Eugene Weekly : Culture : 03.11.04

Girls Gone Wild

Emily Dickinson, reinterpreted.

BY KAUKAB JHUMRA SMITH

Susan (Alexis Papedo) is thoroughly kissed by Emily (Jana Schmieding)

Sensual and humorous,Wild Nights with Emily is a graceful production that vibrates with energy and wit. Like a scrapbook, it presents complex relationships overlaid with poetry, dance and chamber music to create a unique textured montage that defies conventional wisdom. The jewel-like costumes designed by Harmony Arnold perfectly accentuate the play's triumph.

At question in Wild Nights is the legacy of Emily Dickinson, the 19th century poet long depicted as a recluse spinster who scribbled away at thousands of letters and poems in secret. Dickinson's fame came posthumously with the discovery of her manuscripts, but her estate was marred with family struggles over their ownership and publishing rights.

Wild Nights hilariously depicts this wrangling over how Dickinson is to be remembered. It freely moves in and out of Dickinson's life, quoting from letters and poems to set long-accepted "truths" on their head.

Playwright Madeleine Olnek presents Emily (Jana Schmieding) as a woman ardently in love with her childhood friend Susan (Alexis Papedo). Schmieding and Papedo sensitively portray how their relationship blooms from their first tentative kiss to a lifelong love weighed down by social restrictions. Schmieding as Emily is demanding, bold but unsure, while Papedo's Susan is capricious and teasing.

If Emily and Susan had been alive today, they would have been among the same-sex couples in line outside a city hall in their native Massachusetts, demanding a marriage license. This being the 1800s, however, Susan goes on to marry Emily's brother Austin (Chris Hirsh) and builds a house next door. The two women continue their relationship in secret, while Austin's growing suspicion leads to his and Sue's eventual estrangement and his affair with Mabel Todd (Sarah Turnquist).

Some of the funniest and most poignant devices in the play counterpoint modern didactic lectures about Dickinson — "The epitaph 'gay' diminishes Dickinson's significance" — with the flesh-and-blood Emily and Susan sensually frolicking in their love. Olnek, who researched the original Dickinson manuscripts before writing Wild Nights, argues that as the eventual editor of Emily's work, Mabel Todd eliminated references to Emily's illicit affair with Sue from all her poems and letters.

Mabel also creates the myth of Dickinson as uninterested in being published. Passionate and prolific, Olnek's Emily struggles to be heard amid the male writers of her day. As an example of her frustration, Emily relentlessly questions the editor of the Atlantic Monthly (Ian Armstrong) on the perceived difference between "female authorship" and "authorship." When he suggests elaborate changes to her poems, Emily responds with an ironic "Thank you for your — surgery."

Blythe Daniels, Emily Peterson, Steve Wehmeier and Ian Armstrong dazzle in their multiple supporting roles — sometimes in sidesplitting drag — as friends, neighbors and gossips coming on and offstage in a virtual whirlwind. The set is wonderfully varied, and subtle gilt-edges frame the stage so the entire play seems a glimpse into the past.

Produced by a small army of workers, the costumes add a sumptuous dimension to the play. The ladies' silk and brocade skirts are layered in such a mix of weave, pattern and sheen that they seem as textured as the play itself. Susan's rose-peach, flouncy ripeness contrasts with Emily's relative earnestness and the straight blue lines of her shirtwaist. As Emily ages and recluses herself after Sue's marriage to Emily's brother Austin, she begins to live in simple white.

A daring, timely play,Wild Nights clearly deserves to be better known and more widely produced in the country. Director John Schmor chose this script because it featured strong roles for young women. Under his agile direction, University Theatre pulls off a demanding production worthy of any major professional company.

Wild Nights with Emily plays at Robinson Theatre through March 13.

Butterfly Blues

Gardeners can help conserve these most colorful of insects.

By Rachel Foster

Urban and suburban gardens are woefully short on butterflies. What can we do about it? Until recently, advice on gardening for butterflies was almost exclusively devoted to a discussion of nectar plants that attract adult butterflies. Nectar is their primary food source, and most common butterflies are relatively indiscriminate about where they get it. But the adult butterfly is just one generation in the life-cycle of its species. The larval stage we call a caterpillar does most of the growing, and so it is a much more serious eater.

Caterpillars eat leaves. The idea of butterflies sipping nectar may be a lot more appealing to the gardener than caterpillars chomping foliage, but without caterpillar food there would be no more butterflies. Gardeners might wish that the larvae of the butterflies they'd love to see will be doing their feeding somewhere else. The time has come, however, for us to face the reality that "somewhere else" is increasingly difficult to find.

