3 S Ju st m a t • aprii 16. 1999 ▼ 1ST A N N U A L N O R TH W EST TRANSGENDER FILM FESTIVAL Play time Sandra de Helen savors her cu rren t successes and ponders the future of theater THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE ifc. OLYMPIA WA . 1 by W ill O ’B ryan or Portland playwright Sandra de Helen, April started on the right foot. Her play The Clue in the Old Birdbath, a musical Nancy Drew parody co-written by Kate Kasten, opened Friday, April 2, in Eugene. Opening night was sold out, as was the April 3 performance. “The script is usually well received,” de Helen says confidently. “It’s actually done well everywhere. I think it’s because so many women like Nancy Drew.” The plays success could lead one to believe that de Helen is on a roll. After all, she was recently named the International Center for Women Playwrights’ new membership director, which she’s excited about. F THURSDAY MAY 1 0 TRANSCENDER FORUM 7tOO P.M. FREE PHOTO BY LINDA KLIEWER FILMT: SATURDAY MAX 13 9 AM • MIDM1CHT sented at the festival, as only her play had queer content. De Helen says she and, she imagines, most women of the 1CWP feel a kinship to Geller and her situation. “However successful people have been, there’s still that element of being rejected,” de Helen notes, explaining that vul­ nerability, like Gellers, is something to which all playwrights can relate. To further her aim to involve more young people in theater and also support Geller, de Helen plans to produce Life Versus the Paper­ back Romance once it reaches its final form. “I will produce something for Portland,” de Helen insists. “1 want to do it as a benefit for our local youth.” NO REDEEMING SOCIAL VALUE— OR YOUR MONEY BACK! "SUPER-SUPERB! IT'S A HIT SHOW NOT TO MISS!" * o * » fe * * « , m íw t o « "BRILLIANT! 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But for all de Helens theatrical success and involvement— she’s also a member of the National Writers Union and founded the Port­ land Women’s Theater Company in January 1981— does it mean much in a world increas­ ingly dominated by two-dimensional moving images? How does a playwright who lives and breathes theater regard theaters standing in modem society? “1 think plays are going to he the salvation of this type of culture,” de Helen theorizes. “So much of what we do is technologically pro­ duced, as opposed to humanly produced.... Plays can be more interactive. It’s different from looking at a big screen or TV. It’s more thought provoking. To see a live person is just different. You can hear them breathing, see them sweating.” The future of theater, observes de Helen, depends on young people getting involved. She cites young people’s street theater that she con­ siders “just wonderful.” Samantha Geller is an example of theater simultaneously changing society and involving young people, and de Helen is closely monitor­ ing her situation. Geller is a 17-year-old student in Charlotte, N.C. Her play Life Versus the Paperback Romance was one of five plays that won Char­ lotte’s annual Young Playwrights Festival con­ test. O f the five, only Gellers play was not pre- De Helen herself doesn’t recall much involvement with theater when she was young. “I didn’t see a live play till I was in my early 20s,” de Helen laments. “If I had, I’d have been writing plays, believe me.” But eventually she did start writing plays, her first in 1976. De Helen says she began writ­ ing plays as part of her involvement in the feminist movement. Apparently, writing had quite a cathartic effect— she came out as a les­ bian less than a year after she began her new endeavor. “Feminist play writing and being a lesbian go hand in hand,” she states matter-of- factly. Twenty-three years later, being a lesbian is still reflected in her plays. De Helen posits: “Not every one of my plays has a lesbian char­ acter, but every one of my plays was written by a lesbian.” Soaking in de Helen’s relaxed demeanor, today the politics don’t seem quite as impor­ tant as the craft. And the craft doesn’t seem important unless she’s enjoying herself. “Why do you think they call it play?” she queries. “If you’re not having fun, don’t do it.... I have a memoir 1 want to write, but plays just keep getting in the way. They’re more fun.” ■ Little Apple Productions presents T he CLUE IN the O ld B irdbath weekends through April 25, at Tsunami Books, 2585 W illamette St. m Eugene. For more information, call (541) 465-9240.