Document text
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 Bates and Dotterrer race could go down to wire Medford police offer citizens' academy 10 things to know for Monday Q&A: Dave Dotterrer Q&A: Alan Bates Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Medford police offer citizens' academy Emergency Services Emergency services Man charged with starting Weed, Calif., fire Fallen White City firefighter to be honored at national service Politics and Elections Bates and Dotterrer race could go down to wire Q&A: Dave Dotterrer Q&A: Alan Bates Cecil, Stricker to face off again in mayor's race Commissioner candidates Talbert, Roberts duel for endorsements 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 Barbara A. Debevec John C. McDonough Richard Clifford Trullinger Gerald Milton Nelson Derek Edward Fusmer Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Sports Latest Stories Matthews helps Trail Blazers beat Clippers Wong wins it for Cards Murray, streaking Cowboys drop Seahawks on road Bae wins PGA Tour opener at Silverado 49ers defense presents challenge for Davis Varsity 541 College Sports Southern Oregon, College of Idaho settle on 1-1 draw Stingy pays off Ducks rise to the occasion Mariota leads No. 12 Oregon’s rout of UCLA Stanford cruises past Washington State Pro Sports Matthews helps Trail Blazers beat Clippers Wong wins it for Cards Murray, streaking Cowboys drop Seahawks on road Bae wins PGA Tour opener at Silverado 49ers defense presents challenge for Davis Community Sports Business Latest Stories Silvio Calabi: Nissan’s Taxi of Tomorrow Ranchers offer livestock exchange Lithia buys Clovis dealership Blog: When Life Gives You Lemons... Medford airport has busiest September ever 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 Our View: No clear favorite for county commissioner, position 1 Election Letters, Oct. 13 Our View: It's time to legalize marijuana Letters to the Editor, Oct. 12 Infill is the answer to growth issues Editorials Our View: No clear favorite for county commissioner, position 1 Our View: It's time to legalize marijuana Another View: Congress must act on firefighting budget Our View: Talbert is the right choice for commissioner Our View: Cheers and Jeers Letters to the Editor Election Letters, Oct. 13 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 12 Election Letters, Oct.11 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 10 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 9 Guest Opinions Infill is the answer to growth issues Guest Opinion: Who’s really to blame for 2014 wildfires? Mt. Ashland is responding to community concerns Siskiyou Plus Spring Bear Hunt: What lies beneath? Guest Opinion: Who's to blame for 2014 wildfires? Lifestyle Latest stories Community blog: He said he hoped to die at age 75? He said that! Kitchen Call: Pumpkin is nothing without the spice Lisa Sugarman: Flip flops forever Silvio Calabi: Nissan’s Taxi of Tomorrow A poor start can set up a great finish Food Kitchen Call: Pumpkin is nothing without the spice 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 Home and Garden A list to help you get ready for winter 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 Health Community blog: He said he hoped to die at age 75? He said that! 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 Hiking Biking Faith Religion Briefs Religion Briefs Religion briefs First Church of Nazarene plans cleanup Religion briefs Milestones and Achievements Southern Oregon Pride parade celebrates gay marriage ruling New Arrivals Still stifling laughter 40 years after 'Young Frankenstein' New Arrivals Wedding Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Camelot presents 'The Lion in Winter' Agave offers tasty tacos Call for musicians Works in progress A stylish take on baroque Theater Camelot presents 'The Lion in Winter' 'Carnage' is short, smart, darkly funny Randall Theatre presents 'Blithe Spirit' A tribute to a great lyricist 'Mrs. Mannerly' is a matter of manners Music Benefit for Nita Day at The Wild Goose Cafe in Ashland Call for musicians A stylish take on baroque Southern Oregon Music Festival returns to downtown Medford Rogue Valley Symphony season debut combines virtuosity, emotion Community Events Works in progress Southern Oregon Pride Festival celebrates diversity Greater Medford Multicultural Fair Volunteers needed for Downtown Art + Sound Medford's Third Fridays Dining Agave offers tasty tacos Asian cuisine for all seasons at Misoya Bistro Spoons 'Get Giddy' at Porters Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Our View: No clear favorite for county commissioner, position 1 ... 'Carnage' is short, smart, darkly funny ... Our View: It's time to legalize marijuana ... Our View: No clear favorite for county commissioner, position 1 ... 'Carnage' is short, smart, darkly funny ... Our View: It's time to legalize marijuana ... THEATER REVIEW 'Mrs. Mannerly' is a matter of manners Next Stage's two-actor play brings out 1960s nostalgia By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 20, 2014 @ 12:01 am By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 20, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Social News There may have been a time when the proper folding of napkins and a grasp of the subtleties of the proper thank-you card were hallmarks of a civilized society, and were perhaps even deemed to somehow help keep the barbarians on the other side of the gates.   