make great autumn duo Community blog: Cardamom makes proverbial pairing with pears New owners bring new philosophy at 2Hawk Home and Garden How to create a fashionable painted floor cloth Dear Monty: 7 prepping tips for home showings Harvest your frost-tender tomatoes for storage Fall is a good time to plant certain perennials Start now for a bowl of winter sunshine Health Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Dr. Murray Feingold: Take precautions to prevent home accidents Health Watch: Make TV time workout time Community blog: Do We Need Steps For Health? 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Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt ... Fallen White City firefighter to be honored at national service ... Human remains found in burning trailer ... Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt ... Fallen White City firefighter to be honored at national service ... OSF's 'Saturday, Sunday, Monday' is scrumptious MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 4, 2002 @ 2:00 am Updated Dec 17, 2010 at 4:00 PM Posted Aug. 4, 2002 @ 2:00 am Updated Dec 17, 2010 at 4:00 PM » Social News Like dreams and letters, eating scenes are tough to pull off. In Eduardo De Filippo's Saturday, Sunday, Monday they are the play. The people here are either preparing food, getting ready to eat, eating or digesting. It works. It hits you like a good spaghetti dinner: complex, full of life and worth lingering over. The comedy about the Priore family of Naples opened Saturday in the OSF's Angus Bowmer Theatre, directed by Libby Appel. They say you should save the best until last, and this feel-good play was the final OSF debut this year, in a new translation by San Francisco-based dramaturg Beatrice Basso and the OSF's Linda Alper, who also stars. I don't know about other translations, but this one nails it, yielding shades of meaning and nuance and comic timing to eat up. Mama Rosa's (Alper) Sunday meals are rituals that take over weekends. But Don Peppino Priore (Tony DeBruno) stews as Rosa prepares the crucial rag? and children, friends, neighbors, and relatives come and go with their quirky gifts, stories, lives. Peppino is sure his wife is having an affair with his upstairs neighbor Don Luigi (Jeffrey King), an accountant. His suspicions are submerged in little quarrels and the battle of the sexes, all seasoned with the smells of actual Italian cooking done on the set. I am not the person to ask about the women in this house, Peppino says darkly. In addition to writing and directing, De Filippo was an actor known for his economy of word and gesture. He is said to have created the definitive Peppino. Although DeBruno is not always understated, there are maybe echoes of De Filippo; he has Eduardo moments using silence to react to others. Alper, too, has her Eduardo moments, including a fine one in which we see her spirit light up silently to Peppino's jealousy. As the too-thoughtful and overly demonstrative Luigi, King is oil to the flames until DeBruno throws his hat symbolically to the floor. What simmers early boils over, beginning with the calamari and winding up with Peppino cursing his wife, then his life. To give food is of course to give love, and Rosa is nurturing a tradition that connects generations. Being fed are some lesser characters rendered so skillfully that we never mind that they're here for our amusement. There's Peppino's sister Meme (Eileen DeSandre), a domineering woman who thinks she's independent. There's her sickly son Attilio (Dan Donohue, in an uncanny performance). There is the petulant Guilianella (Linda K. Morris), whose romance is a subplot. There's Raffaele (John Pribyl), Peppino's actor wannabe brother. Rosa's aging father, Antonio (Sandy McCallum), is a retired hat-maker and shopkeeper who obsessively blocks everybody's hat. I don't know why a hat that doesn't fit is the funniest thing this side of a good pratfall, but it is. Pribyl's character is a nod to the Commedia dell 'Arte, among whose rigidly defined characters was Pucinella, who was understood to be from Naples. Raffaele plays him in a street theater, and we see him in his mask with his baggy shirt over his belly (but without his usual outsized hump). When things are working, they really work. Scene designer William Bloodgood's Neapolitan dining room and kitchen seem dead-on, as do Deborah M. Dryden's costumes. But the play belongs finally to DeBruno and Alper, who have parts to kill for, and kill the audience instead. Part of the fun is that Rosa is almost as big an idiot as Peppino. The Priores' problem in the end is a misunderstanding, but we don't mind (hey, it's not King Lear). Timing throughout is exquisite. When the funniest line in the play is Alper's She does her best, something is right. When the next-funniest is DeSandre's I think you're going a little too far, and next is Donohue's Mama says there's nothing wrong with you, something is very right indeed. You have to be there. In De Filippo's Naples, little people often struggle against overwhelming odds. A little illusion might help. At bottom, in these struggling, little people looking for love and dignity, we see ourselves. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 4, 2002 @ 2:00 am Updated Dec 17, 2010 at 4:00 PM » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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