The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, February 7,1996
Feature
Instructor gives regards to Broadway
Laney Fouse
Staff Writer
Susan Mach, instructor and
playwright, finishes up her last
class for the week. It’s Friday, late
afternoon and like everyone else,
she’s ready to go home. It’s no
wonder.
Mach starts her week early
Monday morning at Linfield Col
lege in McMinnville, teaching a
three
hour,
intensive
play wrighting course. From there
she heads to CCC where she
teaches English Composition in
the afternoon, three days a week.
Then, on Monday nights she can
be found teaching another
playwrighting class at Portland
State University. Besides all this,
Mach finds time to do her own
playwrighting.
Although this is Mach’s first
year as an instructor at
Clackamas, she’s conducted sev
eral workshops on the poet,
Hazel Hall (1886-1924). Her in
terest in the Portland poet served
as the underlying motivation to
write her play “Monograms.”
The title comes from a Hazel Hall
poem of the same name. The play,
according to Mach, is not about
the poet’s biographical back
ground, but instead strives to. . .
“re-capture the lyrical spirit of
Hazel Hall and to imagine what
her creative life might have been
like,” she said.
“Having to deal with
someone’s history and biography
is really difficult,” acknowledges
Mach. Apparently, the where
abouts of Hall’s journals, as well
as the letters she received from
other people, is unknown. There
were only four sets of letters avail
able in private collections that
Mach was able to access.
Mach recalls, “I had all these
holes in my research. . . [but] I
read in a letter she wrote to Walter
Evans Kidd that she wanted to be
known only as a poet and not as a
person. Her story is in her poetry.
It was while reading “Mono
grams” (the poem) that it hit me.
The whole first scene is about that
poem and drawing from it, I went
from there.”
Hazel Hall, who was con
fined to a wheelchair, lived her
life mostly through her imagina
tion. The play entails Hazel’s
journey of discovery, acceptance
of herself as a poet, her relation
ship with her sister, and her in
fatuation with poet, Vachel
Lindsey (1879-1931), who visits
her “but only in her imagination,”
according to Mach.
The playwright completed
“Monograms” in 1991, after
which, she did several stage read
ings.
“Whenever you try to get a
play produced, you take it around
to various theatres. If they are in
terested, they will ask you to do
a stage reading. A stage reading
is when you get a group of actors
together and just read the play for
the producers. They then decide
whether or not they want to pro
duce it.”
In 1993, the play was per
formed on Portland Repertory
Theatre’s Stage Two. At the end
of 1994, the play was moved to
Portland Rep’s Main Stage. But,
the success didn’t stop there.
“Monograms” is scheduled to
open in New York City, this April
at an off-off Broadway house
called Theater For The New City.
Mach professes, “It was kind
Drive This Vehicle To College.
This is an Ml Tank, 50+ tons of armor, guns and
advanced electronics. You just might need this vehicle to
get to college. That’s where we come in.
The Oregon Army National Guard is looking
for motivated individuals to accept the challenge of their
life. Earn up to $6,000 in college assistance with the
Montgomery GI Bill, plus a salary for part-time
employment
All it takes is about two days a month and two weeks
a year and the desire for adventure. Call your local
recruiter today.
the Clackamas Recruiting Office 557-5320
OREGON
Photo by LoraWahrgren
English Instructor Sue Mach’s play “Monograms” will
open off-Broadway in New York City this April.
of weird the way. [this] hap
pened.” When the script was first
submitted to the producer, Mach
had no means to help with pro
duction costs. In the meantime,
she had sent another script to the
same producer, who chose to pro
duce “Monograms” based on the
fact she liked Mach’s work so
much. The playwright’s only dis
appointment—she’s flying to New
York to meet with the director of
her play and will miss seeing Ed
ward Albee.
What’s next? Mach is work
ing on a play called “Angle of
View.” The story is “about a
woman who goes to work for one
of those TV series like Cops. It’s
really about how this woman be
trays her subject.”
