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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1997)
Drama Ihc JOWL Players (left to tight), Benjamin Litton, Kris Winter, Marisa Tabizon and David Bayless rehearse their performance of “Drawing the Shades.' CHAD PATTESON/Emerald FOWL Players to explore issues of sexual assault ‘Drawing the Shades,' a play about the traumas of rape, will debut tonight at Hamilton By Carl Yeh Freelance Editor The FOWL Players are true to their name and acronym: they are Ducks, thespians and are Fighting Oppression With Learning. Assembled in the spring of 1997, this group of University staff and students are tackling the issue of rape and sexual as sault with the presentation of the play “Drawing the Shades.” The performance premieres tonight at 8:30 p.m. in the Hamilton Cafeteria. Admission is free and the group welcomes residence hall students. "I was looking for a way to do something more creative and en tertaining, and that's when I had the idea of a theater group,” said Stephanie Carnahan, who is both the director of the play and director of the Lesbian Gay Bi sexual Transgender Alliance’s educational support services program. “I wanted something more than just a panel [of speak ers] — something interactive.” "Drawing the Shades” fea lures four characters who have been sexually assaulted, includ ing a newly out-of-the-closet bi sexual who is raped by a male in his brother’s room at home and a lesbian who witnesses the rape of her partner and is raped and beaten herself by three men out side of a gay bar. “It’s basically the four charac ters talking to the audience and telling their story,” Carnahan said. “There’s no interaction be tween the characters. There are no backdrops and no props. Its simplicity makes it very dramat ic.” Marisa Tabizon, a senior ma joring in religious and ethnic studies, plays a heterosexual fe male who is raped by a hetero sexual male in her residence hall room. Tabizon said she fears the audience may not react to their play. “I think we’ll find one of two reactions: either people will not take it seriously or it will really hit home,” she said. “It will real ly hit home if this is something they’ve experienced or done or had a friend who dealt with it.” Benjamin Litton, a junior ma joring in psychology, plays a col lege student who gets raped by a female at a party. “The character was drunk and he was feeling pressured to say ‘yes’ to sex [with this woman at a party] and lie's afraid of getting physical with her — he’s afraid Drawing the Shades ■ WHAT: Play about four char acters who have been sexually assaulted * WHEN: Tonight at 8:30p.m. X WHERE: Hamilton Complex | Cafeteria ■ PRICE: Free for all residence hall students of pushing her off,” Litton said. Litton explained the character was taught that hitting women was wrong, even though it was appropriate in this case. “Rapes [committed] by fe males do happen,” Litton said. “It really hits home to audience members because its not all sug ar-coated. In this depiction, peo ple aren’t fine when the play is over. It’s not a happy ending. It’s very realistic unfortunately.” Litton said he found it diffi cult to play his part. “It’s been re ally difficult to put myself in this position because it’s the most underreported crime.” Kris Winter, who plays a les bian who witnesses the gang rape of her partner and is raped herself, said she had difficulties playing her role as well. “It was a pretty difficult deci sion to play [a lesbian] because I am a heterosexual woman,” said Winter, a senior majoring in edu cational studies. “The whole idea about how I would be perceived would be a little scary to me,” Winter said. “My sister is a lesbian, and it was very frightening to think that this could happen to her.” Carnahan said: “The play is called ‘Drawing the Shades’ be cause there’s a line in the play where one of the characters is raped in an alley and when she looks around she sees people drawing in the shades [of their windows]. "It’s calling attention to the fact that sometimes people ig nore the problems of rape, par ticularly on college campuses, and this is a way for them to open the blinds and open their minds to talk about this issue.” Right after the play there will be a slide show and statistics about rape, Carnahan said. “There will be a chance to ask [the actors who are still in char acter] questions.” There will also be an opportu nity to talk to representatives from Sexual Assault Support Services, the University Coun seling Center and the Office of Student Life. The first performance of “Drawing the Shades” is in the residence halls because the FOWL Players want to focus on living groups, as well as keep the audience manageable. Although the first performance is in Hamilton Complex, the play will be presented in every residence hall by spring term. Carnahan said there will be another performance in Novem ber that will focus on Greek groups. “Very likely we’ll have a final performance for anyone else who would like to see it,” Carna han said. “I’m really excited that the FOWL Players have been able to take off. It’s been a great triumph to see a group go from nothing to a hard-core theatrical presentation.” “I’m hoping students will re act to it positively as seeing it as a tool to help them respond to the situation,” Tabizon said. Campus Briefs Students honor classmate killed in car accident Chauntal Aarness planned to enter the Peace Corps with her fi ance after she graduated from the University this year. They hoped to teach English in a Spanish-speaking country. Aarness was an International College student majoring in Po litical Science. Her fianc6, Kevin McVicker, had recently graduat ed with an English degree. They were killed last summer in a car accident outside Oakridge. Friends and International Col lege classmates remembered Aarness Monday with a tribute in Riley Hall. “She was warm, funny, intel ligent," said Brad Talley, who befriended Aarness on his first day at the University. “She was a deep thinker, someone who gave of herself. She had a real love of humanity in general." Aarness and McVicker were returning to Eugene Aug. 12. An other driver behind them tried to pass several cars, even though a semi-truck was fast approaching. The passing car didn’t have enough room and swerved in be hind Aarness and McVicker’s car. It bumped their rear bumper, spinning them into the truck. Both were from La Pine, and their funerals brought out the en tire town, Talley said. Aarness had been the valedictorian and had befriended almost every body, he said. “It seemed she was on every page of her [high school] year book,” he said. She entered the International College as a freshman at the Uni versity, said Magid Shirzadegan, assistant director of the Office of International Education and Ex change. The University discon tinued the college several years ago, but Aamess entered in time and would have graduated with a degree from the International College, he said. Shirzadegan said Aarness stood out in the classes he had her in. “She was very insightful,” he said. "She was extremely smart.” Friends said they didn’t know what she hoped to do after the Peace Corps. Talley said he was sure it would have had some thing to do with helping people. “Her generosity and her kind ness really shined through,” he said. “Pm going to remember her.”
