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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 Emergency services, May 9 Jackson County deputies searching for wanted man after pursuit Medford schools still filling admin roles Amid the drought, Medford's water supplies still ample Nashville singer/songwriter with local ties dies of cancer Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency services, May 9 Jackson County deputies searching for wanted man after pursuit Medford man sentenced in machete attack Suspect in OSP meth stop will face federal charges Emergency services Politics and Elections Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline opponents rally in Medford BREAKING: Baltimore prosecutor charges officers in Freddie Gray's death Earthquakes hit regularly in Medford (Oklahoma, that is) Medford School Board, Position 6: Curt Ankerberg vs. Janet Lightheart Education Medford schools still filling admin roles Appeals court rules against Central Point schools on bus outsourcing Hedrick principal to take helm at North Medford High School More kindergartners vaccinated in 2015 Elementary students honor local police officers Environment Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection Crater Lake may soon have China connection State waives college placement tests for students who hit high marks Stopping fire in its tracks Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline opponents rally in Medford State News Obama makes pitch on trade deal at Nike: 'Just do it' Forecast for 2015 predicts busy wildfire season Cheers and protest signs greet President Obama in Oregon Oregon Senate OKs bill banning 'conversion therapy' Police: Welsh man traveled to Oregon to have sex with girl Nation - World There's a $10 million precious stone hidden in plain sight at Grand Central Obituaries Dorothy Evans Helen Nadine Sankey Dickie Miles Hayes Nita Day Layne Alan Battenfield Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Sports Latest Stories Crater's Oshiro, Giles qualify for state tourney South Medford splits SWC doubleheader Rose's buzzer-beater sinks Cavs Trio of Raiders shine as CC meet opens Beavers' Moore shuts out Utah, 3-0 Varsity 541 College Sports Trio of Raiders shine as CC meet opens Beavers' Moore shuts out Utah, 3-0 Oregon clinches share of Pac-12 title Ex-Panthers Baldovino, Owirka earn honors In the zone Pro Sports Rose's buzzer-beater sinks Cavs Newman deals with penalties after appeal denied Kelly, Na share lead at Players Championship Four tied for lead at Players Many happy returns for Singler Community Sports Bailey picks up modified win Wilson delivers in return of local boxing Palmer breezes to second straight men’s title Business Latest Stories People in Business Business briefs: Avista, Mcintosh, BOLI Blog: 1-800-Flowers.com SEC filing provides peek into Harry & David revenue and cost figures Blog: Mom is Our Hero! 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REVIEW Review: 'Fingersmith' a twisting thriller with love Comment By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 3, 2015 at 4:36 PM Updated Mar 3, 2015 at 8:27 PM By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 3, 2015 at 4:36 PM Updated Mar 3, 2015 at 8:27 PM » Social News Early in "Fingersmith," young pickpocket and lady's maid Sue Trinder (Sara Bruner) is undressing young heiress Maud Lilly (Erica Sullivan) in her room at Maud's uncle's country estate. A dress comes off, petticoats fly, a crinoline, a corset, all the foofaraw in which upper-class Victorian ladies were bundled. As the scene offers glimpses of social class and the status of women in 19th century England, an unmistakable sexual current begins to flow between Sue and Maud. It grows. Time slows. For a white, protestant Englishman of means, Victorian England was a swell place. For most everybody else, not so much. The Welsh novelist Sarah Waters re-imagined this Dickensian world in detail, added some forbidden sex and a twisting plot, ran it all through a feminist lens and created "Fingersmith," a 2002 page-turner nominated for a Booker Prize. Deftly adapted into a three-hour play by Alexa Junge and tautly directed by Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Bill Rauch, the play debuted Sunday afternoon at the OSF's Angus Bowmer Theatre like a three-hour jolt of electricity. Sue, an orphan, has been raised in an Oliver Twist-style den of thieves by Mrs. Sucksby (Kate Mulligan), a "baby farmer," as women were called who took in babies for money and raised them in wildly varying conditions. One day she's enlisted in the plot of Mrs. Sucksby's friend Gentleman (Elijah Alexander) to seduce the wealthy Maud, then have her committed to a lunatic asylum and keep her fortune, which Gentleman will split with Sue. Maud, also an orphan, lives a life of material privilege and spiritual poverty in the secluded estate of her controlling uncle, Christopher Lilly (Peter Frechette), who is working on a mysterious dictionary that's actually a bibliography of Victorian pornography. Sue starts to have feelings for Maud, but she sticks with the scheme. After all, what could go wrong? Nothing in this world is quite what it seems, including some characters. There's an old saw that if you're in a card game and don't know who the fish is, you're the fish. “Fingersmith" takes this further. You may know who the fish is, but the pond may not be what you think. "Fingersmith" underscores this dizzying effect by ending the first act with a dandy of a cliffhanger, then switching perspectives in the second act. "Fingersmith" (slang for pickpocket) is a play without a fourth wall. The characters often speak directly to us, even in the middle of various actions. There is clever use of dramatic irony, in which we know things characters don't. Christopher Acebo's deliciously hardscrabble set, with its forced perspective of crime-infested Lant Street, handily morphs into Lilly's mansion and Mrs. Sucksby's hovel. Deborah Dryden's costumes range from the expensive finery of Maud and Gentleman to the fetid rags of the denizens of Mrs. Sucksby's and all that amazing Victorian underwear. Video and projections by Shawn Sagady flush out this world we thought we knew from a million old novels and plays and movies. There are some highly theatrical effects, including punishments and some of the abuse that passed as “treatment” for the insane. Waters has been called a feminist Dickens. That's not bad. The play has a burning sense of social injustice, and it presents its lesbian love as an existential political act of reclaiming one's identity as well as a note of sweetness in an unjust, patriarchal world. Crucially, the sexual politics emerge from the heart of the story and don't feel forced or preachy. Bruner's Sue is a smart (although illiterate), tough-as-nails young woman with a credible Cockney accent and an amazing arc that takes her from thief to conspirator to maid to lover to some other things we won't mention, other than to say the conditions in the insane asylums of the day were horrific. As Maud, Sullivan rivets the audience as she re-invents herself several times. These are bravura performances by two gifted young actors, and they project a delicious sexual chemistry to boot. Mulligan creates a memorable, three-dimensional Mrs. Sucksby, who is more than she seems. Alexander and Frechette are wonderful, deplorable villains that we, along with the sisterhood, love to hate. “Fingersmith” is a breathless entertainment with engaging characters who have everything at stake. The Victorian world may never look quite the same. Reach Medford freelance writer Bill Varble at [email protected]. By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 3, 2015 at 4:36 PM Updated Mar 3, 2015 at 8:27 PM » 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 Propel Marketing 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. 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