Saratoga News

Saratoga Sampler

Mary Ann Cook

Playwrights can call Pat Compton fairy godmother

NEW PLAYWRIGHTS: If you're looking for fairy godmothers, you need look no farther than Saratogan Pat Compton. She it was who came up with the idea for the New Playwrights' Festival, a joint offering each October of Montalvo and San Jose Rep. Compton and Timothy Near, artistic director of the Rep, were batting ideas back and forth about five years ago about how Montalvo and the Rep could collaborate more fully, and the idea of a new playwrights' festival gradually took root. The Festival has been presented at Montalvo for the past two years and showcases three new plays. These are readings only, as opposed to full-scale productions, but you'd be surprised how affecting they can be. Or maybe you wouldn't be surprised at all if you remember well and fondly those golden days of radio drama. The Shadow knows.

One reading this fall was Icarus by Edwin Sanchez. If you missed it at Montalvo, you'll have a chance to see it at the Rep this spring, April 19-May 17, in full flight. A very moving piece of theater it is. Those of us who heard it in October can follow its emergence into full-fledged production. Compton dog-sits for Timothy Near's Percy when Near is out of town. The two met when they were active on the SF Commission on the Status of Women.

DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS: Michael and Mary Ellen Fox were named 1997 Distinguished Citizens by the Boy Scouts of America's Santa Clara County Council and were honored at a dinner at the Fairmont last month attended by more than 700 community leaders. Said Mary Ellen: "It was really an honor to be the first couple to receive this award from the Scouts. We have always believed in the importance of family, and that evening really emphasized that."

A traditional Asian lion dance was performed by Troop 488 as a tribute to the Foxes, who were instrumental in developing business relationships internationally. The Prince Charles Pipe Band also entertained. The band is made up of older Scouts, the Explorers, and placed third in an international bagpipe competition in Scotland recently. San Jose Councilmember Pat Dando and former SJ Mayor Tom McEnery were emcees.

HIGHEST MOUNTAIN: In their quest to climb the highest mountains in whatever region they're traveling, Rod and Helen Mackinlay's latest trek took them to the highest peak in the Julian Alps in Slovenia, an extension of the European Alps. Slovenia was the first section of the former Yugoslavia to declare its independence. The climb took two days and the height was 8,500 feet, so not high enough for snow at that time of year.

The Mackinlays didn't consider it particularly fearsome, but plaques along the way listed the names of people who had died navigating it. Rod listed cloud cover that disorients the climber or fatigue that affects judgment as the likely culprits in such a dire outcome. The climb is not well known, and other climbers they encountered were few, mostly locals.

"It was a beautiful experience, the gorgeous beauty of the mountain and its surroundings," says Rod. Helen, a professional art photographer, took lots of pictures. Sounds like the makings of a new show. The Mackinlays stayed at a farmhouse on Lake Bohinj, and the nearest town was Bled. They have scaled mountains in Africa and Southeast Asia, and Helen has climbed Whitney.

Describing themselves as experienced but not expert climbers, they said they were exhausted and exhilarated by the challenge. The six-week sojourn also allowed them to take in the new Guggenheim Museum in Spain, as well as spend stretches in France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium. In London they babysat grandchildren while the children's parents ran the Greek Marathon in Athens.

INVEST IN ARTS: An insert in the December property tax bill exhorted you to invest in the arts. The plea for funds is an ongoing campaign by the Arts Council of Santa Clara County, an agency that funds over 88 art groups throughout the county. Two recipients of arts grants this year were the Don Haneke Chorale, which received $1,009 to present four concerts during the 1997-98 season; and Olympiad of the Arts, which garnered $1,428 to help support that competition, administered by Montalvo.

THE SCHULZ KID: Theatre in the Mountains will take their production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on the road for four performances closer to Saratoga. The show will be at Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 9; at 2:30 and 7:30 Jan. 10; and at 2:30 Jan. 11. Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors and children, and $6 for children under 12. The theater box office # is 353-9999.

TOPAZ AT HAKONE: A rare showing of the film Topaz will be held Jan. 10 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Cultural Exchange Center at Hakone Gardens. Topaz is a home movie filmed by Dave Tatsuno of San Jose about life in an internment camp. He will share his experiences with the audience after the showing. Topaz is one of only two films listed in the National Film Registry. The other is the Zapruder film of JFK's assassination.

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