But it probably wasn't 1967, when National Guardsmen were killing rioters in Detroit, China was detonating a hydrogen bomb, and buses were cruising San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood to give gawking tourists from the Midwest a chance to see real, live hippies.   Nonetheless, in a memory play, the time is whatever time the playwright says it is. And in Jeffrey Hatcher's "Mrs. Mannerly," it's 1967, even if it feels more like 1957. And the real Jeffrey Hatcher turned 10 years old in 1967; that's the way these things work.   That's also about the age of the Hatcher character (the very funny, very physical Adam Cuppy), who also plays grown-up Jeffrey and a number of boy Jeffrey's childhood classmates in Next Stage Repertory's production of the 2010 play, which opened to a sparse crowd  Friday  night at the Craterian Theater at the Collier Center for the Performing Arts, perhaps the victim of a city-wide art and music event that also kicked off  Friday .   Jeffrey is undergoing etiquette lessons from the formidable, somewhat mysterious Mrs. Mannerly (a tone-perfect Presila Quinby). In this two-actor play, Cuppy can jump from young Jeffrey into another character in a split second or jump out of a scene completely and stop time to assume a narrator's role, a transformation underscored by lighting changes.   In switching between the boy in the story and the adult narrator, Jeffrey may remind you a bit of the Jean Shepherd character in the film "A Christmas Story," right down to the nostalgic — but never saccharine — evocations of the quirky characters of a bygone time, family craziness and the sharp flavor of the pangs of boyhood recollected in something like tranquility.   In the Steubenville, Ohio, of 1967, with the Daughters of the American Revolution waiting in the wings as arbiters of etiquette, this must be the part where young Jeffrey rebels, right? Wrong. On the contrary, he decides to become the best-mannered boy ever to come out of Steubenville, a paragon of politesse who carries a briefcase to school and speed-reads Emily Post.   Part of the fun is watching Jeffrey torpedo the other kids, including a boy with a perpetually runny nose and a girl who has a strange obsession with J. Edgar Hoover. The play is filled with '60s markers: Bert Parks, Bruce Wayne, the Viet Cong, "Gilligan's Island," Walter Cronkite, "Ironsides," Bat Masterson, Dean Martin.   Nobody has ever scored a 100 in the big test that is the culmination of Mrs. Mannerly's eight-week course. It's an awe-inspiring challenge that will be played out in front of the starchy ladies of the DAR, most of whom were withered and sere when the aging Mrs. Mannerly was a dewy young thing.   But the plot thickens as Jeffrey discovers through a local high school drama teacher that Mrs. Mannerly acted in a play in Chicago in 1929 but was mysteriously dropped from the cast by the time the touring production reached Milwaukee.    Ah, the whiff of scandal. Jeffrey now has a second quest: getting the goods on Mrs. Mannerly. And the smoking gun apparently falls into his lap in the form of the contents of a manila envelope.   The prolific Hatcher has written plays in various genres, ranging from 1999's "The Servant of Two Masters" (with Emilo Paolo Landi) to 1997's "Smash" ( a Shaw adaptation) to 2005's "A Picasso" (a play with Nazis). While "Mrs. Mannerly" is straight comedy, it has just enough of a relationship focus to suggest something beyond the yuks. One of the great things about a painful childhood is that it makes for great stories, and there's all that dramatic irony in which we know more than the character.   Cuppy is a terrific Jeffrey, a loose-limbed, rubber-faced comic able to take the one-liners Hatcher has salted his script with and raise the jokey character to a fuller humanity. Among the many funny bits given to Jeffrey is a make-out scene with an older woman (of 19). But Cuppy can make you laugh just walking herky-jerky across the stage. His impending move to San Diego represents a real loss to the stages of Oregon.   Quinby, like Cuppy, has been with Next Stage Rep since its founding almost four years ago. This time out, she endows Mannerly with a mix of hauteur and a hint of something perhaps a bit tragic. A Scotch-soaked scene (for her, not Jeffrey) in the bar above which she has an apartment allows her to show us a previously hidden dimension.   If comedy ends in a wedding, the wedding here is a meeting of minds and spirits between young Jeffrey and Mannerly. You're probably wondering what's in the envelope, but the fact is it probably doesn't matter.   "Mrs. Mannerly" is an ideal show for Next Stage, which squeezes its productions in between touring shows. Doug Warner directs with his usual sure hand. The only thing I don't get is why a 90-minute play needs a 15-minute intermission.   "Mrs. Mannerly" plays at  7:30  tonight and repeats next weekend. See craterian.org or call 541 779-3000.   Bill Varble writes about arts and entertainment for the Mail Tribune. He can be reached at [email protected]. By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 20, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » 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. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501