Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2002)
8 -______ A&E ’Seagull’talks about /¡Ê what matters WedNEsdAy, J anuary 50, 2002 ELISABETH MEYER Staff Writer Anton Chekov wrote more plays than I can count, but he wrote at least one, in any case, and that’s what matters right now. All we need to know at this point is this single play, “The Seagull,” does in fact ex ist, is in fact playing at Port land Center Stage, and is in fact well worth your time. It’s the story of artists strug gling with issues of talent, originality and fame. Arkadina (Joan Macintosh), the actress mother, her lover Tregorin (Scott Coopwood), a famous writer, and her playwright son Konstanin (Michael Newcomber) are spending their summer in the country. Konstanin’s sweetheart Nina (Christine Calfas), a country girl and as piring actress, is attracted to the fame of Arkadina and Tregorin. This is one of those things you tell your friends you really enjoyed, you tell them what it was about, and they nod and change the subject. The plot isn’t overly intriguing, and no particular character dominates the action. And once you learn the central figures play ac tresses and playwrights who spend a good deal of the play talking about new art forms, you’re expecting a self-indul gent introspectionfest. It’s hard to say whom the play is about. There are so many Hamlets to deal with! The characters are so caught up in themselves, I thought I was watching a five- or six-ring cir cus. Any plot action besides individual characters spinning in circles involves trying to pull others into his or her own or bit, which I find both fascinat ing and repelling. I was bothered at first that none of the characters seemed able to really connect with an other. Although all they do is talk, no real exchange happens. The actors show this noncommunication well by switching from conversation to conversation quickly and al ways trying to steal the spot light for themselves. The sen sitive Konstantin wants to love his mother and wants her love, TM e CI ac I< amas P rìk but finds her af fection to showy or fake and pulls away. Tregorin wants assur ance that he has talent but can’t ac cept compli ments since he is constantly flat tered by admirers. The childlike Nina knows her purity is vir tually her only appeal, but is dying to sacrifice it at the altar of fame and experience. Chekhov called his play a comedy. I can only assume he meant it ironically, because it is easily one of the softest, quietest stories I’ve seen on stage. There were a few obvi ous laugh lines, and we re sponded, but I wished we au dience members could express our feelings of empathy and sadness for the characters’ in ability to simply be. Party honors pacifist poet 1 * Would-be actress Nina (Christine Calfas) acts in her boyfriend's play, hoping to demonstrate a new art form to the world. jo Photo by Owen Blair ar IL ALLISON GERFIN Copy Editor In The Pentagon one person’s job is to! take pins out of towns, hills, andfields,/and then save the pins for later. From “Things I Learned Last Week” William Stafford couldn’t at tend this month’s celebration of his birthday, but the crowd in Gregory Forum last Thursday, Jan. 24, was ardently keeping his memory alive. Stafford, once Oregon’s Poet Laureate, died in 1993, but Friends of William Stafford pro motes his work and life every year to honor his Jan. 17, 1914, birth in Hutchinson, Kan. The celebration at Clackamas was one of 22 held in Oregon and Wash ington this year. Paulann Petersen, FWS event coordinator and host, likened Stafford to another famous Janu ary birthday man, Martin Luther King Jr. She said they both be lieved in the same ideals: paci fism, human rights, human equal ity and justice. Stafford was a conscientious objector during WWII, and many of his poems speak of standing by truth, or in other words, in what one be lieves. Some esteemed local poets took turns at the microphone to read a favorite poem of Stafford’s followed by a self-penned poem inspired by him. CCC faculty members Kate Gray, Diane Averill and Jim Grabill, PCC instructor Tim Barnes and Sunset High School English teacher Victoria Wyttenberg all shared their pas sion for Stafford’s evocative From start to finish Take me back to yesterday When virgin America was still alive To the time when the fabric of Our Livelihood stood tall and mighty ELISABETH MEYER / Clackamas Print Left to right: Dorothy Stafford, Kate Gray, Paulann Peterson, and Derek Sheffield paid tribute to William Stafford last Thursday. Some attendees read poetry and told stories in remembrance. phrases and deeply-lived prin ciples. Then audience members joined in the party by reading their personal favorites. Stafford’s poems obviously have had a profound effect on those lucky enough to have dis covered him, and it was impossible not to be inspired to read his work after being in this devoted crowd. A professor at Lewis and Clark College for many years, Stafford was a down-to-earth and unpre tentious man who liked to tinker with mechanical contraptions. He said that if he wasn’t a teacher and writer he would have owned a bi cycle shop. I’ve bullied rusty iron and made it remember what td do, and once on a back road I put out a fire under the hood of a car; but these greasy geniuses have to conjure miracles day after day just to keep going. From “Fixers” This prolific poet made a habit out of writing first thing in the morning so he would be sure to get it done every day; he wrote his last poem the morning of his last day. It seems that there was no as pect of life left untouched by the common sense of his words. If you are interested in learning more about Stafford before next year’s celebration, find a copy of “The Way It Is: New and Selected Po ems” by William Stafford, pub lished by Gray wolf Press. Terror took its toll They've swallowed buildings whole Lives were lost, souls were not Their spirit lives in our melting pot. p Busting out with tears I long to help those far and near. Charities and drives for blood Our veins are an open flood. Bin Laden, my note to you, beware You've only created a scare United we stand together America is forever. By Daisy Bain P k !
