Great reviews and compliments from local theatre enthusiasts are coming in for Driftwood Player’s production, “Man Defeats Nature”. (Reviewed by My Edmonds News in this feature.

Artfully Edmonds (AE) had an opportunity to pull playwright Christopher Bailey (CB) aside to learn the backstory of how this gripping, yet bittersweet, story came about.

Synopsis: Based on the May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (although the mountain is not specifically named in the dialogue of the play), “Man Defeats Nature” is the suggested news headline of a father who holds on to the hope that his son, Tim, will walk through the door of the family home at any moment. Unfortunately, as the story develops we learn that Tim had volunteered to work for “the company” pulling timber off the mountain on the fateful day of its eruption.

Four main characters – and one meth addict – carry the poignant story forward by using dark wit, glaring honesty and the emotional pull of undying hope.

Note: Thursday evening’s performance (March 24, 8 p.m.) will conclude with a ‘Talk with the playwright’ for those audience members who would like to discuss the play, the Mount St. Helens eruption, and/or the events of May 1980.

– – –

AE: Christopher, we are delighted that you have agreed to a My Edmonds News interview. You are very popular among our local theatre community, and your work – particularly on “Man Defeats Nature” about a relatively recent geologic phenomenon, touches on the lives of many of our readers.

“Man Defeats Nature,” which alludes to the Mount St. Helens eruption, seems to hold personal interest with you — what is your experience with “the mountain” and the events of May 1980?

CB: I’ve always loved nature, in particular the temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest. With their active volcanoes and colossal trees, they are truly the forests of childhood fears (and wonder).

Because I always wanted to live in the Northwest, I read Robert Michael Pyle’s “Across the Dark Divide,” which surveys, among other things, the biological and geological aftermath of the Mount St. Helens eruption, and how it intertwines with local folklore.

Once I moved out here in 2002, I did solo backpacking trips to areas on and around the mountain, including Ape Canyon and Indian Heaven Wilderness. From there, my interest expanded to the people most affected by the eruption.

As for the eruption itself, I lived in the other Washington when it happened, and watched it on TV.

– – –

Simulated GIF of the Mt. St. Helens lateral eruption (Courtesy of the Driftwood Players Facebook page.)

AE: As a former Weyerhaeuser media rep, I know full well that there were red zone risks being taken in the days leading up to the earthquake and eruption. How did you become aware of the risks being taken as stadium lights were strung for round-the-clock timber operations in the “yellow zones” (those zones designated as work-safe by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources)?

CB: I have connections in the intelligence community, dating back to the Bay of Pigs.

Haha. Just kidding.  I read about the risks taken in a book I read.

– – –

AE: Christopher, you captured the role of the 1980s housewife so well. Who served as your prototype family — how have you come to know the tension/dynamics of the grieving parents, Kay and Wayne?

CB: Thank you. The families I grew up around, including my own, were going through the growing pains of the 1970s, when roles and traditions had suddenly liquefied.

For my rural relatives, on the other hand, time stood still. The women still wore dresses–not that there’s anything wrong with that–and ceaselessly brought food and drinks to everyone. And because they couldn’t openly challenge their husbands’ authority, they’d settle for rolling their eyes instead.

– – –

AE: You’ve lightened a dreadful topic (the loss of an adult child, fate unknown) so successfully with dark humor — particularly with Annie St. John’s character “Amber.” Have you ever tried stand-up?

CB: No! I’d crash and burn much worse than Amber. Ironically, of all the performers I’ve ever known, Annie would make the best stand-up comic of any of them. She’s what makes Amber’s unfunny stand-up funny. As I found out doing this play, it’s really easy to write bad jokes.

– – –

AE: What is the take-away that you would like your audience to understand about human nature; about hope; about grieving, as they process the dynamics of “Man Defeats Nature”?

CB: The fine line between hope and denial. In a masterpiece like “A Streetcar Named Desire,” denial takes the form of a flowery, fluttery woman (Blanche) and reality a cruel and brutish male (Stanley). In the wake of 9/11, however, denial took on a distinctly hyper-masculine form. It was then I realized that tough talk is the ultimate cover.

So, I wanted to write a play in which the Blanche-Stanley dynamic was reversed, with a woman acting as the agent of reality that eventually overwhelms a man’s denial.

To sum it all up, I think that without reality, however painful it may be, there is no hope.

– – –

AE: Are there any questions that you were hoping we would ask that you would like to answer about the play — right now?

