opus at portland center stage

[Note: this is a repost of one of the lost posts from my database mishap.]

Last Wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending OPUS, the current play running at Portland Center Stage. It’s a short play (it runs about 90 minutes) that examines the inner workings of a top-rank string quartet. It was a very enjoyable experience, and a play that can be enjoyed by both insiders and those who don’t know a thing about classical music and the string quartet. The actors all did a great job of syncing their movements to the soundtrack (in some really complex music, I might add), and the dialogue was dramatic without resorting to cliches and hyperbole in order to achieve its aims. While the discussions in my string quartet are hardly as heated as they become in the fictional Lazara Quartet, the drama very accurately portrays how outside pressures can boil over in the intimate confines of the string quartet.

My favorite line from the play: “That guy didn’t play music, he extruded notes. I’d rather make love with a kitchen appliance.”

The play runs through May 8th – I’d highly recommend that you take in this show before it disappears.

Tickets and information here.