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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1996)
24 ▼ nov»m b*r 1, 1900 ▼ just out ^ evvm an CV' A Different Kind O f Real Estate Professional No hype. No bull. No pressure. Just the facts, honest advice, clear communica tions and steady direction to make your home selling or buying process as quick, profitable and problem-free as possible. Selling or purchasing a home, you can count on Zach. He’ll never put you in the doghouse! 3 2 3 -2 3 2 3 # tfv afe®ca BLUESTONE HOCKLEY R E A L T Y E choes in the M ind In Three Tall Women Edward Albee portrays the pathos o f a woman who has lost her way I N C. ▼ Commercial sales & leasing A proud member of the community for more than 26 years RICHARD C. LEVY Vice P resident A ssociate B roker 4445 SW B arbur Blvd. Portland, OR 97201 (503) 222-3807 by C. Jay Wilson Jr. F The second act presents us with an almost rom the moment Edward Albee’s the entirely different play. Shifting the narrative mode, ater first hit the U.S. stage, critics probed Albee pushes us deeper into the woman’s psycho its pith with solicitous pens, delighting logical sanctuary to reveal perspectives of her in the psycho-sexual machinations that existence at three distinct stages. The actors who lie beneath the surface of every ex posed relationship. His plays offer up a play fertile three different characters in the first act, become three voices of the dying woman’s inte study of characters suffering from a host of com rior dialogue in the second. Moving away from plexes and disorders, and critics have either at the first act’s more conventionally linear con tempted to explain away or amplify the perver struction, Act 2 is the real marrow of the play, for sion that exists there. it is here that we discover the playwright’s vivid examination of the elemental attendance of mor tality upon our lives. As the three aspects meet and discuss the life that they live from each vantage point, Albee tells us plenty about the way they love and live and learn to forgive, but he also shows how all of our lives are defined by the In answer to these analytical investigations of selfsame qualities. his work, Albee has countered with disclaimers All three performers shine in the second act. that the content of his plays should not be exam Ann Swanson is decidedly insolent in an inexpe ined against the backdrop of his biography. He rienced, 26-year-old sort of way. The embodi contests that he is a playwright who points to the ment of youthful idealism, she opposes the notion psychological principles that govern us all, in of growing older, refusing to accept a life that falls spite of the conspicuous influences of his homo anywhere short of her perfectly contrived dreams. sexuality and familial estrangement. The quinquagenerian depiction, delivered effec Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play of 1994, tively by Linda Williams Janke, is a riveting Three Tall Women, has undergone the same sort of expression of a woman who has been beaten critical scrutiny to which his previous efforts have down by her life’s accumulating disappointments. been subjected. However, in this piece there is no As she falls into fits of rage, we become acutely mistaking a slice of Albee’s personal history. aware of her uncontrollable anger toward her In this thoughtful production directed by Glyn estranged son. O’ Malley for Portland Repertory Theatre, we are Jayne Heller is exquisitely matriarchal, with an pulled into the psyche of Albee’s mother— with awareness that soars above the others’ by virtue of whom he had a rocky relationship— to share his the fact that she has lived through the two younger catharsis in what is doubtless his most earnest points of view. Heller’s performance of the only exploration of the human condition. heater Support, Education, and Outreach for Gay and Bisexual Men. Join Us. A re we at the top of our m arket? Is now the time to sell? • a Speaking of S ex... A safe space to get together with other gay and bisexual guys to talk about sex and a whole lot more. Let your imagination run wild on making sex fun, erotic and safe. Thurs., Dec. 12,6pm-9:30pm At CAP, 620 SW 5th Ave., Suite 300. Call me for a consultation. 225-1115 For info: Brian at Ext. 131. Neighborhood Men Talk Ann Swanson (left), Linda Williams Janke and Jayne Heller Find support & friendship with other gay and bisexual men. Ongoing monthly groups throughout Portland. All meet at 7 PM. Groups starting in Clackamas & Washington counties in November. For info: Doug at Ext. 145. Drop-In HIV Testing for Gay and Bi Men Confidential or anonymous. Results in one week. $20 Fee to off-set lab costs. Tuesdays, 6pm - 8 pm, at CAP office. For info: HIV Testing Infoline at Ext. 172. 503 223-5907 620 SW 5th Ave., Ste. 300 Portland, OR 97204 Fax 223-7087« V/TDD 223-0238 Speak to Your Brothers is a program of Cascade AIDS Project David Anderson B ’Zillion Dollar Club Wrtdamere Cronin * Capta Realty Group, Inc. 225-1115 • VM 497-5211 2078 NW Everett St. QjJ Portland, OR 97209 Albee sets his play in the bedroom of an ailing dowager who is awaiting the visit of her wayward son. She soothes her anxiousness by recalling pleasant to painful memories, and producing a rather histrionic display of tearful outbursts for her attendant and an unsympathetic attorney, both women. Throughout the first act we observe this peevish, overbearing woman who teeters on the edge of sanity (understandable for a woman who has lived through 90 inharmonious years). Jayne Heller, in a marvelous characterization, brilliantly captures the childlike pathos of a woman who has completely lost her way in the world. The two supporting characters, played by Linda Wiliams Janke and Ann Swanson, are left largely undevel oped. Their involvement in the first act seems merely to work as a buffer and catalyst to the volatility of the aging woman. Actually, the only apparent purpose of the initial act is to reveal to us the life of a crumbling woman on her deathbed contrasted with the presence of two younger women who are removed from personal rumina tions upon their own demise. character who makes an appearance in both acts was the pearl of the production, and was so believ able that I found myself wishing that the character was available for cocktails after the show. The son, having failed to make an appearance in the first act, makes his way to his mother’s beside and remains in his muted position through out most of the second act. Acting with unflinch ing concentration, John O’Brien proves that dia logue is not required for a character to effectively communicate. Three Tall Women is a perfect season opener for Portland Rep., as it offers a reflective setting for an evening of autumnal contemplation. Ed ward Albee has created a play rooted in his own sense experiences, that has at its heart a reflection of who we really are. Three Tall Women plays at 7 pm Tuesday- Thursday, 8 pm Friday and Saturday, and 2 and 7 pm Sunday through Nov. 16 at Portland Repertory Theatre, 2 World Trade Center, 25 SW Salmon St. Tickets are $20-$30; call 224-4491.