Our yards typically don't provide much in the way of weeds and wildflowers, and "somewhere else" (in the Willamette Valley, that means native wetlands and savannas) has largely been replaced with the monocultures of industrial agriculture that have little to offer lepidopterans or any other wildlife. Even the remnants of wild plant communities that quite recently persisted along roadsides have been mostly wiped out by misguided highway management. Some species are so particular about what their larvae eat that relatively small efforts by gardeners might make the difference between extinction and survival for local populations.

That's the opinion of Steve Northway, a past president of the Corvallis Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon (NPSO), who has written: "A truly amazing illustration of the value of backyard butterfly gardening is provided by the Monarch butterfly, our only migratory butterfly species. The Western flyway's Monarch butterflies, which must pass through the Willamette Valley, are now infrequently seen here, but if the Willamette Valley's native Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is planted ... Monarch butterflies and their big, tiger-striped caterpillars appear almost magically."

The Monarch caterpillar feeds exclusively on milkweeds. There is another important relationship between Monarchs and milkweeds: predator defense. As Northway describes it, "While the caterpillars feed on milkweed they accumulate in their bodies a bitter, highly toxic glycoside. The milkweed glycoside stored in the caterpillar's tissues persists through metamorphosis, making the butterfly as well as the caterpillar unappetizing and poisonous to predators."

Monarchs encounter many different species of milkweed in their long migration, and several species of asclepias make acceptable caterpillar food. But Asclepias speciosa, the milkweed that was once abundant in the Willamette Valley, has a high glycoside content, and naturalists suggest that Valley butterfly gardeners should favor it. (You need starts from more than one clone to produce viable seed of your own, Northway tells me.)

One of Eugene's last good stands of Asclepias speciosus, near Chad and Crescent drives off Coburg Road, was regularly visited by Monarchs until it succumbed to development. Last fall I asked Eric Wold, founder of the local chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) if Monarchs still visit the Willamette Valley. Yes, he replied, and the Eugene-Springfield area is perhaps the best place to see them. "This year I've observed them in my own small garden (near Cal Young in North Eugene) and along I-105, near the Mohawk exit in Springfield," he said. So starting a milkweed colony is a worthy idea if you can make room for this beautiful but rather aggressive plant.

A good strategy for suburbanites who would just like to see more butterflies in the garden is to observe what sort of butterflies visit the yard and nearby places, then plant their preferred larval foods. A pocket guide, compiled by Marta Makarushka and recently published by the Eugene-Springfield Chapter of NABA will make this job a whole lot easier: It will help you identify your winged visitors, and indicates what their larvae eat. It describes 78 butterflies that occur in Lane County, and the regions where they are found.

A few common butterflies are generalists when it comes to selecting a host plant to lay their eggs on. The Painted Lady prefers thistles and checkermallow, but almost anything will do where they are lacking. Some plant groups are popular with several species, so planting them is a logical place to start. Plants of the pea family (vetch, clover and lupine for example) attract, among others, Eastern Tailed Blue, Gray Hairstreak and Orange Sulphur. (Lupines appeal to some specialists, a well: Kincaide's lupine is the exclusive host plant of the imperiled Fender's Blue.)

Checkermallows (sidalcea), are favored by Common Checkered Skipper, Painted Lady and Gray Hairstreak. Willow and alder trees support many species, including Mourning Cloak and certain swallowtails. Anise Swallowtail, though, eats members of the parsley family, which includes fennel and cow parsnip. Other native plants that support several species include bunch grasses, ceonothus, cascara and bleeding heart.

Here are some tips for encouraging butterflies to use your garden:

Don't use pesticides.

Adopt a relaxed attitude to caterpillars when they appear on your cultivated plants. If someone is eating your parsley, plant more next time.

Leave some rough, weedy areas uncut, and enrich them with popular caterpillar foods such as pearly everlasting, thistles, vetch and lupine.

Plant host plants as generously as you can: Butterflies may have to detect the plants from far away.

Provide water, in the form of mud or in shallow containers with sloping sides.

Including nectar plants is easy. Butterflies especially favor flat heads (yarrow, sedum, Queen Anne's lace, daisies) or long panicles and spikes of small flowers (anise hyssop and many things in your herb garden, including mint, thyme and chives.) Let prunella, clover and daisies ornament your lawn. Native plants of particular value for nectar include camas, iris, wild onion, aster, fleabane, goldenrod, lupine, vetch and yarrow. Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) is a nectar plant popular with many butterflies, but naturalists discourage planting it. It is invasive, and displaces native willows essential to several native butterflies.

