NOW OPEN FOR LUNCH! Tues.-Fri. 11:30-1:30 SPIRITS LIFTED HERE! i / 4 nN ' zagone and Fornara Chew the Fat M■ ■ ■ IliM -MIM y > M SB B ■ |>ORR£TTttpiZZft Portland actors/directors Peter Fornara and John zagone talk about the theater scene, the Performing Arts Center and why it all matters. PIZZA BY THE SLICE LUNCH! only PEPPERONI MUSHROOMS OLIVES CHEESE PINEAPPLE SALAMI TOMATOES ONION GREEN PEPPERS CANADIAN BACON choice of any 1 item $1.25 a slice choice of any 2 items $1.60 a slice LUNCH SPECIALS # 1 A Slice of Pizza (2 items), Our Green Salad & a large Soft Drink or a glass of Draft Michelob Beer. $2 .95 #2 For Larger Appetites: Same as # 1 with tw o Slices of Pizza. $4 WE ALSO SERVE ALL OUR GREAT SANDW1CHESI Whole pizzas are available — 25-min. wait minimum. NOW YOU CAN TAKE IT OUT OR EAT IT HERE! WHOLE WHEAT OR WHITE CREST COMPLETE DELI IMPORTED & DOMESTIC BEER & WINE SUB SANDWICHES & SALADS CALL AHEAD YOUR ORDER WILL BE READY WHEN YOU ARRIVE HOURS TUES-WED-THURS-SUN 4 PM- 10 PM FRI & SAT By Peter Fornara TO GO 5 PM- 12 MIDNIGHT CLOSED MONDAY 232-2812 2239 SI HAWTHORNE IV. ■ here are 708 pages in the Portland telephone directory. Only three of those pages contain names that begin with Z. One of these truly exceptional individuals is John Zagone. John asked me — I want that straight before this goes any further; he asked me — to work with him on getting a few important things said about Portland theater and its future. Either or both of us may or may not have been under the spell of a controlled substance at the time; I honestly don’t recall, but whatever the mitigating circumstances, I agreed — I think. The interview took place in my modest digs on Portland’s fashionable Northwest side. We made ourselves comfortable, me with a can of Hamms, John with an Alka-Seltzer, and began: Fornara: Why should a person attend live theater, anyway? What’s the big deal? Zagone: Because it’s interesting. (PAUSE) F: (Looking appalled) Could you ... expand on that? Z: (Ever the raconteur) Sure. F: Would you, please? Z: Now? . F: Yeah. Z: OK. First off, why people shouldn’t see live theater: out of some misguided moral obligation that says you really should support the arts, so as a good citizen you’ll let yourself be dragged off to this THING you’re all set to hate. Live theater is a special kind of entertainment, pure and simple. A lot of people tend to think of theater like opera. It’s boring. “Let’s go to the movies, watch TV, etc.’’ That makes going to the theater a risk and puts theater companies in a pretty defensive position. F: How? Z: Well, as you know, good theater is not aimed at the lowest common denominator. It’s a risky art form to begin with; it invites an argument. A certain number of people at any performance are going to hate it for any number of reasons: style, content, design, etc. Add to that the fact that there are bad shows and you’ve got a pretty good number of first-time theatergoers who won’t be second-time theatergoers. (PAUSE) The worst thing for Portland theater is a well- promoted, sold-out bad show. F: So why should someone see live theater?! I’m not going to ask you again. Z: OK. OK. People should see live theater for three reasons: first, it’s great entertainment; second, any performance is a human event that will never be repeated again in precisely the same way. It’s much more like real life than a movie, where who knows how many takes have gone into creating just the right illusion, which is then committed to celluloid and will never change, never. (Z. switches to Michelob; now he’s really cooking.) F: And third? Z: Oh yeah, third. Just what I said before — theater invites argument. You’re not just some lump, watching, being manipulated. Every audience is a part of the performance. They’re the ones who make each Photographs courtesy Storefront Theatre Clinton St. Quarterly 13
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz