PSU Magazine Spring 2000

'Three Shakes' on stage Shakespeare is center stage, on the edge, and over the top, as the Portland International Performance Festival takes on the immortal bard this July. "Three Shakes" will fill the main stage this season at PIPFest 2000. Steven Berkoff, acclaimed British actor, director, and playwright, will perform Shakespeare's Villains July 7 and 8. Kerry Shale, a Canadian living in the U.K., comes next with The Prince of West End Avenue, July 13-16. The festiva l main stage closes July 20- 22 with Briton Ken Campbell's comic performance of Pidgin Macbeth and Theatre Stories. In Shakespeare's Villains, Berkoff explores Shakespeare's ideas of evil as expressed in his most villainous charac– ters, including Iago, the Macbeths, Shylock, and Richard II. Berkoff ubti– tles the performance "A Masterclass in Evil." Shale brings his hilarious adapta– Steven Berkoff portrays Shakespeare's Villains July 7 and 8 for PIPFest. tion of Alan Isler's award– winning novel The Prince of West End Avenue to PIPFest for its U.S. premier. It is the story of a Jewish retire– ment home that puts on an amateur produc– tion of Hamlet. Campbell, who had PIPFest audiences weep– ing with laugher when he appeared in 1997, this year brings his own adaptation of Macbeth in Pidgin English, and tells of his Royal Shakespeare Company hoax and other theatrical experiments in Theatre Stories. In addition to their performances, Berkoff, Shale, and Campbell will give free public lectures on their work at noon on July 6, 11, and 20 at locations 4 PSU MAGAZINE SPRING 2000 to be announced. PIPFest also includes a full schedule of courses, workshops, two film series, and student studio perfonnances. Launching PIPFest 2000 will be a fir t-ever Opening Gala Benefit on July 1 at 8 p.m. in Lincoln Performance Hall. It will feature local music, dance, and theater performances. Tickets for PIPFest events, which range from $9 to $35, go on sale in mid-May at the PSU Box Office, 510 SW Hall (725-3307), and at GI Joe's and Ticketmaster outlets. For more information about PIPFest, call (503) 725-5326 or visit the Web site www.extended.pdx.edu/pipf/index. html. Bones of contention Who is Kennewick Man? His ancient bones, found in 1996 along the Columbia River shoreline at Kennewick, Wash., have caused controversies between scienti ts, who want to study him, and Northwest tribes, which want to bury him. Serving as judge and jury is the U.S. Department of the Interior, which contracted with Ken Ames, PSU professor of anth ropology, and others to help determine if Kennewick Man is a forebear of modern tribes. Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a tribe is required to show that it is culturally linked to the remains in order to claim them. Ames has examined the archaeolog– ical record of the Columbia Plateau to see what link di.ere may be between inhabitants of the region more than 9,000 years ago and Native American groups today. Several radiocarbon dates obtained from the bones indicate they are approx imately 9,300 years old. Ames sifted through massive numbers of record and talked with tribes and other archaeologists to supply federal officials with the neces– sary information. The bibliography of his report contained more than 500 items. Ames is not at liberty to share his conclusion. The final word will come from the Secretary of the Interior. The Interior Department has also engaged experts to test Kennewick Man's DNA. Many scientists believe that these tests alone will still be inconclusive, but together with Ames' and other anthropologi ts' findings, the future of Kennewick Man will be decided. Weekend course tours Art of the West How have regional artists shaped our view-both real and mythical---of the We t? Answers are expected in the summer course, Art of the West, July 21-23. Museums, commercial galleries, and an art festival are the classrooms for this weekend course. Tour leaders read like a Who's Who of art experts in the Northwest: Prudence Roberts, curator of American art at the Portland Art Museum; Roger Hull, professor of art history at Willamette University; Larry Peterson, collector of the works of Charles Russell and author of Charles M . Russell, Legacy; and Kate Bonansinga, the workshop's instructor and a noted art writer, teacher, and curator. The class, part of the University's Summer Session "Looking West" series, will look at a range of regional works from Native American to early modernists to contemporary. A slide lecture and course introduction wi ll be given by Bonansinga on Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. on campu . On Saturday participants will visit Portland art galleries and the Portland Art Museum's new American wing. Sunday is an all-day field trip to Salem to see the Hallie Ford Museum of Art on the campus of Willamette University and two other gallery exhibits, as well as a vi it to the Salem Art Fair and Festival. Cost for the cla s i $150 (noncredit) and $170 for one credit. For more information, contact PSU Summer Ses ion at (503) 725-8500 or (800) 547-8887, ext. 3276.