Oregon daily emerald
arts & entertainment
October 26. 1984
Charlie Akers plays Carter in the upcoming Mixed Pieces Theatre production of Wendy H'assers
tein’s “Uncommen Women and Others.”
From left to right: Brenda /ones, T. K. McDonald and Shaughn Shuey prepare for “Uncommen
Women and Others,” a play which opens Thursday, at the Knights of Pythius Hall.
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Mixed Pieces:
Obscure plays,
unknown performers
The actors in Mixed Pieces
Theatre know their situation is
risky. In the past few months
the group's 25-or-so members
have invested most of their ex
tra time, spent a great deal of
their own money and allowed,
their "relationships to suffer”
— all for the sake of their
company.
Mixed Pieces is a six-month
old Eugene theater group that
brings together virtually
unknown performers and
obscure plays. And they do it as
a non-profit, non-federated
group.
Story by Kim Carlson
Photos by Michael Downey
"This is a real experiment,”
says D. Roberts, who directs one
of the upcoming Mixed Pieces
ptoductions. “It's a real effort
arid a financial risk. It’s
something that other companies
are reluctant to do.”
Not only are many other
fledgling companies often un
willing to take risks producing
shows that aren’t proven box of
fice favorites, neither are they
always ready to employ actors
who aren’t also box office
favorites.
But Mixed Pieces Theatre is
different. Calling itself ‘‘hands
on theater,” the company
prides itself on being accessible
— accessible, that is, to amateur
actors, especially women and
ethnic minority members, who
might not have the opportunity
to perform elsewhere in
Eugene.
And accessible to community
theater-goers; tickets for the
group’s three different upcom
ing plays are $3.50, fairly inex
pensive compared to ticket
prices charged by many Eugene
theater companies.
While their adventure might
be considered daring or even
risque, the members of Mixed
Pieces believe there is a Eugene
audience that’s interested in
seeing the type of theater they
are producing. . .works that are
primarily written for and by
blacks. Latin Americans and
women. Most of the plays they
put on are not well-known,
mainstream works. So why
would a young company take
on such a task? Because, they
say, they want to fill a gap.
‘‘One of the reasons is that
Eugene theater has been
predominantly all-white
theater,” says Barbara Susman,
a Mixed Pieces actor. Susman
says that Mixed Pieces is fulfill
ing an important need; pro
viding a realistic reflection of
the city, for the city. ‘‘Eugene is
not an all-w'hite town,” she
says.
Roberts agrees, and considers
what they’re doing ‘‘an
enhancement” to the existing
theater groups in town.
Many companies, she says,
aren't willing to take risks to
produce the kinds of plays Mix
ed Pieces is producing. For ex
ample, Mixed Pieces won’t pro
duce plays that have
stereotypical women’s roles
written into them. Instead, says
Roberts, they offer oppor
tunities for women to play roles
as "real people.”
Although it is "rare to have
nine wonderful women's roles
°in one play,” says Roberts,
Wendy Wasserstein’s “Uncom
men Women and Others,” a
production that Mixed Pieces
will put on in November, is a
glimpse at the lives of five
graduates from an exclusive, all
female college... when they
gather six years after
graduation.
The original .Mixed Pieces:
Hands On Theatre was formed
by Bob Manning and Kathy
Petersen in May, 1984. Their
objective in forming the com
pany was to create a theater
group that offered a place for
ethnic minority and women ac
tors to perform. When Manning
and Petersen moved to Seattle at
the end of the summer, there
were 10 or so remaining Mixed
Pieces people "who wanted to
carry on the flame,” says
Susrrtan, a "veteran” Mixed
Pieces actor.
the group members chose
three directors, D. Roberts, Kit
ty Johnston and Kenneth Shaw,
and simplified their name.
Three plays were selected to
be performed in November:
“Unco»imen Women and
Others,” directed by Roberts,
portrays the hopes, dreams,
failures, and successes of the
five women college graduates;
’’Ethnic Eclipse,” directed by
Johnston, offers a collage of
Latin American dance, poetry,
dramatic reading and music:
and “Analices,” which director
Kenneth Shaw describes as
episodes taking place in a
‘‘modern surrealistic
wonderland.”
All Mixed Pieces productions
will be held at the Knights of
Pythias Hall, on the corner of
12th Avenue and Lawrence
.Street. All shows begin at 8:15
p.m., except for two matinees.
‘‘Uncommen Women and
Others” plays Nov. 1, 3, 7, 10,
15 and 18: ‘‘Ethnic Eclipse” on
Nov. 9, 16, and 18 (2 p.m,
matinee): and “Analices” on
Nov. 2, 8, 11, (2 p.m. matinee),
14 and 17.
The future of Mixed Pieces
Theatre will depend largely on
the success of the upcoming
productions. But Roberts is op
timistic. “I’m not sure the
shows will be perfect, but
they’ll be the most interesting
things in this town,” she says.
“It’s real community theater.
We’re making do with what
we’ve got.”