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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 6, 1984)
^ E N T E R T A IN M E N T ■K A Boy and his dog by Abbot Winstead It’s one o f the oldest cliches around — the love between a boy and his dog. How often have we seen the story about a faithful pup that pulls his m aster from the burning build ing? We know, o f course, that a dog is m an’s best friend, and that often the m ost loving, lasting relationship people ever experience is wih th e ir p e t So, can we be surprised when Robert Chesley’s Stray Dog Story, now play ing at JR ’s W est focuses on the love between a lonely gay man, Jon, and his devoted dog, Buddy? Well, yes, because once we are in tro duced to Jon and his furry friend, we see the d o g ’s wish to becom e a man granted by his Fairy Dog Mother. D elighted by Buddy’s new hum an status, Jon quickly accepts him as a fantasy lover turned real and they continue their somewhat unusual relationship. From that point on, however, their affair becom es a lesson in survival. As Buddy struggles to survive in an urban, gay environm ent, his post-canine fortunes turn from good to bad to worse. And as an audience we are drawn deeper and deeper into this fantasy turned nightm are. Stray Dog Story is a dram atically touching play that is occasionally tragic and often very funny. It is a fairy tale, o f sorts, that takes a co m ic and critical look at urban gay male culture, and asks som e hard questions about o u r ab ility to accept those who are different A lthough the s c rip t written by San Fran cisco’s Robert Chesley is at tim es awkward and unwieldy, this production has been tig h tly paced and finely polished under the direction o f Brown McDonald. Portraying Buddy, the “ dog,” Kevin Koesel is am azingly believable as an innocent whose hum anity is only a few days old. He expertly captures that co m ic/tra g ic elem ent of bew ilderm ent a n d /o r awakening into a new world. Hollandia '45 by Eoe Sicular Hollandia 45, recently staged by the Portland W om en’s Theatre Company, drew attention both fo r its production quality and its audience policy. The play’s run is now com pleted, but controversy over wom en- only nights continues am ong certain people w ho feel that such specially designated perform ances constitute discrim ination against m en; or, as an O regonian reviewer w rote, a “ step backward in the struggle for equality between the sexes." W hile m y reac tio n to such statem ents is to recall m y own experience o f w om en’s culture needing a n u rturing environm ent, and the historical bases o f oppression o f m inority culture, I th o u g h t it best to go to the source: in this case, the Portland W om en's Theatre Com pany. A fter attending one o f the three perform ances especially fo r wom en (out o f the play’s tw elve-show run), I spoke with m em bers of the com pany about this tradition. D irector Ju d y C lover and actors Faith M cD evitt Sara Packer and Carm ella E ttinger (cast as WACs K it M arian and Hazen in Hollandia 45), talked o f the gro u p ’s practical, political and personal reasons fo r m aintaining their policy, and stated that contrary to what the disgrunt 10 led O regonian w riter printed, the point is not to exclude men, but rather to provide women, w ho are the com pany’s m ost loyal audience, with the choice o f attending either all-wom en o r m ixed fem ale-m ale audience nights, de pending on their viewing preference. The Daniel D allabrida delivers a sensitive perform ance as Jon, a m an whose dreams have com e true. From his m elancholy m us ing to his excitem ent and delight after the transform ation, Dallabrida helps us accept this rem arkable event Given one o f the play’s m ost com plex roles, Karen Boetcher-Tate, as the Fairy Doq M other is fascinating to watch. W ith great depth and attention to detail, her running nearly full house at the perform ance I saw am ply dem onstrated the popularity o f the fo rm e r choice. Because these perform ances tend to be the ir m ost profitable, the com pany m em bers stressed that their survival as a theatre group depended on them as m uch as any repertory arts group m ight need the spe cial benefit nights staged fo r m em bers only. A nother im portant consideration fo r the com pany and its audiences is that the c li m ate in w hich the m aterial they perform , in cluding m any overt lesbian scenes, be a safe atm osphere. Overall, they hope their theater w ill continue to educate all audiences so that a m ixed fem ale-m ale audience can provide such a non-threatening, supportive and understanding presence as one that is all fem ale, b u t in the perceptions o f m any wo m en w ho perform and attend these plays, that tim e has not yet arrived. So m en are w elcom e at m ost o f the com pany’s perform ances, but the wom en who produce them w ill continue to uphold their policy o f setting certain perform ances aside fo r wom en. This is the response to the spirit o f the plays, the dem ands o f the core audi ence, and the real conditions o f present-day w om en’s experience. The com pany seems w illing to discuss this further, but hopes that criticism com es from those seriously com m itted to changing oppressive conditions ex perienced by women. A lthough Hollandia 45 w ill have closed by the tim e this issue com es o ff the press, I w ould like to cite som e o f m y favorite points here. These include the perform ances o f Patty Flynn, Faith M cDevitt and Sara Packer, com m entary on the play’s fast-paced action ties it together and expresses ou r sym pathies fo r B uddy’s struggle. As the leather m an w ho befriends Buddy, G regg Sylvater is excellent at poking fun at his role as Master. Dallas Crosby brings strong, and, at tim es, m enacing authority to his m ultiple role as cop, bouncer and super in te n d e n t The same creative dexterity in changing character is also shown by Kevin Van Slyke, Jon Squire, and Richard Beanes, w ho play a variety o f punks, U pper East Side faggots, dem onstrators and political activists. E specially noticeable is Squire as Tom , the up-and-com ing gay politico. The production quality is as tig h t as the acting. The lighting by Cain W arren and Paul S tarr and sound by M ichael W ilson com ple m ent the action perfectly. Stray Dog Story, produced by Jim G am brell, is the fourth in a series o f plays that have been presented by the O pen D oor Theatre, P ortland’s only gay theatre com pany. This association o f actors, directors and w riters is com m itted to presenting quality, professional theatre by, fo r and about gay men. As w ith Richmond Jim and West Street Gang, Stray Dog Story m akes good on that c o m m itm e n t It is an excellent production, that delights, as well as brings its audience to tears. Stray Dog Story w ill run though July 15 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 8:00 at JRs West (the upstairs bar), NW 10th and E verett the set, and the ironic ’40s m o od m usic aga i nst w hich the play was acted out Faerie gathering Celebrate sum m er at M ontana’s 2nd Faerie G athering New M oon in Montana, Ju ly 26-31,1984. This is a gathering o f spiritual, new age gay m en in the pristine w ilderness o f W estern Montana. Jo in each other to celebrate the m agic o f life in each other and to encourage the poets, artists and visionaries w ithin each o f us. This year, em phasis w ill be on purification fo r the new m oon, July 28th. Also planned are day hikes and m ountain clim bing, a sweat lodge, w orkshops on self-awareness, and ju st plain nature w orship. Preceding the gathering will be a Faeries & Fags Full Moon on July 13-15 at N orth Crow Vacation Ranch. Plans include a Tea Dance and a Q ueen’s Costum e C on test C ontact: Star, Box 693, Great Falls, MT 59403. Just Out, July 6