Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2000)
008411 fri. • feb. 4th eclectic open 9pm-midnight music * poetry ► performance art * theatre Sign-up to perform at The Break (located next to The Buzz) For more info call Melanie at 346-3725 sat.* feb. 5th 9:30-11:30pm peter wilde acoustic folk mon.*feb. 7th nicole barrett 9:30-11.30pm acoustic thu. • feb. 3rd f0m patterson • 9-10pm ^'^Pm • acoustic rock lost theory. 10-11 pm groove rock tue • feb. 8th university jazz combo 8-10pm all events are FREE Advertise your events in the Oregon Daily Emerald. We have special university rates. Call 346-3712 Don’t miss out. Work for your college paper. For more information on how to freelance for the Oregon Daily Emerald call 346-5511 Courtesy of University Theatre Marlene (Bekki Barnhart, center) and Dull Gret (Rachel Aanestad, right) react to a story told by Pope Joan (Yasmin Ravard). Top Girls traverses many dimensions of womanhood ■ Women and their ypward mobility processes are focus of new UT play, Top Girls’ ■ STAGE Top Girls A University Theatre play written by Caryl Churchill, directed by Beth Cherne. ★★★★☆ By Yael Menahem Oregon Daily Emerald Can women have it all? Then again, what is “all,” and by whose definition do we de cide what “all” is for a woman? Furthermore, will women be happy once they have it “all”? The University Theatre’s pro duction of Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls,” which opened Jan. 28 at Robinson Theater, poses these questions and also offers answers in a multi-layered, complicated performance. Even the actors work within this complex struc ture, with nearly the entire cast taking on multiple roles. The mood of the play is set as audience members enter the the ater. Written on pink paper, quotes by feminist and co-founder of Ms. Magazine Gloria Steinem dot the doors and walls. In them, Steinem observes the privileges that society bestows upon men simply because of their gender and how historically this has worked against women, who were just as worthy of recognition. In the opening act, Marlene (Bekki Barnhart), who has just re ceived a promotion in her com pany, invites five fictitious and real historical female characters to join in a celebration. As the group sits down to dinner, a con versation ensues between two characters — Isabella (Minnie Goode) and Lady Nijo (Kim Har mon), the former a European traveler and the latter a mistress to the Japanese emperor. The two women adhere to the common stereotype that women are competitive and always try ing to outdo each other. They purposely talk over each other’s sentences, eager to show whose life was better and whose travels were more exotic. As the dinner continues, the two are joined by Pope Joan (Yas min Ravard), a fictitious pope from the ninth century. She re veals to the other women that she once lived like a man to become a clergyman, while having lovers and even bearing a child, for which she was killed. By meal’s end, it’s revealed that all of the dinner guests, with the exception of Isabella and Marlene, have had children and gave them up at the demands of the men in their lives. Initially they accept what they did, but by the end of the scene, many of the women break down at the sacri fices that they were forced to make. As the play progresses, we see Marlene at the office where she interviews women who are look ing for better jobs. Issues of age and experience surface during the process and these factors work against the job candidates. Questions of marriage and chil dren also arise as having children leads to maternity leave: How can a woman progress at her job if she has to be absent to raise a family? Again, it’s a double bind for these women who want to have a career but are also expected by society to marry and have chil dren. In the second act the audience is introduced to Angie (Rachel Aanestad), Marlene’s biological daughter, who was raised as her niece. Angie doesn’t get along with her Aunt Louise (Ravard) — Marlene’s sister whom she knows as her mother — and Ang ie longs to be with Marlene in the city. Angie isn’t considered a smart girl by Marlene’s stan dards, yet she eventually figures out that Marlene is her real moth er. Many conflicts arise during the play, primarily when Mar lene returns home to visit Angie and Louise. The two fight bitter ly because Marlene left Angie be hind when she pursued a career and a better life for herself. Louise, on the other hand, stayed home and is resentful about the life that she has led and for hav ing to raise Angie. Could she have been as suc cessful as her sister, she asks. She’ll never know, but she lives with that question in her head. At the same time, Marlene’s hap piness is in doubt due to person al sacrifices she made for her pro motion. Between acts one and two, cer tain characters are dressed on stage, an interesting scene be cause the actors stand still like mannequins while the tailor helps them into their costumes. As they stare emptily into space, the actors’ legs and arms are moved with no resistance. These moments are significant because they show that through out history women weren’t al lowed to lead their lives in the manner they wanted. Choices were made for them and they have stood still and watched as their lives pass. Marlene is never dressed on stage, however, and the control that she has over her life is appar ent. Although she refuses to wear pants to work, she does wear a tie and jacket with a mini-skirt and heels. “Top Girls” is a complicated play that has more than one in terpretation and a multitude of issues at hand. The story chal lenges women’s changing roles in society and doesn’t conclude that choosing one life over the other is better. If anything, through the com plex script, it questions women’s expected roles and their now vis ible roles in society. The play is recommended for women — and men — who are in search of an swers and more questions. “Top Girls” continues tonight at 8 p.m. and has subsequent evening performances Feb. 4, 5, 11 and 12. There is a Sunday matinee Feb. 6; proceeds from that show will benefit the Com munity Alliance for Lane Coun ty. Ticket^are $10 for the general public, $8 for University staff and $5 for students. A $1 discount is available to students for Thurs day shows.