CB: If you were to ask about the purpose of the references to Bigfoot that Wayne (the father) continually made, I would respond: The tabloidization of Bigfoot is yet another way of cheapening Native American mythology. I decided to use Wayne with his desperate, unilateral bulldozing as just another way of bullying his reality onto others; which is ironic in that he is the ‘denier’ of reality when it comes to the obvious fate of his son.

– – –

AE: Christopher, thank you for your time. We want to remind our readers that “Man Defeats Nature” runs through Saturday, March 26. Tickets are available at Driftwood’s online ticket link.

~ ~ ~ ~

The ECA team closes out March with Altan, and then as April rushes in so does Loudon Wainwright III on Friday, April 1st.

Thursday, March 24
7:30 p.m.
Sell Out Alert!
Altan
Edmonds Center for the Arts
410 4^th Ave. N.

If you are afraid you might be caught flat-footed for an opportunity to participate in Altan’s reels and jigs on the main floor of the ECA there is still room for you and your friends in the balcony, which provides a sweeping view of the house and stage – with great acoustics!

We can conclude from the ticket sales that everyone knows this traditional Irish band performs a variety of songs, from the most sensitive and touching dirges, to heavy beats and hard-hitting reels.

It’s St. Patrick’s month! Celebrate with Altan.

Get your tickets here.

~ ~ ~ ~

Friday, March 25
6 p.m.
Edmonds Tunes
Café Louvre
210 5^th Ave. S.

It’s “Great Voices of the Northwest” week at Edmonds Tunes!

“This Friday the popular gathering spot for happening music features three of the great singing voices of our area,” promises promoter, Bob Z.

“Chelanne Peterson wowed us in her debut back in January and we’ve been getting tons of requests to bring her back ever since

“Kenzie Rose Miller, who has an incredible voice that belies her youth, will be making her debut, and we will close the program at 7 p.m. with local singing legend (and Roy Orbison sound-alike) Mike Harline.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Friday, March 25
7 p.m.
Hot Java Cool Jazz
At Seattle’s Paramount Theatre
911 Pine St.

Edmonds-area award-winning jazz bands from Edmonds-Woodway High School and Mountlake Terrace High School will join Seattle-area jazz bands in Starbuck’s 21^st Annual Hot Java Cool Jazz competition.

Artfully Edmonds would only endorse leaving the spectacular Edmonds arts scene under the best of circumstances – and this is the ‘best of’!

Tickets for this Live at the Paramount event are available at this ticket link.

~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Friday, April 1
7:30 p.m.
Sell Out Alert!
Loudon Wainwright III

Edmonds Center for the Arts

410 4^th Ave. N.

ECA is beginning April with a sell out performer

Wainwright walked onto the Grammy stage in 2010 to pick up a Best Traditional Folk Album award and he’s been inching closer to an Edmonds-Kind-Of appearance ever since.

Hot talent from an ECA team known for hot line-ups.

Balcony seating only at press time. We suggest you make a ticket grab now.

~ ~ ~ ~

Saturday, April 2
8 p.m.
Driftwood Players
950 Main St.

How long has it been since Edmonds had a Speakeasy night? Ninety years or so?

Well then, shimmy into that flapper dress. Lay out your Wise Guy duds. Because Edmonds Roaring Twenties Jazz Night is coming to the Wade James Theatre.

And not only is it Roaring Twenties Night – but it’s the Roaring Twenties on Bourbon Street. The Players have arranged for two New Orleans-style jazz bands to perform at the company’s spring benefit.

Tickets go for $25 – get one for yourself and your man – right here: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=60760

~ ~ ~ ~

Friday, April 8
8 p.m.
Becky’s New Car
By Steven Dietz
Directed by Ted Jaquith

A comic cruise through the perils of middle-aged longing and regret is coming to The Phoenix – come along for the ride!

From the playbill: Five Southern women, whose friendship began on their college swim team, set aside a weekend every August to meet at the same summer cottage in order to recharge their relationship. One of them is Becky Foster; caught in middle age, middle management, and a middling marriage – with no prospects for change.

Suddenly Becky is offered nothing short of a new life.

“Becky’s New Car is hilarious, original comedy, a delightful romp down the road not taken”

— Broadway Hour

The cast of Phoenix favorites features Melanie Calderwood, Jake Friang, Steve Heiret, Michael G. McFadden, Christine Mosere, Veronica Tuttle, and Rick Wright.

