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.”