UO to stage reading of new play by a top writer.

Byline: Fred Crafts The Register-Guard

A reading of a new play by a leading American playwright, a revue that reviews life lessons and a corn-pone comedy will open on local stages this week.

Robinson Theatre

The struggles of an Afghan-American doctor in post-Taliban Afghanistan will be explored in a reading of "The Afghan Women" by Seattle playwright William Mastrosimone at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Robinson Theatre, 1109 Old Campus Lane, on the University of Oregon campus.

Tickets are $5 at the door. All proceeds will go to Afghan orphans through International Orphan Care. Information: 346-4190.

Still in development, "The Afghan Women" is soon to premiere in Kabul, Afghanistan. The drama centers on a doctor who oversees an orphanage and works to bring a new order to the country. Her confrontation with an Afghan warlord sharply defines the ways of the past set against the prospects for the future.

The play is being presented during Mastrosimone's brief UO residency, which begins today and concludes Wednesday. Thurston High School drama teacher Mike Fisher, who has collaborated with Mastrosimone on several projects, will cast the play using UO students.

Mastrosimone lived in Afghanistan for several months in the early 1980s. His play "Nanawaitai," also set in Afghanistan, became a feature film called "The Beast" and won the Roxanne T. Mueller Award for Best Film at the 1988 Cleveland International Film Festival.

Mastrosimone made his professional debut as a playwright with "The Woolgatherer," which won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Best Play award in 1982. His play "Extremities" won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play of 1982-83 and the John Gassner Award for Playwriting; it later became a major motion picture of the same name. Other plays include "Shivaree," "The Undoing," "A Stone Carver," "Tamer of Horses," "Cat's Paw," "Sunshine" and "Burning Desire."

Fisher previously worked with Mastrosimone in developing the script for "Bang Bang You're Dead," about school violence. That play recently inspired a Showtime movie special of the same title which has received the Parent's Choice Award for 2002.

Mastrosimone recently wrote the screenplay for the A&E television movie "Benedict Arnold," based on his play of the same title. His play "Like Totally Weird," which premiered at the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company in Eugene, is being made into a feature film.

Spotlight Theatre

An old-fashioned county fair is the setting for the comedy "Faith County," opening Monday at Spotlight Theatre in Pleasant Hill. A cast of adults, mostly parents of current students, are putting on the show as a fund-raising event.

Director Mary Huls says that Mark Landon Smith's "Faith County" is a "tongue-in-cheek comedy about Southern country folk who have very defined personalities. Events that take place bring out the best and worst of each character.

"Competition for prizes and relationship conquests are the central themes for this backwoods town of fun people," she continues, noting that the play is a wink at "hillbilly charm, deep-fried twinkies, town gossip and beauty tips" and "pokes fun at family, relationships, community and art."

Huls says "Faith County" is well suited for community theater because it requires "lots of energy, and a dance or two. We have added a dance to the wedding and to the beginning to set everyone straight about behavior in a theater."

In keeping with the play's theme, the theater will be outfitted with fair booths that offer treats, music and pig-kissing.

The cast includes Mike Moskovitz, Robert Laney, Donna Edlin, Terry Holmes, Tammy Johnston, Kathy Huey, Lawrence Davie, Paul Nordquist, Micah Page, Emily Bales, Kim Ward and Janet Nelson.

"Faith County" will be presented at 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday at Spotlight Theater, 35755 1/2 Zephyr Way, Pleasant Hill. Admission is $10. Tickets are available at Espresso 58 in the Pleasant Hill Shopping Square (988-0168) and at Spotlight Theatre (988-1195).

Encore Theatre

Lessons learned from a long life will be shared in "The Big Picture," to be presented by the Eugene senior acting troupe Encore Theatre on April 20.

Like the troupe's previous anecdotal shows, "The Big Picture" was suggested by the lives of Encore Theatre performers: Irene Rose, Jim Ellison, Wayland Holmberg, John Callahan, Carol McIntyre, Helen Riddell and Emil Smith.

"The Big Picture" was created for young people in detention facilities, regular schools, alternative schools and mentoring programs. Songwriter Lydia Lord says the material is "more intense than Encore's school shows, and parents may choose not to bring very young children to public performances."

Directed by Eliza Roaring Springs, "The Big Picture" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. April 20 at Actors Cabaret of Eugene, 996 Willamette St. Tax-deductible donations of $5 to $10 will be accepted. Kids admitted free. Information: 342-1630.

CAPTION(S):

Donna Edlin and Lawrence Davie are featured in Spotlight Theatre's "Faith County," a comedy set at a rural Southern county fair, being staged in Pleasant Hill.