The Green Bird
Dear Ed Felien and Dwight Hobbes:

I am writing in regards to the recently published review of Theatre de la Jeune Lune's remount of The Green Bird - 12.20.00 issue. The article is cleverly written, and nails the critique that the show "sells more sizzle than steak." However, there are many references and erroneous comments which lead me to question not only your knowledge of theatre but also your research on Jeune Lune.
It seems that you are not aware of ‘Commedia dell'Arte’ and its relevance to contemporary theatre. Thus you write ". . . Steven Epp's script interprets low comedy. . ." Steve Epp's script interprets Carlo Gozzi's script. N'est pas? I am trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. The sentence is either badly written or you are indeed equating Commedia with "low comedy."
Commedia is the mother of comedy -- comedy at its maximum -- how can it be low? Commedia relies on improviso -- improvisation in English -- which yields the most hilarious scenerios and situations. It is physical, spontaneous, far removed from the psychology that has cast a deep sleep on American theatre. The form is a lost art, and Jeune Lune's effort to revitalize Commedia -- to discover what Commedia is today -- is always evident in their work.
Although you are on the right track, because this remount of The Green Bird does not fully succeed at finding commedia here, in the present, for our society. The lesson the audience learns through laughter is not a strong, redeeming one. However, notice how I am stating that lessons are learned through laughter. Ridendo castigat mores.
Had you been aware of Commedia dell'Arte," then you would clearly see the connection to Kabuki and its inherent melodrama. Both forms live Truth in size. Your knowledge of Kabuki is also weak. You write ". . .Brian Baumgartner works well in Kabuki drag as Tartagliona. . ." Kabuki is only performed by men. Therefore the use of the word drag is totally unnecessary. Furthermore you overlook the other two Kabuki influenced and inspired characters: Tartaglia and Brighella. Although I can see your overlooking Brighella given that Dominique Serrand was not playing his role.
However, Tartaglia has a clear Kabuki presence and mask-counter-mask play. Pay close attention to entrances and exits. The heightened use of language, the weight placed on names. It is NOT that a performer plays for laughs, or to use your words, "chewing the scenery for laughs," rather, a performer lives his Truth fully in size and volume, shares the joy and vulnerability of that Truth and that makes us laugh. You make it sound once again as if laughter is a terrible thing for not only a writer but also a performer to accomplish. Brian alone is worth the trip to Penumbra on a cold winter night.
Always make sure you are spelling character names correctly -- do not overlook these things, don't be sloppy. Truffaldino's partner is Smeraldina NOT Smerlandi.
I agree that Marcus Young does not acquit himself. Nothing comes out of the boy. He is asleep -- unmoved and unfeeling. In Japan, a fan would have been thrown at him -- even something heavier. You could have explored this "listless effort" a bit more. As a title character, the Green Bird demands not only presence but emotional depth, comedy and tragedy, hope and glory, and in Kabuki, the honor and soul of a samurai. And like a samurai, the Green Bird is the character which brings about the metamorphosis of all other characters, a catalyst that rescues and helps them all, brings PEACE to the land. Big shoes for Marcus Young to fill. In theatre there is no room for internalizing, everything has to be external or else the audience does not see it, let alone feel it.
In regards to race: Your views on race are clouding your vision for theatre. You are the one who has become BLIND. Race is not the only presence on stage, although I can understand that skin color hits YOU first. Hence your noting Shay and Marcus Young -- who by the way speaks in Japanese during the show and not an "Oriental-sounding dialogue." Chinese, Japanese and Korean are very different languages and cultures.
Furthermore, the set is very Japanese in aesthetic -- then again you are blind, not in tune or in harmony to notice the world in front of you -- and if you had known about Kabuki and Commedia dell'Arte and their links and similarities, then you would not violently and erroneously attack the use of Japanese. (I am afraid to ask how you viewed the use of Spanish -- "nowhere on the map is there a locale in [Spain or Latin America]" -- let alone the use of Italian -- "nowhere on the map is there a locale in [Italy]".)
At any rate, I would like to point out the third racial group which you forgot: Alejandra, who plays Ninetta is a Latin American -- Hispanic -- woman. So, we have a production with white folk, an African-American woman, a Hispanic woman, an Asian-American man, a Frenchman, a New Zealander, a Jewish male and probably many more religious faiths.
All happens in a magical kingdom, which could and is anywhere and everywhere. Is the fact that an ethnically, racially and religiously diverse company decided to work with an Asian-American and an African-American truly "drawn on for the sake of cosmetics[?]" How can you conceive that foreigners and racial groups that are using who they are in order to create theatre could be utilizing themselves for cosmetic purposes. There is nothing cosmetic about being who you are. There is nothing cosmetic about taking all that you have and all that you are to create a character, to create theatre. It is not fake; it is what you do in theatre, otherwise you are fake and hiding who you are.
No one is "putting black folk in white face." No one is putting a Frenchman in Japanese face. Unless you are merely looking at make-up. The issue is not what Shay does -- "flounce about as bikini-clad brown sugar wearing a flaxen haired, strawberry-blonde wig" -but what she fails to do.
Like Marcus Young, Shay fails at creating a complete being that once onstage merits our love and care. Their is nothing redeeming about the character Shay created, consequently, the lesson has little impact on her in the end. Blinded by wealth Barbarina forgets who she is, who she loves, what goodness is and adopts a fake personae - in Greek personae means mask.
Barbarina realizes this too late. At that moment, Shay pulled off her "white face" wig to reveal her own hair. A sort of removing of a mask Barbarina had adopted and put on. A realization that can reach far beyond the boundaries of this production when you step back and view the African-American actress remove the "white face" wig. Consequently, I am in complete disagreement with your conclusion that "Theatre Jeune Lune identifiably views skin color as an exotic oddity that is best drawn on for the sake of cosmetics."
Finally, The Green Bird owes NOTHING to the The Lion King. If anything it would be the other way around. Back in 1993, when Jeune Lune first mounted Gozzi's play, Calmon was embodied as a gigantic visage and gigantic hand. A puppet, really. So Calmon's face had been designed and built and even performed way before The Lion King had been conceived. Please check your dates next time. Don't be sloppy.
Last note: Your research on a theater company needs to be thorough. The 1993 Jeune Lune production of The Green Bird was DIRECTED by VINCENT GRACIEUX and that was the production that toured Yale Repertory Theatre. DOMINIQUE SERRAND DIRECTED the 2000 production which toured Berkeley Repertory Theatre. "God is in the details."