NABA (Eugene-Springfield Chapter) has a superb website (go to www.NABA.org and click on "Local Chapters"). It has information on Butterflies of Lane County as well as lists of native host plants and local native plant retailers.

Unintended Impact

This spring, ODA will spray 183 acres of land in the Crest Drive area of Eugene with the natural insecticide, Btk, to eradicate a suspected colony of the destructive Gypsy Moth. Agencies who use Btk for this purpose make claims that imply it is specific for Gypsy Moth, but this is not true. Not only may spraying kill moth or butterfly caterpillars of any species feeding in the area, but certain caterpillars (Tiger Swallowtail for example) are far more sensitive to Btk than is Gypsy Moth.

Sunlight degrades Btk quickly, suggesting that effects should be short-lived, yet a Michigan State University study showed that droplets of spray shielded from the sun could kill caterpillars up to 30 days after spraying. Non-lethal doses also affect the fertility of resulting adults. Paul Severns, who has studied effects of Btk on butterflies after a Dexter spraying, says there is not enough research to predict non-target effects of Btk, and suggests it would be of benefit for people who butterfly-garden to keep track of what butterflies they see and how many of each they count. The data could contribute to anecdotal records of what happens in urban spray areas.

Real Ono Grinds, Brah

Enjoy aloha-style eats right here on the mainland.

BY BOBBIE WILLIS

Next door to the Stop and Shop convenience mart on the busy corner of 18th Avenue and City View might be the last place you'd expect to find the aloha spirit, but there it is in the form of Hawaiian Time, a little restaurant serving popular Hawaiian "grinds" in a slightly upscale version of the traditional island lunch counter.

Hawaiian Time keeps the menu pretty simple and mainland friendly — you won't find manapua (steamed buns filled with barbecued pork) or poke (raw fish or seafood mixed with seaweed and spices) or the more exotic lomi salmon or laulau (meat and/or coconut cream wrapped and cooked in taro or ti leaves). But no worries, you'll still enjoy a selection of delicious plate lunch items like teriyaki beef, Huli Huli chicken, Kalua pig and plenty of saimin (noodle soup) combinations. All plate specials come with the requisite scoop of rice and macaroni salad and can be ali'i-sized for an added dollar or so. You can also order the plates smaller for a $5 flat price, or create your own mixed plate, combining different entree items from the menu.

If this is your first venture into Hawaiian cuisine, give the Huli Huli Chicken Plate ($6.95) a try. What really makes this dish special is the Huli Huli sauce, a sweet-tangy condiment that combines the flavors of barbecue and teriyaki into one fine dish. Kekoa's Special ($6.95), thinly sliced beef, marinated in sweet teriyaki sauce, then grilled and served with rice and macaroni salad, is also a local-style standout.

If you've ever enjoyed a luau feast, then you'll be happy to see the Kalua Pig Plate ($7.95). Of course, since this is a restaurant, Hawaiian Time can't really set up the traditional outdoor, underground cooking pit to roast the pork. However, Hawaiian Time has found a way to cook it oven style that brings on a good version of the smoky luau flavor. The pork is shredded and served over rice with, yes, you guessed it, macaroni salad. I should say, the macaroni salad is very good — simple mayonnaise dressing with lots of pepper — goes real nice with the sweet, salty flavors of the entrees.

Lighter fare includes Kekoa's Garden Mix ($6.95), a stirfry of grilled veggies tossed with a rich soy-sauce-based marinade, and Chinese Chicken Salad ($6.95), a bed of Romaine lettuce with Huli Huli chicken, mushrooms, green onions and cilantro, all covered with chow mein noodles and a tangy Island dressing.

The menu also includes sandwiches made from the teriyaki beef ($5.95), the Kalua pork ($6.95) and the Huli Huli chicken ($5.95), all of which are served with the mac salad. Hawaiian Time also offers saimin bowls with a variety of add-ins you can select according to your tastes ($4-$7). Along with fountain drinks and bottled water, Hawaiian Time serves Hawaiian Sun beverages in combinations of island flavors like lilikoi and passion fruit — the perfect sweet to go with these dishes.

Warning: If you go to Hawaiian Time, you better be ready to eat, or at least to take da kine leftovers for lunch the next day — even if you don't ali'i-size it, the plates are very generously portioned. You can get food to go, or there is also plenty of seating in the tidy restaurant, decorated in warm colors with beach and surf posters, and tapa cloth motifs.

So dig up your rubbah slippahs and your favorite hibiscus print rayon shirt, practice your pinkie-thumb "shaka," and head over to Hawaiian Time to "broke da mout'" on real ono eats.