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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2011)
.M 30 O CTOBER 7, 2011 ---------------- 1 if l o c u t i r ■ ----------------- + 1 ^ T 1^ WWW.JUSTOUT.COM Gender Roles Defunkt theatre queers a classic with creative casting BY ERIN ROOK g o t t o m b y day» top b y night. 4t least* that's ho w we like it. ]?njoy C e l l a r Door's h o u s e - roasted cof fe e d o w n s t a i r s b y dawn* t h e n b y dusk* 719 SE NWriSffl! 503.236.7080 Happy Hour from 3-6 pm serving food until 12am Sun-Thur, and till 2am Fri-Sat. h e a d u p s t a i r s to 2n <* Story* .your n e w n e i g h b o r h o o d b a r local bee rs a n d s e a s o n a l of Cell ar Door Coffee Roasters. 2n d Story* 2005 SE 11t h @ Harrison Thurs-Sun 4;50 - 1 1 Would she have to act like a man, whatever and Tony-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross that means?” Kern says. “We were really in in 1984, his tale o f a group o f desperate real terested in what [it does] to have women estate salesmen over two days emphasized using derogatory terms about women to at the role o f masculinity in success. The up tack men.” coming production by defunkt theatre com On the receiving end o f most o f those at pany queers that narrative with creative tacks is Kerns’character, officer manager John casting that invites a reinterpretation o f the Williamson. The salesmen see Williamson as original script. less o f a man because he doesn’t go out on “The original play as written, I would say, is s e r v i n g c u s t o m cocktails, s n ac ks , al l on t h e t o p flo or W hen David Mamet wrote the Pulitzer- BEER MOMS sN E L L nw20th&keamey a brutal examination o f real estate salesmen “They’re constantly attacking Williamson, vying for dominance and survival in a very calling him fairy,” Kern says. So he and competitive sales environment,” says M at Carter thought it would be interesting if the thew Kern, an artistic di “This is still a world in which was, in fact, gay. “I t ’s not “It’s not a nice story but everything that is of value like I ’m up there gaying it it’s fun to watch. [M am et’s] just a master o f language.” The company is prepar ing a performance o f the play that, through mixed- gender casting, adds layers is described in a masculine way... so there becomes up, it’s just sort o f who I am. So we’re not doing anything overt.” Still, aside from the this issue [of] how would a woman survive in this envi insults, Kern says the original script makes it o f contemporary interest ronment? Would she have easy to to the already timely, if to act like a man, whatever liamson is gay, especially changes have been made to the script or the set ting, but the two main -*» actor playing Williamson rector for defunct theatre. rather macho, story. No tnvaoes sales “sits” and has a quieter personality. imagine W il with a woman playing that means?” -MATTHEW KERN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, DEFUNKT Levene, the salesman who most often derides the office manager. characters— ruthless Ricky Roma and old- Kern points to a moment in the script fashioned Shelley “The M achine” Levene— when Levene pleads, “Joh n , my daugh will be played by women, Grace Carter and te r ...” in a final bid to garner sympathy. Lori Sue Hoffman. W ith a woman in the role, and W illiam son Kern says he and Carter, the company’s reading as gay, the moment becomes an other artistic director, had considered an all exercise in heterosexual privilege, as if female cast, but felt that a mixed-gender Levene were saying to childless W illiam ensemble would create more dynamic shifts son, “I have a daughter so I matter more in the relationships between the characters. than you,” Kern says. “This is still a world in which everything that is o f value is described in a masculine Williamson’s response, fittingly, is “Fuck you.” way... so there becomes this issue [of] how In the 1992 film adaptation, W illiamson would a woman survive in this environment? (played by Kevin Spacey) talks about having Iways a party in... / ruesBBY , o cro B en n 1033 NW Couch www.rebeljeweler.com 503.224.4485 Photo b» Ta» lor B. Photograph»