Please note this play contains some adult themes.

The Phoenix Theatre boasts an intimate wine bar and you-select-your seat ticketing at this link.

~ ~ ~ ~

April 9
7 p.m.
Sleeping Beauty
Olympic Ballet Theatre
At Edmonds Center for the Arts
410 4^th Ave. N.

Olympic Ballet Theatre promises exciting new sets and dazzling costumes for its upcoming production of Sleeping Beauty Saturday, April 9.

With set design by Jeanne Franz and painted by a team of local artists lead by Ruth Gilmore and Jordan Baker ((Seattle Repertory Theatre and University of Washington Drama Department respectively).

In answer to your children’s wishes and dreams this classic fairy tale comes to life on the ECA stage.

Tickets are available by calling 425-774-7570  M-F 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

~ ~ ~ ~

Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra dedicates its upcoming CAFE performance to the incomparable Ernestine Anderson whose March 10 death saddened music lovers well beyond the Pacific Northwest music scene.

Says Michael Brockman, “Ernestine was loved by everyone in the SRJO. She was a lifelong confidant and comrade-in-arms to Clarence Acox, and to former SRJO members Floyd Standifer and Buddy Catlett, and of course, she remained extremely close to our friend Quincy Jones throughout her entire life.”

Brockman went on to explain the collaboration between the orchestra and Miss Anderson, “SRJO performed several times with Ernestine, including a widely acclaimed concert of the “American Songbook” in March 2006 where she was our special guest, and for a special birthday tribute to Quincy Jones in 2008. Our concert with her at the Seattle Opera House in 2001, conducted by Quincy Jones was the final concert in the old hall before it was closed down for renovation.”

– – – –

Friday, April 15
Bill Holman and the
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra
Creative Age Festival of Edmonds (CAFE)
Edmonds Center for the Arts
410 4^th Ave. N.

Celebrated NEA Jazz Master Bill Holman leads the SRJO in a concert of his most famous works written for the bands of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Count Basie and more. Jazz musicians and fans alike consider Holman to be one of America’s leading arrangers and composers.

The concert features works from Holman’s recordings of the last 20 years, and includes his fantastic arrangements of Flirt, Just Friends and Stompin’ at the Savoy—all SRJO audience favorites.

Tickets for the performance are available at this SRJO ticket link.

~ ~ ~ ~

Workshops and Summer Camps for All Ages!

Thursday, April 7
10 a.m.
Arts for Everyone
An ECA event to be held at the
Edmonds Senior Center
220 Railroad Ave.

Have you seen the King 5 coverage of last year’s Songwriting Workshop?

“Click here for a great overview of the impact this event has and see how art really does change lives,” invites ECA’s director of programming, Gillian Jones.

Individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, along with their families and care partners are invited to join Songwriting Works’ professional songwriters in a 2-day workshop.

Using creative conversation, storytelling, improvisation and life review, participants will create songs that reflect community voices, realities and diversity. Research has shown this program to have therapeutic as well as restorative, community-building benefits for participants and audiences alike.

To register, call the ECA Box Office at 425.275.9595. For more information about the Dementia-Inclusive Series, please contact Gillian Jones, Director of Programming, at gillian@ec4arts.org or 425.275.9483.

– – – –

Driftwood Troupe – Artists in Action!
Peter Pan and the Neverland
Summer camp dates: June 26 – July 1

Registration begins at the Driftwood Players dedicated website https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?class=drift Additional information about the summer camp features are available through the Driftwood Players office 425.774.9600.

– – –

Ignition Theatre
Runs July 25^th – Aug. 21.

Ignition Theatre will feature four weeklong theater-training programs for student’s aged 13-20, culminating with four performances at Lynnwood High School Royal Act Theater.

Says executive camp director Morgan Heetbrink, “Every year for the last eight years producing our summer drama camps, we have been giving scholarships, and this year we’re doing that again. Drama education is a critical component in teaching kids creativity, critical thinking, development of leadership abilities and many other life and career skills. We want to make sure that finances is not holding kids back from learning those skills, as well as have a blast this summer.”

For sign-up information contact Ignition at 206-234-5660 or email ignitiontheater@gmail.com.

— by Emily Hill

 

Emily Hill is the author of two novels and a short story collection. Emily is retired from a career in public information and news media relations. If you would like your event listed, or featured, in Artfully Edmonds, Emily invites you to contact her at arts@myedmondsnews.com.