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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1998)
SCREEN PRINTING EMBROIDERY TRI NGLE GRAPHICS Experienced Artists • Sample Showroom 344-7288 MARY LOU LORD LIVE MUSIC MUSIC 1/30 Skip Jones * 1/31 The Rev. Gregory Scott 2/3 Lindy Walters 2/4 Eagle Park Slim 2/5 Kaulean O' Shaughnessy Open mic w/John Congdon every Sunday at 8 p.m. CHECKOUT OUR BEER OF THE NIGHT! Microbrews & Domestics on tap ALL SHOWS START AT 9:30 pm \y 1“ III Including Labatts, Foster's £■ ^ | ^ I ^ J ^ | ^ J | i | and a large selection of other imports and micros Monday Night Pool Tourney • Sign Up 6:30, starts 7 00 Free Pool Sunday & Tuesday Evening No Cover Charge Ever! 2657 Willamette • 344-0816 NO MATTER HOW FAR YOU TRAVEL, t YOU’RE ALWAYS CLOSE TO CAMPUS. Oregon daily emerald on the world wide web www.uoregon.edu/~ode Pulitzer-winning play is at Leebrick ‘Three Tall Women, ’ now playing at the Lord Leebrick Theatre, explores life’s inherent sadness By Shannon Sneed Entertainment Reporter Like all other stages of life, old age is something we can never fully prepare for. It sneaks up — per haps subtly at first, stealing small things from us, like our ability to remember names, and leaving soft footprints on our skin like crow’s feet and laugh lines. Later, though, it attacks more aggres sively. It sucks away at our memory, leaving only vague, scattered recollections and a desperate need to put into perspective a life that seems to have flown by in an eye blink. It’s this need to understand the inevitable pas sage of life that becomes the central focus of “Three Tall Women,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Edward Albee now on stage at the Lord Leebrick Theatre. It’s the story of a 92-year-old woman whose life is slowly drawing to its close, and she’s struggling to come to terms with her past — the triumphs, the pain, the ones who have loved her and left her. In the first act, with the help of her middle-aged caretaker and a young legal clerk who is sorting out her financial affairs, the woman begins to piece together the scattered fragments of her memory in her search for a way to see the bigger picture. However, it’s only in the second act, when the play takes a creative and brilliantly conceived twist, that the woman’s experiences come into full focus for the audience. Through superb, engaging writing and wonderful performances from the three actors, we begin to understand how and why this woman has become who she is and what changes she’s been through along the way. The three women — named A, B and C in the script — are remarkably played by actors of vari ous ages and experience. Jean Dorl stars as A, the play’s central character. Dorl has been acting on stage, in film and on TV since the age of ten. Her performance in “Three Tall Women” is achingly real and sometimes painful, as we witness the inevitable deterioration of her sharp mind and tough spirit. Kim Donahey plays B, the middle-aged, frumpy caretaker who switches between compassion for the old woman’s infirmities and a bitter, dark cyn icism. In this play, she skillfully mixes the two to create a complex character, who at once is wistful for what her life could have been and angry for what it actually has become. Donahey has been appearing in productions at the Lord Leebrick since 1992 and has also ap peared in commercials and videos. Finally, University student Iordan Lyn Florer plays C, the youngest and most idealistic of the three women. In her first performance with the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company, Florer creates a character who looks upon her future with a wide eyed romanticism. She struggles to understand the two older women, but their jaded outlook seem ut terly foreign to her. The play’s director is Hans Christofferson, who has lived in Eugene since 1974 and has directed numerous plays in the area since then. Christoffer son’s direction is stark and simple, giving the char acters a chance to fully develop without distrac tions. “Three Tall Women” will run Thursdays through Saturdays, with two Sunday matinees, un til Feb. 14. Tickets are $14 on Fridays and Satur days and $12 on Thursdays and Sundays. For more information, call the Lord Leebrick Box Office at 465-1506. tev COURTESY PHOTO Jean Dorl, Kim Donabey and University student Jordan Lyn Florer play the characters A, B and C. No Cotei Charge with this coupon Saturday only valid at 10:45pm expires Jan. 31,1998 This is the place to hear the best music! Grab jour dancing partner and dance the ni*£ht away! 'f Scandals 2222 Centennial Blvd. • Eugene • 343-4734
