Old lovers reunite: Rogue Theater Company kicks off season with 'Off Peak'

By JIM FLINT for the Rogue Valley Times. March 6. 2024

Robin Goodrin Nordli and Michael Elich play old lovers who bump into each other on an evening commuter train in Rogue Theater Company’s production of “Off Peak,” opening March 13 at Grizzly Peak Winery. The characters’ different views of the same past threaten to derail their connection. Secrets, regrets and lies are revealed. And that’s just the beginning.

The actors are not unfamiliar with couple dynamics. In real life, they’re “old lovers” themselves. Michael Elich and Robin Goodrin Nordli have performed together in 23 productions. They met in 1994 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival when they were cast in “Fifth of July,” and have been a couple ever since. Over the years, they’ve bumped into each other on stage quite regularly, having performed in 23 productions together.

For RTC's "Off Peak," Robynn Rodriguez directs and scenic design is by Michael Ganio, Rodriguez’s husband. Rodriguez, Nordli and Elich are longtime friends with a collective total of 67 seasons at OSF. “We are impressed with the set,” Elich said, complimenting Ganio for his spot-on duplication of the interior of a Metro North train car. “Robin and Michael are two of my dearest friends,” Rodriguez said. “Given our long history, we get to the crux of a challenge quickly because we generally agree about what needs to be communicated.”

She admires the couple’s work ethic. “Robin and Michael are tireless in their pursuit of excellence. The trust they have for each other is profound. I’m the passenger on their ship,” the director said. Are there advantages to being a married couple playing characters with a romantic history? “The good part is we can run lines together at home,” Nordli said, laughing.

She noted that with any role, there are things an actor can use from her own experience and things she can create for the character from her unique perspective. “But what’s really great,” she said, “is Michael and I have worked together so much, we have a rhythm.” Does their own relationship aid in creating the chemistry between the characters? “Chemistry is such an elusive thing,” Elich said. “But there is a shorthand when you work with actors you’ve worked with for many years.”

Besides working together in many OSF plays as part of a rotating repertory company, they also worked together last year at RTC in another Rodriguez-directed two-person show, “Chapatti,” about two pet lovers re-discovering the importance of human companionship. “The chemistry in ‘Chapatti’ is different from what we may have in ‘Off Peak,’” Elich said.

After the success of “Chapatti” last season, Jessica Sage, RTC's artistic director, approached the couple about finding another project for RTC—“Off Peak” by Brenda Withers fit the bill. “This script was recommended to us by a friend,” Nordli said. “We liked it. We had a great time with 'Chapatti,' but we were looking for something very different.”

Elich says the play is a bit tricky because the action all takes place in a train car. “It’s kind of like dancing on a pin head,” he said. “I know a couple actors who did it originally on stage in New York about two years ago.” Their feedback about the play encouraged him. Nordli performed 77 roles in 75 productions over 26 seasons at OSF and was about to start her 27th season playing Sarah Bernhardt in “Bernhardt/Hamlet” when COVID-19 hit. Elich left OSF in 2017 after performing 59 roles in 47 productions over 21 seasons, going on to do shows with numerous U.S. theater companies, including three seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

“At OSF, there was the luxury of doing big plays with lots of people in them,” Nordli said. “But every once in a while you want to do something intimate and small, where the audience is close. It’s totally different, and I think doing both makes you a better actor.” Elich agrees. “When you’re on the Elizabethan stage one night, and then the Thomas the next, the connections with the audiences are different. At the Thomas, it was script forward,” he said.

That’s why they like working with RTC, enjoying the intimacy of a smaller company and venue. “I’m so happy people are supporting RTC,” Nordli said. “Whatever Jessica is doing is great.”

“Off Peak” has received high praise from reviewers. The New Yorker said, “Sly, smart, often very funny. . .A brilliant, spiky harmony with an abundance of emotional and intellectual twists and turns.” “Fluid repartee that keeps the audience locked in,” said Broadway World.

Performances are set for 1 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, March 13-31, at Grizzly Peak Winery, 1600 E. Nevada St., Ashland.

The March 13 preview tickets are $30. Opening night tickets March 14 are $45, a benefit for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon, with wine, sparkling water and a talkback with the director and actors following the play. Tickets for all other performances are $35.

Show prefaces with Tyrone Wilson are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to noon on March 13 (sold out), 22 and 30.

The play runs 90 minutes without intermission.

Nordli also will appear at OSF this year with her one-woman show, “Virgins to Villains,” at the Thomas Theatre May 16-July 19, drawing on her experiences performing in 61 productions of 30 plays by Shakespeare.

Elich will be back at RTC May 2-5 in Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County,” with a cast of 13. The play reading will be directed by former OSF Artistic Director Henry Woronicz.

For more information and to purchase tickets, see roguetheatercompany.com.

Reach writer Jim Flint at jimflint.ashland@yahoo.com.