A stage reading has been ten
tatively scheduled for Feb. 26 at
Portland Rep. but due to a com
mitment by one of the actors, the
reading may take place earlier or
the role may be recast. “Angle of
View” is going through the same
process that “Monograms” went
through a few years ago. Accord
ing to Mach, “Angle” is sched
uled for a reading in Boston as
well.
Stage readings play an inte
gral part by providing the play
wright with feedback from col
leagues and producers. The read
ing also gives the writer a chance
to hear how the play sounds or is
received by an audience.
“You can feel the energy of
how people are reacting to your
work,” Mach said. “If you work
with actors and without an audi
ence, it’s just not the same because
you become enmeshed in what’s
happening on stage. When you
have an audience, you can feel the
‘dead spots’.. . you can feel it in
your gut. It’s not like you can just
stop the play and say, could you
please say this instead of that.”
As most writers will admit,
criticism plays a significant part
in successful writing. But Mach
concedes, “There are sometimes
when I do a stage reading when
I’ve worked particularly hard on
a script and I just want to get
through it. I’m just not ready nor
in a state to hear the [criticism]
yet. I’ve learned that it’s okay...
You don’t have to be tough all the
time. Your ego gets to be fragile
after a while, and when stuff
doesn’t work, you need to back off
and get yourself centered, and
then go back in again.”
Mach attended Pacific Uni
versity in Forest Grove, where she
majored in English and Theatre.
She earned a Graduate Degree
from Boston University, and has
a Master’s Degree in Creative
Writing. She wants to teach writ
ing full-time and continue
playwrighting. “You really have
to make a commitment to do the
creative things because they are
the easiest to let go.”
United ‘ParcelService
cldhere eise can you put in part-time
hours (no weekends'.) to earn the
cash for tuition dr living expenses,
while also getting your wor/^ out
done for the day
receiving full
Benefits, paid holidays, dr vacations?
VlMt IM
1
11
Cal! the UPS JOBLINE
800-382-0945
A b Equal Opportunity Employer
Bassett:
nominee for
USA Today
Scholarship
Laney Fouse
Staff Writer
Shane Bassett, a 21 year
old student, has been nomi
nated as CCC’s representative
in the annual competition for
the All USA Academic Team
Scholarship.
,
To be eligible for nomina
tion, a student must possess a
cumulative grade point average
of no less than 3.25. The nomi
nees must all be in pursuit of
an Associate Art, Associate of
Science or Associate of Ap
plied Science Degree. Unlike
other scholarships that can be
applied for, students must be
nominated by an instructor.
Bassett was chosen from a field
of five nominees who were se
lected by CCC instructors for
their outstanding academic
achievement.
Reacting to the nomina
tion, Bassett declared, “It was
pretty much unexpected.” Pur
suing a degree in the field of
Elementary Education, he
credits his faith as the under
lying factor for wanting to
teach. He quotes from the Bah
Writings, “Each human being
is a mind rich in gems of ines
timable.” His goal is “to un
cover [those] gems and polish
them.”
When asked what he
thought made him academi
cally successful, Bassett re
plied, “I study not for a grade
or honors, but because I enjoy
the learning and knowledge.”
He feels that being married to
his wife, Crystal, helps him
take life more seriously which
in turn keeps him focused.
Team placement will be
announced on Feb. 23, 1996.
If Bassett is selected for the 20
member First Team he will re
ceive a $2500 cash award. Two
other teams comprised of 20
members each will also be cho
sen. These members will re
ceive certificates. Being nomi
nated for the competition is an
honor itself. Only 150 nomi
nees are chosen each year from
two-year colleges across the
country.
The awards will be pre
sented during the annual con
vention of the American Asso
ciation of Community Colleges
on April 15 in Atlanta, GA.
The event takes place during
the Phi Theta Kappa
President’s breakfast and will
be presented by the President
of USA Today.
Bassett, a former Massa
chusetts resident, works as an
Assistant Teacher at Child’s
View Montessori School in
Portland. His propensity for
teaching children extends
across the globe. He spent a
year working on a children’s
education project in Trinidad
in the West Indies prior to mov
ing to Oregon. If he should
place on the First Team,
Bassett would like to spend one
semester overseas, preferably
in a Spanish-speaking country.