Yours in service,
J.A. (Alejandro Aguilera)

Tony Bouza
Dear Pulse:

I read your article by Tony Bozo about how the police are handicapped in dealing with the mentally ill. Fact is, Minnesota is just one of 36 states that have recently passed laws allowing the police to forcibly re-medicate anyone who has taken any psych drug for whatever reason. The law makes no distinction between law-abiding citizens and the criminally insane.
This means that someone like me, who was treated with anti-depressants for five years following a brutal rape, could hear a knowck on the door and be re-introduced to Zoloft, even though I have liver and kidne damage from that poison. My liver is so messed up, I might as well have been a full-fledged alcoholic during that period of my life, though I never touched a drop.
All it would take for that knock on the door would be a disagreement with my boss or lover. My diagnosis is on the internet-I already checked. I feel like I’ve been raped a second time. Feel like I woke up in the USSR. They kept their political prisoners stoned on psychotropic meds for years, didn’t they? I wonder how many of them could even walk after that.
So, shame on you Tony Bozo for telling only part of the turth: the part that serves this police state we live in.
~Pat Benson

Manitoba Hydro-Electric Power
Dear Editor:

A recent article by Elaine Klaassen (11-22-11 Pulse) implied that Manitoba Hydro has produced energy at the cost of the environment and Manitoba First Nations (aboriginal communities), in particular, the Pimicikamak Cree Nation (PCN) or Cross Lake Cree. Your readers did not get an accurate story.
We pride ourselves on being a good neighbor; we are respectful of the environment and responsive to the communities in which we operate.
Although it is true that hydro projects in the 1970’s affected several northern Manitoba communities, including First Nations, Manitoba Hydro has worked with those communities for many years to address these impacts, including the signing of the Northern Flood Agreement (NFA) in 1977.
Over the last ten years, a total of fourteen additional agreements have been reached with First Nations and other affected communities, including ‘Imple-mentation Agreements’ under the NFA with four of the five subscribing First Nations. These agreements are not ‘one-time cast settlements’, as indicated by Klaassen. In addition to millions of dollars in compensation, the agreements resulted in new land for each community and did not preclude the First Nations from making future claims under the NFA, nor excuse Manitoba Hydro from its environmental mitigation responsibilities.
While Cross Lake has rejected an agreement, in principle, for an Implementation Agreement valued at more than $110 million, Manitoba Hydro continues to work with the community to implement the NFA and typically meets twice per month with its representives to resolve issues arising under the NFA.
Implementation of the NFA with Cross Lake has included projects such as construction of the Cross Lake Weir in 1991, which raised Cross Lake water levels to within one foot of pre-project levels and helped stabilize water levels on the lake. Implementation has also included trapping and fishing programs, a claims process to deal with individual property loss or damage and constuction and maintenance of an indoor arena and numerous other measures. Total related expenditures to date related to Cross Lake inssues alone stand at roughly $44million.
Thanks to the passage of time and ongoing mitigation efforts, the environment in northern Manitoba has stabilized and largely recovered from the original hydro projects. We remain committed to addressing the impacts of our operations wherever they occur.
Although more progress needs to be made, the relationship between Manitoba Hydro and Manitoba First Nations continues to evolve and reach new levels of cooperation. In fact, Manitoba Hydro is working closely with both the Split Lake Cree and Nelson House Cree First Nations on joint planning for possible new hydro-electric development in their resource areas. These, or any other possible hydro developments, while meeting today’s strict environmental standards, would have no impact on the Cross Lake Cree. Instead, these projects stand to provide long-term viable economic opportunities to the communities involved while continuing to help Manitoba (and Minnesota, to the extent it desires) meet energy demands with clean, renewable hydro-power.
Yours truly,
R.B. Brennan, FCA
president and CEO
Manitoba Hydro